"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not particularly."
He nods, respecting my boundary while making it clear he's not going anywhere. "Okay. But if you change your mind..."
"I know where to find you." Reaching for my door handle, desperate to be alone with my racing thoughts and the hollow feeling spreading through my chest.
"One more thing," Drew says before I can escape. "This doesn't change anything with the frat."
Pausing my hand on the doorknob. "What?"
"I know what you're thinking," he continues. "That this is awkward, that one of you might have to leave. But that's not how we operate. You're both our brothers. We'll figure it out."
The unexpected support throws me. "James was here first. If anyone should leave?—"
"No one's leaving," he interrupts firmly. "This is new territory for us, sure, but we'll figure it out. Together."
For the first time since everything imploded, the ice through my core thaws a little. "I… I appreciate that."
Footsteps on the stairs announce another arrival, Gavin, looking uncharacteristically serious.
"Everything okay?" he asks, glancing between us.
"Getting there," Drew answers. "I was telling Caleb that his place in the frat is secure, regardless of what's happening with James."
Gavin nods vigorously. "Of course it is. Need me to help with anything? I'm great with breakups. Well, not great at having them, but great at the after part. Ice cream, terrible movies, burning photos, whatever you need."
Despite everything, the corner of my mouth twitches upward. "I'm good, Gavin. But thanks."
"You guys were good together," Gavin adds, apparently unable to stop himself. "Even when you were faking it for the frat to see."
Drew and I both stare at him.
"What?" Gavin asks, utterly guileless. "It was really obvious you were faking it to get Drew off your back about mandatory events. But after that kiss at the snowball fight, which was super hot, by the way?—"
My face burns.
"—I knew it was becoming real."
"You were watching us?" Momentarily distracted from my misery by mortification.
Gavin shrugs. "Well, when you're locked out of searching for porn, I settled for in-person."
"Fuck off, Gavin," I say without real heat.
He grins, taking my response as a good sign. Meanwhile, Drew seems to be processing new information.
"Wait," he says slowly. "You two were fake-dating? This whole time?"
"Not the whole time." Guilt is adding to the emotional soup brewing inside me. "It started because you were kind of pushy with the mandatory events." Yeah, that sounds bad. Wincing, I add, "Sorry about that."
"Are you sorry it happened? All of it?"
It's a loaded question, one that forces me to look beyond the immediate pain of the last hour to everything that came before: the late-night conversations, the quiet moments, and the way James looks when he's truly relaxed, guard down, sharing parts of himself I suspect few people ever get to see.
"No."Strange. Didn't expect to say that."I'm not sorry for any of it. Except..." I trail off, a horrible thought forming. "Except for tonight. For believing my father without talking to James first."
Drew's expression sharpens. "What did your father tell you?"
