“Worried. Is that what it is?”
“What else would it be?”
Kaelan snorted. “If I have to explain that to you, maybe I should start calling you a Boomer instead.” When I said nothing—an old trick to get people to talk—he sighed. “Forget about it.”
“No, I wanna know what you mean.”
“I’m not sure you’re ready for this, and I don’t mean that in a patronizing way. I thought you were fucking around, but now, I’m not so sure. Maybe you really don’t see it.”
“See what, Kaelan? The fuck are you talking about?”
“Jesus, Nash, you have a crush on him. A child could see it.”
A crush? On Forest? That was…not as preposterous as I wanted to claim. I had been talking about him a lot, apparently, and there was no denying he was on my mind often. But that was because I was concerned about him, right? He was dealing with so much, and while I wasn’t certain what bad news he’d gotten today, I had a sinking feeling it was about his job. So, of course, I was worried about him.
“Just because I talk about him on occasion and am involved in his life doesn’t mean I have a crush.”
“On occasion?” Kaelan snorted. “Fuck, bro, I know more about him than I do about my own roommate…and I’ve been sharing an apartment with that guy for two years.”
“Maybe I’m more observant than you.”
“Oh, I have no doubt about that, but that’s not why. You like him.”
“He’s…nice.” And cute. Very, very cute.
“Nice? Lord help us when you ever try to flirt. It’ll be the end of the world as we know it.”
He was being so dramatic. “Good thing I’m not trying to flirt, then, merely stating a fact. Forest is nice. He’s kind. Of course I like him. As a friend.”
“A friend you wanna fuck.”
“Kaelan!”
“What, am I wrong? You’ve thought about it, admit it.”
Of course I had, but that was normal, right? I was a gay man, and so was he. Plus, he was gorgeous, so the sexual chemistry was to be expected. That was purely biological. Nothing weird about that. “I’m a gay, single man. Of course I’d feel some sexual attraction to him. Explain to me how that’s wrong.”
“Oh, there’s nothing wrong with it. I never said there was. But you may wanna ask yourself some more questions.”
“Like what?”
“Do you wanna fuck me?”
I almost choked on my breath. “What?”
“Do. You. Want. To. Fuck. Me?”
Was he crazy? Why would he even ask that? “No! Jesus, no. You’re… You’re way too young for me and not my type. Plus, you’re my coworker.”
“I’m not your type?”
“No.”
“Describe Forest to me again.”
“He’s…” I stopped as the deeper intention of his question hit. Fuuuuuuck. I hadn’t even realized it until now, but Forest and Kaelan were very similar in build. Kaelan was taller and younger, but they otherwise shared a lot of physical characteristics. “You’re much younger than he is.”
Even I could hear how incredibly weak and pathetic that sounded.
