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“You short-circuit my brain. That’s why I’m calmer with you. My body forgets to work.”
The corners of his bottomless eyes crinkled, and his chin tipped back with laughter.
That only made things worse.
“Bros! Get over here!” Jamie hollered across the diner.
Slipping my hand into his, I led him to a booth against the large windows in the back. My neck prickled as we went, feeling a thousand eyes tracking our movement, zeroing in on our linked hands. I usually tried not to attract any attention, but here I was, attracting all of it.
My thumb started tapping against Arsen’s. One, two, three. One, two, three.
Our group had grown so large in the past few months that we no longer fit into a single booth. Rather than sitting in the one behind our usual, we pulled a table right up to the end, creating one big surface for us all to sit together.
Ryan and Jamie were in their usual spots on the left side of the booth. Rory was perched in Ryan’s lap, and Madison was right beside Jamie. Next to them were Rush and Landry. Across the table on the right side of the booth was Kruger and Jess. I usually sat there with them, having sort of taken over Wes’s usual spot near the window. Since Max started coming to breakfast, Wes always sat farther down at the table on the left side, along with Win, his brother, and Lars.
I never told anyone, but I liked sitting by the window. I could look outside at the trees across the street. Plus, the booth felt a little more secure than a regular chair. Like I didn’t have to watch my back as much.
We stopped at the end of the table near Win, my feet shuffling a little as I felt all their eyes. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as the stares of everyone else in the diner, but I still felt my face grow warm.
A few gazes dropped to where we held hands and then slid back up, but no one said anything.
I blew out a breath. “So yeah, you guys know Arsen. We’re, ah… dating.”
Arsen gave my hand a little squeeze, and I glanced at him. The pride shining in his eyes gave me confidence.
“I hate to break it to you, bro, but we know,” Jamie informed me.
My lips parted. Then I scowled. “How could you know? We just decided.”
I glanced at Kruger, and he held up his hands. “Wasn’t me.”
Ryan cleared his throat. “You have a hickey on your neck.”
I blushed, free hand smacking against the bruise.
“You’re wearing his shirt,” Wes added.
My hand left my neck to finger the NO REQUESTS shirt. I guess they had seen him wearing it.
“You came out to the entire team.” Rush reminded me as if I would have forgotten. “And he was waiting in the parking lot.”
“Since we’re pointing out the obvious,” Jamie said, leaning toward us to loudly whisper, “you’re holding hands.”
My hand jolted, but Arsen’s fingers tightened around mine. They aren’t surprised at all.
Arsen cleared his throat. “Ignore the obvious for a few and pay attention to the fact he’s sharing something with you.”
Madison made a sound and slipped out of the booth around Rush’s chair to come over. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you both.” She pulled back and smiled, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m also really glad you feel safe enough to tell us now.”
“You knew I was gay?” I asked, more surprised than I probably should have been.
She nodded once. “That day at the swim meet a few weeks ago. Kruger joked about getting you a man.”
Kruger made a pained sound. “I was hoping no one heard that.”
Madison smiled.
“You pretended you didn’t,” I said.
