“SURE YOU DON’T want to come?” Brandon poked his head out from behind his locker. “You know you want to,” he teased, goading me on.
“Nah, really. It’s okay. I have an old friend in from out of town this weekend anyway.” Stunned at my words, I had no fucking clue why I’d just told him that. If I knew anything about Brandon, I knew he wouldn’t let this go.
“Dude, then that’s even more reason to go.”
There it was.
He slammed his locker shut, moving out from behind it as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “Youhaveto come out now.” Standing behind me, he grabbed my shoulders and shook me lightly. “It’s Friday night. You can’t just sit at home. What are you going to do, sip wine and watch Lifetime? Wait for your periods to sync up?” His laughter was punctuated by his hand slapping against my shoulders once more. “Seriously, though. I’m starting to take it personally.” Pretending to be insulted, he dropped his hand over his heart. “Eight o’clock. McGill’s. You better get your ass there.” Keeping his finger pointed at my head, he backed out of the office, his face bright with that cocky, frat boy smile.
Shaking my head at his antics, I thought about what Micah would say. I doubted he would want to go, but what the hell did I know?
Absolutely nothing.
How sad was that? Considering everything we used to know about each other, how close we used to be, and now, even though I knew a little about his life, I still felt as if I knew nothing about the man who used to be my best friend.
Hell, if I was honest, he was so much more than that. But, that ship had sailed a long time ago. And now, he was nothing more than an old friend staying for a few days.
Gathering my bags, I decided that needed to change. Micah used to be the one person I could tell anything to. He was theonlyperson I ever told . . .
He was staying. Here. With me.
My world came to a standstill when he said those words and my emotions overrode any kind of rational thought.
Without even thinking, I pulled Micah close to me, like I’d wanted to do so many times before. Despite my body’s reaction to his heat, I held him a moment longer, breathing in his masculine scent. He was all sweaty from our run, but underneath that all, I could smell the freshness of his soap.
My body relaxed against his and his against mine.
This couldn’t be happening. He was holding me back. And it was most certainly not in my imagination.
Pulling back from him slightly, I held him at arm’s length. “Micah.” His name stuck in my throat.
“Yeah, yeah,” he spat out, stepping back. Shaking off the moment as if nothing happened, he stumbled away from me. “So we should probably head back now.” Avoiding eye contact, he turned away from me. Micah stretched out his legs, bending at the waist and reaching for his toes.
But all that did was put his ass right in my view.
Oh, fucking hell.
Ruffling my hands through my hair, I weighed my options.
The much easier option was keeping my mouth shut, just like I had all these months. Just like I had my entire life. No one else knew, so keeping it from Micah wouldn’t be any different than keeping it from anyone else. But with each passing day, keeping it a secret was exhausting me.
But if I told him how I felt . . . he’d turn away and never talk to me again. He’d bully me like the other kids did for the last five years. I’d lose the only friend I’d ever had and he’d certainly tell everyone about it and they’d beat the shit out of me.
Or worse.
No. There was no way in hell I could tell him I was gay.
And there was not a fucking chance on this earth that I could say I wanted him.
As if he’d want me back. Like that would fucking happen.
“Ready?” he asked, looking at me over his shoulder. My face must have clued him into whatever was going on in my head. He cocked his head, zeroing in on the knot in my brows. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” I lied, shaking my head. Within a matter of seconds, I was dizzy. The heat of the afternoon, combined with the long run, and now this . . . my head, and my legs for that matter didn’t stand a chance.
My knees wobbled, and before I could do anything about it, I crashed to the ground.
“What the?” were the last words I heard before everything turned black.
