Page 48 of Line Change

“Ben, Tessa and Micah. Tessa and Micah, this is my friend Ben.”

Pope takes the empty chair beside me. “Nice to meet you.”

“We’ve heard so much about you,” Micah says.

“No, you haven’t.” I kick Micah under the table before he can prove me wrong.

Tessa smiles at Pope. “We’ve heard enough.”

Pope looks at me over the top of his glass. “Should I be worried?”

“Yes,” Micah says.

Tessa reaches past him for the discarded answer sheet. “He showed us your Instagram interview.”

“Six times,” I add.

Micah spreads his hands. “It was eight seconds long.”

Pope keeps looking at me. I take a drink of my beer and refuse to help him.

Micah lasts maybe ten seconds. “First time?”

Pope lowers his glass. “At trivia?”

“In a gay bar.”

“What? No. My brother’s gay.”

Tessa’s eyebrows lift. “That wasn’t the question.”

“I’ve gone out with him.” Pope takes another drink. “Just not here.”

He doesn’t look at me when he says it.

My hand tightens around my bottle. He reached for his brother fast. It makes sense, and it still makes me feel like shit.

It shouldn’t bother me. Pope isn’t going to call himself bi or queer because he’s fucked one man a lot over two weeks. He doesn’t know what any of this means yet. I told him he didn’t have to rebuild his identity over one experience, and I meant it.

I put the bottle down without taking the drink.

Tessa gives him an easier subject. “How much do you know about penguins?”

Pope glances at me. “Nothing useful.”

I kick him under the table. He traps my shoe between his feet for a second before letting me pull it back.

Micah remembers enough hockey to start talking shit about the team’s record. Pope takes it without getting defensive and tells them I spend practice making everybody worse. That earns him a laugh from Tessa and another kick from me.

His knee knocks mine and stays there for one extra beat before he moves it.

Maybe I should quit this while we’re ahead. We could stop before Pope decides he has finished experimenting or I get tired of being the one part of his life he can’t explain without bringing up his brother.

Pope finishes his beer and sets the glass on the table. “You ready to go?”

Tessa and Micah both look at me. I know I should make him leave alone. Instead, I’m already thinking about what happens when we get back to my place.

“Yeah.” I reach for my jacket. “I’m ready.”