Page 74 of Bad Pucking Roommate

My eyes dart nervously between him and Jessie. “Notice what?” I ask.

Charlie rolls his eyes. “That you’re possessive of Justus, and he’s your voice of reason.”

“That’s not… I mean yeah, but…” This is not how I envisioned this going. I thought I’d have to lay the foundation for my big reveal, not get called out on it before I could get the words out.

“I thought you said you weren’t bi?” Charlie slings another question at me.

“I’msexually fluid.”

“What does that mean?” Jessie asks.

“We do what we feel like in the moment,” Justus answers for me, explaining the term exactly the way I explained it to him.

“You’re bi, too?” Charlie arches a brow toward Justus.

“You can’t ask him that. A person’s sexuality is…personal,” I flounder.

Charlie holds his palms out to show he meant no offense. “My bad. Just trying to follow how this happened.”

“When did this happen?” Jessie points a finger at each of us.

“What in the name of our history together make you think I’m going to give you those details?” I frown at her.

Charlie jerks his head toward Justus. “He seems to know details about the three of us.”

“It’s okay, Luca.” Justus puts his hand on my arm. “These are your oldest friends. I trust them.”

“I’m not old,” Jessie mumbles with a slight pout.

“That’s not how he meant it.” I roll my eyes.

“To answer your question,” Justus starts, “the only reason I know anything about you three is because Luca confessed he had a superstition he couldn’t break. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, just that it existed, and he asked me to help him find a way to beat it. When we couldn’t figure out a solution, he told me the origin and how it manifested in his mind. Beyond giving me the background I needed to try to help him, he didn’t betray your confidence.”

Jessie’s eyes narrow skeptically. “You make that sound almost…clinical.”

I beam at my boyfriend. “He studied psychology. He’s fucking good at it, too.”

“So, you fixed his superstition?” Charlie asks.

“I’d say we were able to pinpoint the emotions it triggered and find a better way to achieve them.” Justus turns a little pink with all the eyes on him.

“And?” Charlie prompts.

Justus looks at me, waiting for my cue since this is my story. My decision. And even though we’ve never really talked about why I shifted away from needing an audience to just needing him, I know the answer.

“I just needed to be seen forme. I got confused by the audience thing, thinking that put me on a pedestal, and that pedestal is what gave me value. But it was never me they saw. Just the athlete. Or the celebrity. Justus seesme.”

“Holy shit.” Jessie gasps in awe. “You’re in love.”

Turning to admire Justus, who’s got that trademark bashful smile on his face, I thread my fingers with his and return his starry-eyed gaze. “Yeah. We are”

“Aww.” Jessie presses her hand to her heart and leans against the back of her chair. Charlie cocks his head to the side curiously.

“Why were you two pretending to be just teammates at the dinner, then?” he asks. “Why hide?”

“We’re sort of violating a no fraternization policy the team put in place,” I answer.

“Please don’t tell me you think you can hide this. You’re doing a shit job of it so far,” Charlie shifts his head back and forth.

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