Page 9 of Oblivious Roommate

“Oh, by the way, I’m not gay. No offense,” I tell Aaron, who shuffles a few inches away from me.

“Neither am I,” Logan says, making me choke on air as if I was a fish. I look between him and Cass, who keeps watching me with a tight set to his lips. If Logan is not gay, then how does their thing work? Maybe they’re not a couple-couple, and Kai was only messing with us?

Aaron sighs, playing with the sleeve of his beige sweater. “He’s bisexual and hates his identity being erased.”

I swallow. Of course the fucker wants to have everything.

“Oh. But I’m not. I’m straight,” I add just to make that crystal-clear.

Aaron smirks but doesn’t look my way. “I used to be straight too, once upon a time.”

“It’s not like that!” I protest, reaching for my cake with resignation. “So how did you two meet?” I ask Cass, but as we settle around the tables, my knee brushes against his by accident, and I slide my feet under the chair, until I’m almost kneeling.

Why did he have to come out? It’s making everything so weird!

It strikes me that the fear of making me uncomfortable was exactly what kept him from being honest, so I bite the inner side of my cheek to punish myself, because if they gave the Worst Friend award, I’d be this year’s winner.

I need to make myself relax about this whole thing, because if I keep turning every damn situation into a mess, I might lose my Cass for real. So I take a deep breath and press my knee against his. No biggie.

When he speaks, I barely remember it’s an answer to my own question.

“Oh, it was over a dating app.” Cass offers Logan a half smile that used to be reserved for me.

I manage not to barf into the coffees Quinta brings over.

“And you… dated him too?” I ask Aaron when he gets his bony fingers on the tiniest coffee cup.

His thin hand trembles as he glances Logan’s way. “What? No! We know each other from the stables. It’s a small town, but come on. Besides, I don’t have time for dating, I’m going to law school once I’m done with my degree.”

I smile. “Oooh! Okay, okay, now I know who to call if I have trouble with essays.”

Aaron pulls out a little metal box and offers me a card. For a moment, I feel like I’m in a period movie, but he is so casual about it I don’t comment. “I do tutoring on the side. So give me a call if you need help.”

“Look at him, not only smart but also a real businessman,” Logan leans to Cass. I stop breathing when his lips brush my best friend’s skin. They’d have landed on the mouth if Cass hadn’t moved away in surprise.

Once again, I have fire simmering down my throat.

I was pretty much okay with seeing the cashier kiss a guy before, so why is this so agitating? Fire ants crawl under my skin, and I want to throttle Logan. Like it’s my job to protect Cass from this other guy. Which is absurd since Cass wants it.

Cass is gay.

Get over it, Matt.

I’m hardly able to swallow a bit of cake, but I make sure to chew, because I’m not letting Logan to be the hero. Again.

“This is a great cake,” I mumble, unsure what else to say.

“I love peanut butter. I actually make my own for blending into shakes,” Logan responds, ready to boast again, but Cass doesn’t seem to see it and just smiles, drinking from his cup.

“He is good at smoothies.”

Because of course he is. He’s probably good at everything. Including sex.

“Oh come on, it’s just smoothies. But it is nice to wake up and grab something healthy in the morning.”

Aaron nods, sipping from his tiny cup. "It's true. My nanny used to make the best croque monsieur."

I refuse to ask if he still has a nanny, or if he’s reminiscing. Or what a croque monsieur is.