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“Real original.” I shake my head with a huff. “And duh, the guy’s gorgeous, but he… I mean I… He’s a good friend, that’s all.”
“Unrequited,” Aiden says softly.
“Why would you say that?” It’s only because I’m guarding my expression so closely that I notice the brief change in his. “Who is it?”
“That’s not important.” Aiden shakes his head with a wan smile, a look I’m all too familiar with since it’s the one I wore my senior year of high school. Not because of unrequited love, but because I felt so alone.
“Maybe not. But I know a thing or two about not having anyone to talk to, and there’s no reason for both of us to feel that way when we can help each other out.”
Aiden’s lip twitches like he wants to talk but isn’t sure where to begin. Finally, he says, “He doesn’t know I exist.”
“The guy you like? Does that mean he’s a stranger, or he doesn't know you’re interested?”
He cracks an amused smile. “You’re good at this.” Several deep breaths later he says, “He doesn’t know I’m interested. And even if he did, it wouldn’t matter since he’s straight.”
“You’re still stuck on him, though?”
Aiden chuckles without any humor. “I keep hoping he isn’t as unavailable as I think. Then I’ll see him take a girl to his room.”
“That must be hard to watch all the time.”
“You have no idea.” He sighs heavily, getting lost in his thoughts. It only lasts a second or two before his wide, panicked eyes meet mine. “I didn’t mean… Oh God, I swear I wasn’t trying to use you when we… I mean, you’re fun, you’re hot, I was definitely interested, I…”
“It’s okay.” I let out a relieved sigh myself. “I think it’s fair to say I’m in the same boat. Under different circumstances who knows. Right now, I think we both have someone in our system we can’t shake, even if we probably should.”
I feel slightly guilty putting it that way since I’m most definitely not invisible to Cruz, which sometimes makes me think we could be different or more than Aiden’s desire for…whoever. But that’s not what he needs to hear right now.
“Guess we’re playing the ‘if things were different game,’ after all.” I chuckle.
“Fuck.” He lets his head fall against the back of the couch. “I really do hate that game. So, Cruz? Does he know you’re into him?”
I roll that question around in my brain for a minute, wondering how to answer without either telling a lie or saying too much.
“He knows that I think he’s hot. And that I’m gay, obviously. He doesn’t know I could see myself being into him.” Not as a boyfriend, anyway.
“I don’t know if that’s better or worse than my situation. I may share a house with…” Aiden rolls his lips between his teeth before he can finish that sentence. “It’s not a bedroom, though. That’s gotta be rough.”
“Sometimes,” I agree, although in my mind that’s because I want to jump on Cruz’s lap far more often than I do. The actual sharing a room part is nice.
“Well, if you ever need a reprieve, you’re always welcome here. It’s nice to have someone to hang out with who doesn’t mind talking about pining after guys. Or picking out the best ass on the field.” He gives me a playful wink.
“Oh, you know I have to go Cruz on that, though. It’s not even a debate.”
“Eh, we’ll see.” Aiden gets a wistful look as he watches the TV, and while I’m a little sad that his situation seems more dire than mine, I’m glad I ran into him today. It will be nice to have a gay friend.
My first.
Chapter nineteen
Cruz
The game goes down to the last few seconds, and unfortunately, it doesn’t go in our favor.
We’re all disappointed, obviously, but also somewhat encouraged. Compared to the competition, our team is fairly young, and we held our own this season. With all that talent coming back, we’re in a great position to dominate next year, so while we’re beaten, we’re far from broken.
Nevertheless, a loss is a loss, so the plane home is quiet. Subdued. Most of the guys are catching up on sleep, but that eludes me, mostly because every time I close my eyes, I picture pretty hazel ones peeking out from beneath the wisps of blond hair trying to cover them.
I guess I have Dani to thank for that. Who knew challenging me to determine if I find Liam attractive would lead to non-stop thoughts about how hot he is… How hot our time together has been… And where I want it to go in the future.
