“You should ask him out,” Sophia said.
“I…I’m not gay.” Rory turned away.
“Fine, you’re not gay,” Nicolas said. “But you’re not straight either. I’d say somewhere in between.”
“No, I mean…” Rory sputtered.
“Look, Rory.” Jeff put his hand on his shoulder. “We’ve worked together for three years. I’ve never seen you talk with someone the way you do with him. You might not be ready, and that’s fine, but we see how you look at him. You may not see it, but there’s something there.”
“Rory, don’t let him get away,” Sophia said.
“He’s the real deal,” Davi agreed.
“But I can’t.” Sweat pooled on his neck. His heart raced. He grabbed napkins to clean off his skin.
“Rory, we’re sorry,” Jeff said. “We didn’t know this was such a touchy subject.” He removed his hand.
“Rory, it’s okay,” Sophia said. “I know it isn’t easy for you. We shouldn’t have pushed.”
“We won’t bring it up again,” Nicolas said.
Rory sat there, unable to form words. Were they right? Could he have romantic feelings for Bernard? It crossed his mind. He and Bernard were just friends, and Bernard would accept him. Could it work? Could he and Bernard have a future? He needed to know.
Bernard returned to the table as the server brought their desserts. “I hope you weren’t talking about me,” he joked.
Everyone fell silent and looked at their food.
“I was just kidding,” Bernard said. “What did you talk about?”
“We talked about how long you and I have been friends,” Rory said.
“I can’t believe you’ve known each other since middle school,” Sophia said.
Rory smiled at her uptake. She was clever.
“Yeah, we met in seventh grade,” Bernard said.
“Our names were next to each other in the alphabet, and we got paired together,” Rory said.
“We had so much in common that we became friends,” Bernard said.
“That’s so cute.” Sophia looked over at Rory. “So much in common.”
Rory shifted his gaze away from her.
“I’m so glad we became friends. I wouldn’t want to be called after anyone else at graduation.”
The group looked at Rory. Their gazes all said the same thing. He had feelings for Bernard.
“You need to look in your heart and find your true self before you implode,” Davi said as he hugged Rory goodbye.
“Thank you,” Rory said.
His friends left Rory and Bernard alone in the parking lot.
“This was a fun evening. Your colleagues are great,” Bernard said.
“I think we’ve all grown past just being colleagues,” Rory said. “I see them as my friends now. They’ve done so much to pull me out of my shell.”
