Page 7 of Oblivious Roommate

I dare to smile. “Do I get a discount?”

Kai snorts. “Will you kiss my hand every time you come in?”

“If that gets me a discount.”

Kai winks at Cass. “He’s hot and funny, I’m keeping him.”

“Deal. But I’ll only let you borrow him for a few hours at a time,” Cass says and shakes Kai’s hand, as if they were making a business deal. “And you always get me free whipped cream on my hot chocolate.”

Kai smirks. “Doesn’t your boyfriend provide you with enough whipped cream?”

The stupid smile freezes to my face as I space out a little. Boyfriend. Is that what Kai meant when he talked about a lover boy? My mind is about to melt and become cake icing because I cannot comprehend this.

“You have a boyfriend?” I choke out, unable to change my facial expression.

Cass freezes with his sandwich in hand, but he doesn’t get to speak because Kai does first. “Speaking of the devil...”

The bell above the entrance jingles, paralyzing me further.

Chapter 4

In the moment between Kai’s casual remark about Cass’s boyfriend and his arrival, I don’t have the time to make any assumptions about him. But when I turn to see the man who entered, I’m not at all surprised. He is every bit as tall and muscular as Cass, and with his square jaw, tanned skin, and a flannel shirt paired with pale jeans, he looks like a shining star on country music’s firmament. He even has the hat, and everything.

Just like Cass, he isn’t someone I’d expect to be gay. No makeup or excessive jewelry. No flamboyant movements. He’s like any other guy, though very handsome.

I’m only getting to grips with Cass being gay, and now I find out he has a boyfriend? This is all a bit too much.

To make matters worse, my face is full of tuna sandwich when he comes up to our table in fast strides, and I want to swallow as quickly as possible, chewing be damned. He extends his hand, I extend mine, but I’m already choking, can’t breathe, and my throat is on fire.

His eyes go wide, and I vaguely hear him asking if I’m okay, but I’m definitely not.

At this point, I wonder if dying on the spot wouldn’t be preferable to dealing with the embarrassment I’m feeling. But this fucking knight in flannel armor pulls me out of my chair, grabs me from behind and bends me over like I’m a puppet. I’m wheezing for breath. Cass is yelling something as he grabs my arm, but the cowboy impersonator forcefully presses on my abdomen.

I spit out the stuck bit of sandwich with so much force it lands on the laptop of a dude sitting at another table in massive headphones.

I gasp for air as the preppy guy turns to us in shock, likely unaware that I almost died.

Cass is at my side as I awkwardly fall back into my chair, still feeling the hard grip of my best friend’s cowboy boyfriend around my midsection. He’s pale, and he’s cupping my face, raising his voice.

I’ve never been this embarrassed, but with so many eyes on me, I don’t dare dash for the door.

“Are you okay? Can you breathe?” Cassian demands while the girl I’ve seen behind the counter approaches with a large glass of water.

I don’t need all this commotion.

I’m fine.

I try to say it, but my voice comes out as a rasp. Only after I cough a few times and drink the damn water am I able to produce an intelligible sound. “I’m okay.”

The cowboy smiles at me and extends his hand once more. “Logan. Good thing I was here,” he says in a sexy Southern drawl I immediately dislike. And it’s not that I find it sexy, it’s just one of those things people say is sexy.

“Thanks,” I mutter and introduce myself. Even my hunger is gone.

For the sandwich. I will probably eat the cake.

“Here, have some more water,” the girl says, flashing me a white grin. “Don’t want you passin’ out in the cafe. It’s bad for business.”

I nod, even though I don’t find the joke funny. “Um… yeah, when I’m about to die, I’ll run to the sidewalk really fast.”