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“We kept it a secret from Finn,” I say. “Obviously, with good reason. He’s barely spoken to me since he found out.”
“I see,” murmurs Sully.
“He punched West,” I say, pushing back in my chair. “Can you believe that?”
“Well, yes,” says Sully. He points the bottle in my direction when I glare at him. “You’re his sister, Cal. You’ve been off-limits to all of Finn’s friends since you two hit puberty.”
I scoff again and Sully shakes his head.
“It’s his job, Callie. Mine too, come to that. Why is that hard to understand?”
“Because I’m not a kid anymore, Sully. I can make my own choices about who I go to bed with.” I blush. “I mean, who I choose to date.”
Sully smirks but lets that slide. “So where does your pretty boy fit in?”
“Raleigh?” Uh-oh. “Um.”
Sully sits back, letting me stammer a non-answer for a minute, before setting down his beer and leaning in.
“Callahan, I’m going to tell you a secret,” he says, and he’s serious. All signs of teasing gone. “A real secret. Can I trust you to keep it to yourself?”
“Of course you can,” I say, frowning.
Sully sighs and stares at the bottle in his hands. “Back in high school, there was this guy.”
I blink at him.
“We ran in the same crowd, always chasing the same girls,” he says. “One night, after a bunch of beer, we were sitting out by a bonfire at somebody’s parents’ house.” His lips turn up at the memory. “We were on our way to shitfaced. Finn had run off with whichever cheerleader he was chasing at the time. It was just me and—the other guy.” Sully clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “One thing led to another.”
I just stare at him.
“Sullivan Michael Hale,” I say slowly. “Are you trying to tell me you were making out with another guy?”
His cheeks darken slightly.
“Are you gay?”
“Not exactly,” he says, picking at a spot on the table now. Sully’s not much for sitting still. “I prefer to think of it as flexible.”
“Huh.”
Sully looks up at me sharply. “I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that between us.”
“Of course,” I say.
“And anyway, I didn’t tell you just for shits and giggles,” he says. “If things with you and West… and Raleigh got complicated, you can tell me.”
Two and two finally come together and what he’s been trying to tell me clicks.
“You and West?”
Sully closes his eyes.
“Callahan—”
“No, no,” I say, pushing up to my feet. “Hang on. I need a minute here.”
I pace around the kitchen, trying to block any and all images from cropping up in my brain. Sully keeps his seat, looking pained.
