“Say what?”
“This is my fault. It was my idea to downplay what we have so Kane wouldn’t feel like an outsider, and now that’s exactly how he sees himself.”
“It may have been your idea, but I went along with it.” Blake’s eyes fall shut as he sighs heavily.
“You didn’t want to though. You only did it because I insisted it would make him feel more comfortable in the long run.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Blake’s head rolls from side to side without ever lifting it off the cushion. “I still agreed to it so I’m just as much at fault. Besides, I know your intentions were good, and there’s no way we could’ve predicted what just happened.”
“I don’t think my intentions matter at this point.”
“It’s futile to think maybe he’ll come back, isn’t it?” Blake asks softly.
“I don’t know.” I rub my hand over my face, as if that might hold my head together. “Kane seems determined to believe he’s some sort of side piece.Fuck!” I pound my fist against the cushion. “That couldn’t have gone any worse.”
“Actually—“ he exhales heavily “—it can get worse. It probably already is.”
“What? How?”
Blake leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he wrings his hands together and shoots nervous glances my way. “Jim and Teri saw us.”
“Who the fuck are Jim and Teri?”
“They live one block over. Teri runs the bookshop in town, which means the secret’s out.”
I completely forgot about them seeing us, and in the whole scheme of how my fuckup with Kane will impact the three of us, I haven’t been paying attention to how it will impact Blake. I reach over and grab the hand closest to me, hoping it calms him.
“It was coming out anyway, wasn’t it?” I know how lame that sounds, but there’s not much else I can do other than reassure him the reveal won’t be the end of the world.
“Yeah.” Blake’s head falls to his chest. “But I wanted it to come from me.”
Being outed by others is a fear second only to having those closest to you reject who you are. Despite how badly we screwed this up, how badlyIscrewed up, Blake doesn’t deserve that. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
“I’m sorry.” I give his hand a gentle squeeze.
“It’s not your fault.” Blake squeezes my fingers back, though there’s no reassurance behind the gesture.Is he already givingup?“I should have come out the moment you moved in, before Kane was even involved. Maybe it would’ve prevented all this.”
He’s not wrong—not entirely—but I can’t blame him.
“And maybe it would've kept him from getting involved with us at all. Besides, I agreed to keep quiet, which makes this just as much my fault.” I rub at the lingering ache in my chest, trying to keep my shit together.
A shrill bell pierces the air, and Blake drops my hand to reach for his phone, sitting on the coffee table where he left it last night. His shoulders slump as he hits accept.
“Hey, Mom… That didn’t take long. Teri must have called you as soon as she walked in the door…”
His eyes fall shut as he takes a shaky breath
“There’s a perfectly good explanation… No, I’m not on drugs.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose.
“My roommate isn’t, either. He’s…” Blake holds his breath as muffled sounds come from near his ear.
“He wasn’t flashing them on purpose… No, no one was cheating on anyone. Look.” Blake exhales heavily, and I take his hand again, squeezing it firmly in mine. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you, but… No, I’m not sick. Mom, listen.”
Lifting his eyes to mine, Blake holds my gaze as he bares his soul. “My roommate, Jace… He’s more than just my roommate. He’s my boyfriend. And the guy who was here this morning… He’s our other boyfriend. Or we’d like him to be…”
I know Blake’s world is in a tailspin right now, but the fact he isn’t shriveled in the corner freaking out over how this is playing out is pretty bad ass. I mean, he’s basically living his worst nightmare, revealing his truth in response to what’s being said about him instead of controlling the narrative, and he’s speaking calmly instead of losinghis shit. I’ve never been so in awe of another person, and my best friend is a pro dirt biker with a couple of world titles under his belt. I mouth the wordsI love you, and the corner of his lip lifts in a relieved yet forlorn sort of way.
