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“Good thinking, babe.” He taps the side of his head and winks at me before slipping into the hall.
I try to stay awake as I stare at the door, but my eyelids are too heavy. I don’t hear him come back to bed, but when I wake in the morning, I’m wrapped in his arms.
Ian
It’s weird being in class and not sitting beside Enzo. It’s been a week of this. Every time he glances at me, he quickly looks away again. Every time I tried to talk to him, he hurried away. I hoped Ezra was right and Enzo would come around and at least talk to me again, but he hasn’t.
I lost my best friend. I don’t entirely regret telling him the truth, but I regret the way I did it.
My phone vibrates, and I sigh before glancing at it. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, we’re going to the clubhouse. One of the guys just got married and they’re celebrating,” she says. I scrub my hand over my face as I lean back in my chair.
“Cool,” I mutter, unsure of why she’s telling me.
“Do you want to go?” I push my brows together.
“Why would I go?” I ask, and she huffs out a laugh.
“So you can meet everyone.”
“Everyone wants to meet you!” Ezra shouts in the background.
“I’m not really in the mood to talk to anyone,” I say quietly. The line goes quiet, then I hear her hiss something to Ezra.
“That’s fine,” she says. “Do you want to talk about it?” My heart lurches at the thought.
It’s not that I think Mom would care about my sexuality. I know she would be supportive, but…
I don’t know why I can’t tell her yet. I can’t reveal this part of me yet. Ezra knows because he overheard it, but if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t tell anyone. And I probably wouldn’t tell anyone for a long time. If ever.
“I’m just tired,” I lie. I can practically see her eyes narrow, assessing my words.
“Sure.” The word is tight, and I know she knows it was a lie. My phone beeps and I pull it away to look at the new caller. My stomach drops to my feet at the name.
“Mom, I gotta go.”
“Wait—” I hang up before she can say anything else.
“Hey,” I answer breathlessly.
“Hey.” Ezno’s voice is tight, unsure. “I—I left my clothes at your place.”
“Right,” I breathe. “I can bring them—”
“I’m already here,” he grumbles. “Answer the door. I’ve been knocking for like five minutes.”
“No, you haven’t,” I say as I push to my feet.
“Long enough,” he mumbles. I hang up as I walk down the hall, my hands shaking from the anxiety building in my body. When I get to the door, I pause, my hand hovering over the doorknob. Rasputin lifts his head from his spot on the couch, a patch of sunlight warming his little body.
“What do you think?” I whisper, but he just blinks at me. With a final breath, I pull the door open. Our eyes meet and I nearly crumble, but I force myself to stay on my feet, to look him in the eye. “Your bag is still in my room. I can get it—”
“I’ll grab it,” he says as he walks past me, his shoulder brushing my chest. He quickly averts his eyes as he hurries away. Raspy jumps off the couch and follows him, me on his heels.
When I get to my room, I stand in the doorway. He shoves clothes into his bag, his eyes on what he’s doing. The tension rippling off him smothers me, and I force myself to take a breath.
Enzo is my best friend. It doesn’t need to be like this.
