“Already saw him buck naked and rock hard so?—”
Now it’s Justin choking on his beer. “Dude. And you didn’t jump him?”
“Uh, no. Until now, I didn’t have any evidence he had feelings for me. You really think he does?”
“We all do. We all see it. I know taking this kind of risk is scary, but if you want my advice, you should tell him.” He bumps his elbow into mine. “Besides, you’re not scared of anything, right?”
He climbs off the stool, throwing the stupid words I said a month ago in my face.
I watch him go join Jade and Brian and mull it over.
Telling Brian the truth means risking everything, but I’m starting to think it’s a risk worth taking.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HARDY
Regular Season Week 17
Brian is acting weird.
After Justin and Jade visited, things moved rapidly into Christmas celebrations. In addition to Christy, his mom and his sister were in town, and things were busy. We had a game on Sunday, and we have another one tonight, and that’s where my head should be, but it’s not.
I’m thinking about why Brian started acting strange once we were alone in this apartment again. The average person probably wouldn’t be able to tell, but he seems cagier. On his phone more. Less engaged. And sometimes when he looks at me, there’s this look of guilt on his face. Or what looks like guilt to me. Or maybe something apologetic.
He’s keeping something from me, but I don’t know what.
When I walk out of my bedroom in my boxers and undershirt, suit on a hanger in my hand, I see him on the couch, flipping through one of his many poetry books. Though, as I get closer, I recognize the author’s name, but the cover isn’t one I’ve seen before.
“New book?”
His gaze lifts to me, and it lingers on me for a moment, then he closes the book and sets it on the table. “Yeah.”
See? Weird.
He’s also in boxers and an undershirt, and I’m trying not to ogle him. The last thing I need right now is to make things weirder.
I’ve been thinking about how to talk to him—still deciding whether I want to bring up my feelings, and how. But the weirdness between us the last few days has made me second-guess this. If things are weird now, will I make it worse by bringing this up? Probably. Which means I’ll bury it until it explodes out of me at the worst time.
Great plan.
Brian’s phone goes off, and he picks it up quickly, then types something back. Like I was already planning to do, I walk over and sit down next to him, and as I do, he pulls the phone closer to him, like he’s afraid I’ll see what’s on the screen.
I lean a little closer and whisper, “Are you cheating on me?”
Brian jumps and fumbles his phone. “What? No.” Then my words seem to register, and he turns to me with a sigh and elbows me. “What would that even mean?”
“I don’t know. But you’re being super weird, especially about your phone, so what don’t you want me to see?”
He hangs his head. “Ugh. So, I’m not being discreet?”
I chuckle at that. “Not so much. You tackle people more discreetly.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I just hope if there’s something going on, you’d tell me.”
“Right. Well, it’s not a big deal or anything. Just uh…” He rubs the back of his neck. “I started using this dating app, and I’ve been talking to someone.”
