Page 118 of Last First Kiss

“What?”

“With Skye’s the Limit. I didn’t have places like that when I came out. Then again, I got a late start, so.”

Jordan flexes a curious eyebrow.

The ice rattles in Javi’s glass as he takes a healthy gulp. He tells Jordan about coming out. How he didn’t realize—not fully—he was queer until he was twenty-two. He snorts through a story about always dating a different girl while at George Washington University. That he was “such a slut for flirting,” and all his guy friends loved him for it.

Javi’s voice lowers, rough and nervous, as he recounts kissing his first boy. How unexpected it was. How he unraveled afterward but eventually felt better.

“It’s like I finally saw all the pieces in front of me,” he admits. “Even if I had no clue what to do with them.”

Jordan takes a sip, listening.

Javi spent his senior winter break “figuring his shit out.” By January, he still didn’t know anything. But he started dating a guy.

Then another.

Slowly, Javi felt more and more like himself. He started with coming out to friends. Then, his family—first his tías, then cousins, finally his mom. He had a mild crisis when not everyone took it well. But he decided it wasn’t about howtheyfelt.

He grins over the mouth of his glass. “It was about me.”

The corners of Jordan’s mouth rise.

“Anyway.” Javi tugs at his collar. “It’s cool there are places like Skye. Somewhere to feel less lonely. That’s why I wanted to help today.”

“Not to annoy me?”

“Oh, that too. Always that.”

He shoots Jordan a wild smirk. The back of Jordan’s neck prickles. He focuses on his next sip.

Javi plucks the lime wedge from his own glass, sucking. Juice spills from the corners of his lips. “So, you and Jamie—what’s the deal there?”

An ice cube shoots past Jordan’s tongue, into his throat. He coughs harshly. “Excuse me?”

Javi side-eyes him. “Asere,please. Back at Skye, when your cousin brought him up? I know that look.”

“You don’t know anything,” Jordan snaps.

“You’re right. It’s wrong of me to assume,” Javi says. “But I just unloaded a bunch of my messy history to you, so if you ever want to talk—I’m not the worst person.”

“That’s still up for debate,” Jordan counters with a small smile.

Javi shrugs. “I’ll take that.”

They sit and sip. Jordan considers everything Javi’s told him. About his coming out. How, unlike Denz and Jamie, hedidn’tknow who he was as a teen. All the trial and error—a lot of error—but he’s here now.

That has to mean something, right?

Jordan releases a long-suffering sigh. “It’s… complicated. Jamie and me. Well, me.”

For a solid five seconds, Javi stares at him. Quiet, observing.

Jordan feels cornered. He shouldn’t have said anything.

Then, Javi beams at him. “Next round on me?”

Jordan’s shoulders relax. He flags down their bartender as the buzz finally kicks in.