“Follow me.” It was time for me to end this idiocy. Gael deserved better than a girl who couldn’t be bothered to read the fucking room when he was in it.
I led her to where Gael was waiting for me by my car. Gael frowned when he saw us coming, but I doubted Haylee understood that this frown meant she wouldn’t have a boyfriend after this.
“Sin? Why are you with Haylee?”
“Sin and I?—”
I cut Haylee off with a hand to her face and spoke to Gael. “She wants to hang out with you this weekend and asked me to make myself scarce.”
Gael’s frown deepened at Haylee. “I don’t like you as much as I thought I could. Let’s break up.”
“What?!” Haylee’s screech hurt my ears, and I was glad we were done with this one, which probably made me meaner than I needed to be.
“I told you: Gael never liked you that much.” I tossed Gael my keys. “You drive. I want to nap.”
Gael smiled his Christmas morning smile at me, all but forgetting Haylee even existed, and as far as I was concerned, she stopped existing as soon as he dismissed her. “I’ll go slow so you can sleep longer.”
Chapter 1
Present Day
Sin
I’ve spent the last hour trying to translate a Chinese myth into English. It took me far too long to realize that I was reading Korean written with Chinese characters. No wonder the professor looked a bit wicked when he assigned the homework. It’s annoying, but good practice. Fortunately, once I realized I was actually dealing with Korean, I finished the translation quickly.
Gael sits behind me on the couch focused on theCall of Dutybattle he’s currently losing. His stats are always awful, but he plays as a medic and keeps his team alive. I appreciate his sacrifice when we play together.
“Did you finish?” he asks, leaving his game.
“Yeah. I’m just looking it over now. The professor wanted us to do it without reference materials, but he failed to mention it was a Chinese myth written in Korean using Chinese characters.”
“Here.” Gael reaches around me and sets something against my lips.
I don’t even look, I just open my mouth and take whatever he wants to share with me. It tastes like a weird yogurt pretzel.
“I had a guy ask me out today,” he says as he sets his controller on my homework.
“A guy?” He’s never dated a guy before, and it looks like he wants to talk, so I’m done with this translation. I put my pencil down, turning all the way around to give him my full attention. “What did you say?”
“I gave him my number and told him I was free whenever.” He’s wearing his Christmas morning smile; he must really like this guy.
“What’s his name?” I’m not sure what I should ask. If it was a girl, I’d know. Am I supposed to treat this the same way I would if he told me about a girl? Do I want to do that?
“Phineas. He’s the handyman who came into the cafe to repair the broken freezer about two weeks ago. He’s been coming back for a coffee and donut every morning before work since then. I really like him.”
Gael’s happiness makes me glad for him, even though I’m not sure what’s going to happen. Gael dating a guy is…
I’m not sure what to think, but my opinions can be evaluated later. Right now Gael deserves my support. “I hope he calls soon, then.”
As if my words are magic, his phone rings from the table. I grab it for him and hand it to him.
“This is Gael,” he says as he pushes another weird yogurt pretzel into my mouth.
I chew it as I listen.
“Tonight? Yeah… I know the place… Sure… Great, see you then. Bye.”
“Date?” I ask, though I can already tell that’s what’s happening.
