Stupid Love (Stumbling into Love 1)

Great. Now I wanted to see how bendy Elijah could get. Just what I needed. “He teaches Pilates.”

“Oooh.” He nodded. That explained it well enough and then Will was off on another topic. “You hungry? Should we grab food first?” he asked, already forgetting about Elijah.

“Yeah, let me get dressed real quick.”

Will collapsed onto my couch as I went back to my room. I put on my favorite pair of dark-blue jeans, along with a charcoal-gray shirt that made my chest and arms look fucking fabulous. After I brushed my teeth, I threw some gel in my hair, but not too much, otherwise it got crunchy. I liked it to look properly mussed, like someone ran their fingers through it.

“What do you want for dinner?” Will asked when we stepped onto the sidewalk. It was slightly muggy. Humidity wasn’t my favorite, and I definitely wasn’t ready for it to hit in full force.

“Raving Ramen?” I asked, then silently berated myself. It wasn’t like I would know who ILWMBF was if I saw him there, and again, I had no business caring. But I had broken and looked up Raving Ramen this week. It was a Georgia establishment, so I knew he was in state.

“I’m down,” Will replied.

It was close enough to walk, which is what we did. It really was fucking good. We ate and chatted while I tried to pretend I wasn’t looking around and wondering if any of these people were ILWMBF. It made me want to bang my head on the table every time I acknowledged I was doing it, so I tried not to acknowledge it as much as possible.

“What’s up with you? You seem distracted,” Will said, and I shook it off.

“Nah, I’m good. Just ready to go out.”

“Let’s do this, then.”

“I want to hit up some of the gay bars tonight,” I found myself saying.

“Works for me.”

We finished eating, and I ordered a car on my app. Five minutes later, we were on our way.

Krave was already in full swing when we got there, pop music making my heart vibrate. Will and I went to the bar. I ordered us each a beer when he said, “Hey, isn’t that your bendy neighbor?”

My gaze followed where Will was pointing, and yep, there was Elijah with his friend Danny and some guy I didn’t recognize.

The bartender handed me our drinks. “Here you go.”

I paid, and then my eyes found them again. Danny laughed at something the other guy said, who then smiled, before leaning forward and kissing him. Elijah stared at them for a moment, this look of heartbreak on his face, like Danny had kicked a puppy, before he looked down.

Oh shit. Elijah was into his best friend. It was plain as day.

Danny said something to Elijah, who grinned with hearts in his eyes, and my suspicion was confirmed.

It was then that our eyes snagged on each other’s. Elijah’s went wide, this panic in them I didn’t understand. The guy didn’t like me, sure, but why would he be freaking out?

He bit his plump lip, which yeah, was hot, then whipped around, like if he gave me his back, I suddenly wouldn’t know who he was. Damn, that look on his face was similar to the one he gave me the other night.

When we were hate-flirting.

Which, lately, had been something I’d enjoyed doing with ILWMBF…who was into his bestie the way Elijah was so clearly into Danny.

Danny.

D.

No. Fucking. Way.

It couldn’t be, but then, why had Elijah lost his shit with me the other night? And yeah, now that I thought about it, Elijah and ILWMBF both seemed not to like me from the very start. They were both the relationship type. They both had best friends they wanted to bone, whose names started with a D. They both flirted with me, even though neither liked admitting it…

“What’s going on? Did I miss something? Bendy neighbor keeps looking at you, and then he turns away quickly.”

I looked at Will, not sure what to say. I couldn’t tell him about Charades & Sexcapades. Even if I didn’t care if he knew about me, it would betray Elijah’s confidence if he was ILWMBF. Which was impossible. Had to be.

But…did it really? ILWMBF lived in Georgia too…

“Did you fuck him?” Will asked.

“What? No. Why would we be acting weird if we slept together?” I never understood the weirdness after sex. You had fun together, which was the goal, I might add. The end.

“He’s looking at you strangely. And you’re not looking at him and seemed a little freaked when I pointed him out.”

“Nah, it’s cool. We just don’t get along.” I shook off his concern when really, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Elijah might be ILWMBF and how it made sense, because they were way too alike and I liked flirting with both of them more than I would ever admit. And they for sure liked flirting with me more than they would ever admit. “Let’s go dance.”