I winced as I pulled my hood up, then buried my face in my hands. “I was embarrassed because I came in my pants.”
There was a long silence. When I peeked up, Audrey was looking at me with a warm smile on her face. “What?” I grumped.
“Shawn, are you telling me that you hooked up with Cass last night?”
“It might be a stretch to call it that.”
“Well, who cares if you came and he didn’t? Unless you left him hanging, that is. Did you?”
I shook my head quickly. “No, not at all! He came, too. At least I’m pretty sure he did.”
“Then what’s the problem?” she asked, throwing her hands in the air. “You’re looking at this all wrong, Shawn. It sounds like Cass might be a little less straight than you thought and probably into you, too.”
“But how could he possibly be into me? We don’t make any sense together. Cass lives in a totally different world than I do, Audrey.”
“Duh. Practically everyone does, Shawn. But that’s only because you insist on keeping your world so secret. If you and Cass are having a good time, then stop making yourself anxious and hump away.”
I blurted out a laugh. “When you say it that way.”
“I do say it that way,” she laughed back. “Now back this conversation up and start from the top. I’ve got a whole hour off for lunch, and you owe me some serious details.”
Chapter Ten
Cass
During the afternoonrunning errands in Louisville, Shawn and I managed to avoid talking about what happened the night before. He didn’t clamp up and go silent like he used to, but we filled the car ride by talking about every other thing we could think of. I played him my favorite drum solos, he told me about Atlanta, and we traded gossip about Leo. The way he waved his hands around and laughed, I could almost pretend nothing had happened at all.
Almost, but not quite. I was surprised the night before how much it had stung when he ran off to his room. I kind of expected we’d chill a little longer and hang out, even though I understood why our weird grinding session could make him feel awkward. Hell, rubbing my cock on another guy was kind of an awkward thing for a straight dude to do.
Although really, that word was making a lot less sense to me. Because the hot friction of Shawn’s body burned even better than I expected, and when I squeezed his firm ass, need jolted through me. It was animal and raw, and nothing else seemed to matter but pressing my body as close to his as I could.
Pretty far from straight, but I couldn’t really get to figuring any of it out until Shawn talked to me. So after I found us a bar to eat dinner, I decided to stop acting like a coward and just ask him how he was feeling.
“Hey, Shawn,” I said across the table. “I wanted to ask about last night.”
The bar was noisy around us as Shawn sat there for a second, poking his straw into his glass of ice water. He had put on a collared white shirt for town, and the sleeves were rolled up his slim arms. “Yeah,” he said, then looked up to me, catching me in the light hazel of his eyes. “Sorry that I ran off, by the way.”
I let out a breath, relieved to hear him say that. “It’s chill,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t do anything to upset you.”
His eyes popped open. “Oh, no, not at all! I was just overwhelmed.”
I cocked up an eyebrow. “I know I’m good in the sack, but I don’t usually get a response like that, especially not from dry humping.”
He blurted out a laugh. “I just keep wondering… Aren’t you straight?”
I nodded. “That’s a fair question. I always thought I was straight, and all my relationships have been with women.”
The waiter appeared, interrupting us, and I ordered us the veggie nachos to share and a couple of side salads. When he was gone, I saw that Shawn’s cheeks had turned pink. Instead of staring at the table, though, he held my eye. “So you are straight?” he asked.
I turned my palms up. “Hard to say.”
“Have you ever talked to Leo about this?”
I shook my head. “I was the first person he came out to, back in high school, so we’ve had plenty of talks about this kind of thing. And I did make out with a guy when I was at a party once, but even then, Leo and I just decided it was a drunk thing.”
I had an urge to glance around the bar and see if anyone was listening but managed to stop myself. It wasn’t that I cared if anyone heard me. If someone had a problem, they could fuck off, as far as I was concerned. But still, talking to Shawn right then was my first time ever talking about hooking up with a guy, and it was funny to have a conversation like that in public.
“We don’t have to tell Leo,” Shawn said. “Or anyone that you don’t want to. I’ll make sure to respect your privacy.”
