AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That confusion intensified. “By a… Okay, so he plays hockey?”
“You could say that.”
“And that’s the issue? He’s got stitches, so you guys can’t suck face or—” I swore I felt it when he made the connection. “Hold up. Hold up.” He put his sandwich down and stared at me. “He got hit. By a puck. In the upper lip. And he’s got stitches.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
Darren blinked. “Isaiah, please fill in the blanks, because right now it sounds a hell of a lot like your shitposting buddy is Tanner goddamned Jeffries.”
I grinned.
His jaw fell open. “Are you… No way. You’re full of shit.”
Shaking my head, I laughed. “No. I should’ve known something was up when he said he wanted to meet without telling me his real name or sending me a photo. He said I wouldn’t believe him if he told me, so he’d rather just do it in person.” I exhaled. “I almost fell over when he walked up to me at the fountain.”
“You’re…” Darren stared at me. “You’re serious. He really did turn out to be Tanner Jeffries.”
I picked up my phone off my desk, thumbed to the selfie we’d taken, and showed it to him.
Darren damn near dropped his sandwich. “Holy…” He flicked his eyes back and forth between the screen and me. Then he sat straighter. “Hold up. Did you… like… hook up with him?”
Still grinning, I shrugged.
“Wow,man.” He blinked a few times, then brought his sandwich up for a bite. “I think that would’ve blown my mind, too. I mean, I’m not into dudes, but if one of the Yellow Jackets was suddenly into me…” He rocked his head from side to side as if to say,Maybe?
“I’m so telling Jessica.”
“Pfft.” He waved a hand. “She’s been saying for years that I’m ninety-nine percent straight, one percent Sven Nilsson.”
“I mean, if you’re gonna pick one guy to go gay for—”
“Bi, Isaiah. I’d gobifor him.” He huffed indignantly. “I’m not giving up the ladies.”
“Fine. Fine. If you’re gonna gobifor one guy, I could see it being Nilsson.”
“Exactly.” He took another bite of his sandwich. “So what’s the problem? You’re gay. Jeffries is gay. He’s into you.” He shrugged. “I’m not seeing the downside.”
“It’s…” My humor faded. I suddenly couldn’t sit still anymore, so I got up to pace. “I’m such a damn mess.”
“But why?” Darren sounded genuinely mystified. “My dude. Tanner Jeffries wants you.Tanner.Jeffries.”
“Yes, exactly!” I blew out a breath as I rubbed the back of my neck. “He can’t actually be into me. He fucking can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can bounce a quarter off his abs while my doctor is telling me it wouldn’t hurt to drop fifteen or twenty pounds?” I stopped pacing and faced Darren. “Because I’m sweating bullets trying to pay student loans and my share of the rent on a teacher’s salary while he’s got a seven-figure contract?”
Darren watched me for a moment. Then he sighed, and from the way his shoulders dropped, he understood. Which only made me feel ten times worse.
“Isaiah.” He turned a long-suffering look on me. “I love you, man. I do. But you’re a fucking dumbass sometimes.”
“I—” I shook myself. “What?”
He rolled his eyes and gestured toward my chair. “Sit down.” He said it in the same voice he used when he was almost out of patience with a student, and I couldn’t have disobeyed if I wanted to.
Dropping into my chair, I fixed a glare on him that he probably got from some of his more belligerent students after he’d made them shut the hell up. And as he probably did in those moments, Darren didn’t so much as flinch.
“Listen.” He rested his hands on the edge of the desk he was sitting on, and he peered down at me. “Your ex-fiancé was a lying sack of shit when you were with him, and he’s still a lying sack of shit inside your head.”
