Page 88 of Forever Yours

His finger grazed the top of my hand holding the board, and my heart rate kicked up a notch.

I still wasn’t sure about which way David leaned. He was difficult to figure out, and broaching the subject about one’s sexuality was a very uncomfortable subject. Maybe he was one of “those people.” Some people were just curious and wanted to test the waters, and college, being away from home and out from under their parents’ rules, offered them an opportunity to experiment sexually.

“How serious are you and Julien?”

Guess I had my answer, and now was as good a time as any to set some boundaries.

“The kind of serious where I plan to put a ring on his finger,” I replied.

And I meant that literally.

David chewed on his lip again, his gaze a little sad. So was the half smile he forced.

“I wish we could have met in high school.”

I didn’t tell him that it wouldn’t have made a difference. I fell in love with Julien the first time I saw him when we were in seventh grade.

Aiming for levity, I chuckled. “You wouldn’t have looked twice at me. I was a skinny nerd.”

“I highly doubt that, blondie. I would have definitely looked.”

Almost at the end of the lane, I asked, “Do Lamar and Shaun know?”

“That I like guys? Yeah.”

And there it was. He finally said it. No more speculating.

“Hey, David?”

“Yeah?”

“You just swam the entire length of the pool.”

The board wobbled precariously, and his brown eyes flew wide. I held him steady as he looked over his shoulder. When he turned back to me, the biggest smile spread from cheek to cheek.

“Well, fuck me. I did.”

CHAPTER 25

“Want to grab something to eat?”

I draped my towel around my neck as we walked toward the men’s changing room. David was the only person I had on my schedule for that afternoon, so after I entered what we did today into the computer to add to his file, I was out of there.

“Rain check? I’m meeting up with Julien.”

After our‘kind of’talk where we said only enough without getting too deep, David had been acting cool about everything. I now knew he liked me, and he knew he was stuck in the friend zone because my relationship with Julien was solid.

David stopped me in the hallway right next to the door to the changing room.

“Would it be weird if I hugged you?”

“Friends are allowed to hug.” Keeping it platonic, I pulled him in.

“Thanks for everything today. You really are a miracle worker,” he said against my shoulder.

We both stepped back at the same time.

“You’re welcome.”

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