Page 78 of Oblivious Roommate

The Marshalls observe the ugly Christmas sweater tradition, so I got myself a green monstrosity with a snowman at the front.

I smirk at Matt. “Squeeze his nose.”

Matt frowns but does as told, and when he presses the orange pom-pom, the tiny speaker inside says ‘Merry Christmas!’. He laughs at it for much longer than the gag outfit deserves. Another thing I love about him. We both find the dumbest shit amusing.

It took me a while to get to terms with Matt being my straight best friend, who could never become anything else, but now that I know he’s gay too, and that he loves me, the future feels brighter than ever. I intend to spend it with him.

I can’t wait.

“Anything I need to know before I enter the lion’s den?” I ask in a low voice, pointing toward the living room.

It’s almost as if a light comes on in Matt’s head. He makes the most ridiculous faces sometimes. “Oh! Oh!” He leans closer to whisper in a conspiratorial voice. “My cousin came out last week. I just found out. He’s the one wearing glasses. Act casual.”

As opposed to… what? Asking him if he has a boyfriend or something? I nod and smile. Matt bites his lip, positively fuckable. I fondly remember the BJ he gave me on the way home, the last time we could be with each other without the risk of being walked in on. Before I remind him of it, he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the noise of music and conversations.

I’m fucking terrified.

But act cool⸺something I learned from my dad who always says the ‘fake it till you make it’ line.

I raise my hand and greet everybody when we walk in, starting a chain reaction of introductions. One of Matt’s uncles gives me the side eye, but other than that, everyone seems nice. The gay cousin barely looks up at us from his phone. He’s wearing an ill-fitting sweater and I can’t really see his eyes under the mop of black hair.

So much for gay camaraderie.

Then again, he appears to be too young for college, so I guess we’re lucky he’s not wearing headphones to ignore his family.

I can only hope his parents won’t prod him at dinner to talk to the other gays or something.

Matt’s dad approaches us in the same sweater he’s worn each year since I’ve known him. The ugly thing features Santa using someone’s chimney as the toilet, which is comical on a man who always seems super serious. He watches at me from behind thick-rimmed glasses and his mustache twitches along with his lip.

“So, you’re my son's boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you... Ca... Callum, was it?” he asks, looking at Matt.

Of course. He’s pretending he doesn’t know me. Har-har.

Matt laughs though. I guess between a real dad and a cat daddy, they share the same sense of humor. “Dad! It’s Cass, don’t you remember? He’s the one who has the gambling addiction.”

Matt’s dad frowns. “No, that’s George. I’m sure this is Callum, who cooks the… you know, the pies.”

Matt shakes his head, still going along with the joke. “No, Callum is the one with the dog, Cassian is my boyfriend.”

“Oooh! That Cassian.” Mr. Marshall winks at me, and his mustache does its twitchy thing again. “Oh yeah, I remember you. My son goes through so many boyfriends each month I barely keep up!”

In any other situation, I’d goad him into more straight-faced jokes, but I’m still tense, so I squeeze Matt’s hand, wordlessly asking him for help.

He rubs my hand with his thumb in reassurance. “Yeah, I found Cass at Santa’s grotto last week. Remember? When I took Tina’s kids to the mall.”

Mr. Marshall finally lets me off the hook and pats my shoulder. “I hope this one sticks around.”

“I intend to.”

Matt grins ever wider. “We already have plans to trek through a few national parks in the summer, so I can only hope he doesn’t dump me by then. We do have a child together though, so it won’t be so easy to get rid of me.”

Mr. Marshall nods and pulls out his phone to show me… that he’s using a photo of Spark as his wallpaper. “I always wanted a grandson.”

How can this man say all this with a straight face? This time, I can’t help but smile. “I will make an honest man out of Matt yet.”

Matt just snorts, but then there’s another ring at the door. Fortunately, I’ve gotten more at ease by now.

I’ve got a true Italian family. We’re loud, there’s a lot of us, and we tease each other often. But the Marshalls can easily compete with us, especially when Matt’s older brother, Adam, is added to the mix.