“You know Choi?” the guy next to me asks, I think his name is Kyle.
“Who, Stephen?” I ask. “Yeah, he’s my roommate, but I don’t know him well, you?”
“We’ve spoken a few times,” he says, “but I don’t tend to fit in well with the football crowd.”
“Yeah, I’m not really a sports guy either,” I chuckle, “typical that I got roomed with a jock.”
“Yeah, unlucky,” he says, “but you have us now.”
He grins and I let myself notice how attractive he is, with dirty blonde hair that’s slightly longer than mine and blue-gray eyes.
“Yeah,” I say, smiling back at him.
“I’ll get the coffees in,” Pierce says, “what does everyone want?”
The others shout coffee orders at him, but I hesitate, not wanting to accept and then have to buy a round of coffees in the future, my scholarship money doesn’t stretch to buying seven coffees in one go. I’d rather buy my own and leave the rounds to them.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kyle says quietly, leaning in, obviously sensing my discomfort. “Pierce is loaded, he always buys the coffees, never expects it in return, you’re good.”
When I look up, Pierce is smiling at me, he has everyone’s order but mine.
“Thanks, that’s kind of you,” I say, “I’ll have a latte, please.”
“That’s it?” he asks. “A plain latte? No extra shots, or syrup, or extra hot, or wet?” He winks at me and my cheeks warm.
“Uh… just a plain latte, please,” I say nervously.
“Wow, you’re a cheap date!” he jokes.
My palms are getting a little sweaty and my brain starts to go fuzzy. Is he flirting with me?
“So Donovan,” Samantha says, “do you have a girlfriend waiting for you back at Tynerston?”
Kate leans closer, clearly hoping that my answer is no; but this is it, I’m not here to hide, I can tell them I’m gay. I already told Stephen and nothing bad happened, I can do this.
“No girlfriend,” I chuckle, “I’m actually gay.”
“I told you!” Samantha hits Kate who groans in response.
“You knew?” I ask, wondering how she could tell when nobody at home has ever guessed.
“I wasn’t one hundred percent sure,” she says, “but usually I have pretty good gaydar. I wasted way too much time going after gay guys when I was younger, right Kyle?”
He laughs and grins at her. “Hey, I tried to let you down gently.”
Huh, so Kyle is gay…
They argue back and forth over whether he let her down gently or whether he broke her heart, but they all seem friendly, so it obviously worked out fine. By the time Pierce returns with the coffees the argument has been settled, in the sense that they’ve agreed to disagree.
“Now Pierce let me down gently,” Samantha says, “even bought me chocolates and flowers.”
“That just sounds like he was leading you on,” Kyle says.
“No, it sounds like I was a gentleman,” Pierce chuckles, “something you’ll never understand.”
“Ooh uncalled for!” Kyle laughs before leaning closer to my side. “Don’t listen to anything they tell you about me, it’s all lies.”
I chuckle, nervous at having him so close, and caring about what I think of him.
