But as Shane left, silence settled around the table. I looked at their blank faces and wondered if there was beer foam on my face. They just blinked and let the silence linger until I was ready to snap, and then Jace said, “Your boyfriend’s cute.”
“What?” I huffed. “We’re not…”
The four of them burst out laughing.
Easton leaned over to me. “Dude, you’re so dating that guy.”
“‘Let me walk you home, baby,’” Elio paraphrased.
“Shut up,” I said, slapping him with a pout since I couldn’t reach him across the table.
They all laughed, but my heart still squeezed a little at the thought of Shane being alone in the underground.
“We’re not a couple,” I said. “I’m…straight,” I said, but it didn’t sound convincing even to myself. “I think.”
“It happens to the best of us,” Elio said.
“I wouldn’t put you up as an example of the best of us, but alright,” I said.
He flipped me off.
Underneath the jokes and teasing, a question was swelling like dark clouds on the horizon. They were wrong, though. I was a little scattered lately, but I wasn’t questioning myself. Not really. You could imagine something, and it didn’t make it automatically true.
“Okay, but seriously,” Jace said, nudging me with his elbow as we left the restaurant. “Did you two hold hands under the table, or were you just playing footsie?”
I rolled my eyes and pulled my jacket tighter. “You’re hilarious.”
“Come on, man,” Elio added, slinging an arm lazily around Jaxon’s shoulders like the smug bastard he was. “You ordered for him. You literally said, ‘He’ll have the…’ like you were his husband.”
I scoffed. “He couldn’t decide.”
Easton turned with a grin, walking backward like he was leading a damn tour group. “You also took the tomato off your burger and gave it to him.”
“He likes tomatoes. I don’t. That’s just resource management.”
Jaxon snorted. “Resource management. Wow.”
“Shut up.”
The four of them were having the time of their lives at my expense, feeding off each other like gossiping birds, and it was starting to make my skin itch. I couldn’t stop thinking aboutthe way he’d looked back before walking off. Like he wanted to stay. Like he wanted me to say something that would make him change his mind.
And I hadn’t.
“So,” Jace drawled. “When’s the wedding?”
“Fuck off.”
Easton grinned. “Patrick and Shane sitting in a tree?—”
“Jesus Christ, I’m leaving,” I muttered, veering off toward the quad.
“Make sure your boyfriend gets home safe!” Jace called after me.
“He’s not my—” But I didn’t finish the sentence. What was the point? They weren’t gonna stop.
I lingered around long enough to finish my drink, then said goodbye.
Outside, I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked faster, the cool night air doing nothing to calm the heat crawling up my neck.
