Page 6 of Oblivious Roommate

“You fell for the hand-kissing thing. You’re golden,” he says and sits in a chair painted bright blue. There’s a succulent in the middle of the small table, along with some spices and the drinks menu. “That’s good, since he’s the one who cuts the cake for you.”

I crane my neck in excitement. “There’s cake? Is it homemade? Order for me and make it good.”

The place isn’t packed, but it has a good buzz and interesting-looking people of all ages. This time, I try not to stare at anyone in particular, but there’s a preppy guy working on his computer, a barista who seems extremely serious about her espresso machine, and several patrons in cool clothes.

Two men kiss.

I pause, since it’s not something I see very often. It’s just a brief peck on the lips, but a tall man leans over the counter and smooches the blond cashier, who grabs the front of his hoodie to make the kiss last longer.

I don’t know why, but it electrifies me, makes the hair on my arms bristle, and that feeling in the pit of my stomach is back. Is it making me uncomfortable to see two men kiss? I don’t know. It’s not like I’m upset about what I see.

“You’re staring,” Cass says with a small smirk.

“Fuck.” I hide my face behind the menu. “I’m sorry. I’m an animal. You can’t take me anywhere.”

Cass’s hand squeezes mine, and I look up to meet his warm eyes. I might be slightly uncomfortable with the whole gay thing, but I will get over it soon. It’s just never been... this close to me.

“That’s okay. The blond guy’s Levi. He’s the owner. Knows everyone, so if you ever need to find something, he’ll be your man.”

“Who’s the other one?”

Cass’s gaze trailed the other man all the way to the door. “Never seen him. New boyfriend? Anyway, I think you need the… tuna melt, and a peanut butter cream cake. And yes, everything is made here.”

When he lets go of my hand, I’m embarrassed to find mine sweaty, but I smile nevertheless. I need to get laid or something, because it’s been a while since I’ve been touched and that’s why I’m getting so weird.

“I love everything about that order.”

I even rise from my chair to get a better look at the cake counter.

Kai rides over in a flurry of pastel hues, makes a few sly comments, and is off with our order. Cass speaks as soon as he’s gone.

“So… I suppose I was looking for a good moment to ask, but you didn’t really transfer here because of the school, did you?”

My heart stops.

I sigh and kick Cass’s boot under the table. “Is that bad? I just really miss you, man. And after I broke up with Emily, it got lonely out there. She took most of our friends, it was brutal.”

A scowl passes over Cass’s features. “Figured that might have been the case. Always the queen bee, huh?”

“You never liked her,” I point out, and the previous expression freezes on his face.

Cass shakes his head. “You deserve someone who’ll care for you more than she did.”

“Yeah, I suppose now that it’s over, it feels like I was a prop. A handsome, wholesome boyfriend to fulfill whatever fantasy she lived in,” I admit, but it no longer hurts. I’m young, and maybe in this new place, I can start over. “I just don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to latch onto you,” I add with worry. Cass is so put together, hot, cool, has all these gay friends, and doesn’t forget to water his plants. I can only hope he doesn’t see me as a problem.

“Oh, you’re the bane of my existence,” Cass says dramatically, leaning back when one of the other servers places our food and drinks on the table. “I literally can’t stand you, and the only reason I agreed to you moving in with me is because it’ll make me work harder at the library, just so I can be away from home.”

I laugh and run my fingers through my hair. “I knew it. We weren’t friends. We were frenemies and I didn’t know it!” But I’m already busy digging into my tuna melt.

There’s two strips of marinated pepper in my side salad (ew), so I pick them up and push them straight into Cass’s mouth as he opens it to speak. “There, you can also get back to being my trash can.”

Cass laughs, almost choking on the pepper, but then someone whistles, and I come back to a reality of Kai standing over us with the desserts we ordered. “Oopsie. Cassian, what would your lover boy think?” He winks, like it’s all a big joke, but I sit back down in my chair, unsure what to make of what I just heard.

Lover boy?

“I… We didn’t— We’re not—”

Kai pats me on the shoulder. “It’s okay, no need to be nervous. You can be our token straight boy.”