Dylan looks at Phoenix. “You guys know I’m not some kind of standard for male hotness, right?”
“Oh, but you are,” Phoenix and Hudson say at the exact same time.
Jake rolls his eyes and pulls Dylan onto his lap. “Mine,” he says, playfully biting Dylan’s neck.
And it’s completely normal. Dylan and Jake belong together, just like Walker and Phoenix. So why is it so hard to believe that maybe my person could be a guy, too?
“Getting back to the reason we’re here,” Phoenix says, steering the conversation back on track. “There’s a hot guy on a jobsite who’s into you, and you want to know if being bisexual is…contagiousbecause you might be attracted to him as well despite never having the hots for a guy before. That about sum it up?”
“I guess so,” I answer, conveniently omitting the part about kissing him twice.
Silence descends over the group as they figure out how to respond.
“Can I read the text conversation?” Hudson asks.
Figuring it might help him get a feel for the weird vibe between Taylor and me, I unlock my phone and pass it to Hudson. It takes exactly four seconds before he bursts into laughter. “Oh shit. He’s definitely into you. Is this him?”
Aw, hell. I forgot about the selfie he sent me.Please don’t open my camera roll and see that I saved it.
“The selfie in the text stream? Uh, yeah. That’s him,” I confirm.
“Oh, let me see!” Jake says, practically lunging for the phone.
“Pass it over here when you’re done,” Phoenix says impatiently.
“Wow.” Jake’s surprise is evident in his tone.
“What?” Phoenix demands, beginning to stand. He hates being left out and clearly can’t wait for his turn while everyone looks over Hudson’s shoulder at the picture.
Meanwhile, I grab the blanket from the back of the couch and pull it over my head in an effort to make myself disappear.If I can’t see them, they can’t see me, either.
“Wow,is right,” Phoenix says a second later.
“God…I know. I fuckingknow.” I’m whining like the child I’d accused Taylor of being.
“How old is he?” Walker asks from somewhere to my right.
“Twenty-four,” I groan from under the blanket as another realization dawns. “Oh Christ, he’s even younger thanyou.What iswrongwith me?” I ask rhetorically. “I’m fucked up. I should probably be in jail…or on a registry or something.”
Suddenly, the blanket is ripped from my head.
“Jesus, maybe youaregay, you drama queen,” Phoenix says. “Are you done? Because I was just going to say he’s really fucking hot and those lips are the only ones I’ve ever seen that rival Walker’s. Sure, he’s young, but he’s legal, and there are plenty of chicks who date older guys, and no one gives a shit. By the looks of this picture, he doesn’t seem shy…and are those diamonds on his cheeks?”
“Yeah, he’s definitely not shy,” I confirm, thinking about his request to see my abs in the driveway and the way he demanded my address so he could show up last night. “And I think they’re rhinestones. My niec—” I quickly catch my mistake and correct it. “Karen’s niece used to wear them for her dance recitals.”
Jake mumbles something that sounds suspiciously likecunt, but I let it go because I know he’s talking about Karen, not the now-sixteen-year-old girl.
“Okay, so he’s hot and you’re into him. Why not give it a try?” Jake says rationally.
“I’m not trying to decide which Girl Scout cookies to buy for fuck’s sake…never mind the fact that I’ve never, not even one time, been attracted to a man, Taylor is in a totally different stage of life than me. Can you honestly see that being long term?”
Phoenix places a hand on my shoulder. “Not every relationship is meant tobelong term, Knox. Sometimes you have lessons to learn and memories to make that can only be taught by or made with someone who was always going to be temporary.”
And therein lies the next problem.
“That’s not how I’m wired,” I argue. Karen and I were high school sweethearts who got married before we’d even graduated from college. My parents were married for forty years before death claimed them both.
“So, maybe it’s time to do a little re-wiring,” Hudson chimes in. “Because havingthiswiring for the last five years hasn’t done you any favors.”
