“Thanks. I learned how to surf on this thing. I wasn’t happy when my mom dual-purposed my favorite board into a piece of furniture. The idea of eating off it is sacrilege, you know what I mean? Look at all these glass marks. They make this badass thing seem very…domesticated and ordinary.” I picked up my beer and pointed at the wet ring it left.

He snickered at my irritated huff. “Maybe you should use a coaster.”

“A coaster?” I repeated.

“Yeah. You know what those are, right?” he teased.

I narrowed my gaze suspiciously as I reached for my sandwich. “Are you one of those neat freaks?”

“A little,” he admitted with a wry half grin. “Hazard of living alone.”

“I don’t think so. If I lived alone, nothing would ever get cleaned. Not that I’m a pig. I’m not.” I was. “But—”

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m not too picky. With any luck, I’ll be too busy with the play to be around much anyway.”

“Good to know.” I flashed a wide grin and took a huge bite of grilled cheese to make myself shut up when the urge to assure him I could be neat and tidy hit me. I didn’t want to make promises I couldn’t keep, but I could mend my ways for a couple of months. I didn’t want to sound desperate either, so I changed the subject.

“Where are you from originally?”

“LA. My folks live in Pacific Palisades. I didn’t tell them I want to move yet. When my mom finds out, she’ll try to talk me into coming home till school starts in September. I can’t do that and remain sane.” He sighed before twisting to face me. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Sure.”

“Were you and Sophie ever…?”

I shook my head hard enough to scramble gray matter. “No way. Just friends.”

“That’s what she said, but she talks about you a lot. I wasn’t sure if it was something more than wanting to help you fill a vacant room.”

I smiled. I didn’t know how close Sophie and Braden were, but it didn’t seem cool to tell him that her move had coincided with a gentle reminder that we were friends only.

“Are you and Soph…?”

Braden copied my frantic headshake. “Nope. She’s on a mad quest to set me up with someone, though. It’s making me nervous. One minute she’s talking about your ex and—”

“Anna?” My mouth dropped open. “I didn’t know you were—not that it matters. We broke up a year ago.”

“We’re not,” he said adamantly. “I’d never met her before today.”

“Oh. Right.”

Braden inclined his head. “You were together for a while, right?”

“Three years,” I confirmed, taking another swig of beer.

“Oh. That’s a long time.”

“Yeah. We met our sophomore year and…” I shrugged nonchalantly. “It was good for two and a half years, and then it fizzled out. According to my friends, we acted like an old married couple. I didn’t notice that part. But I noticed that it felt too…comfortable. Or maybe we didn’t want the same things anymore.”

“Ouch. I know that story,” Braden said.

I hummed like we were sharing a “dude” connection, but I’d left out a major component. And though it wasn’t his business, I might as well get it out in the open.

“That wasn’t it. I, um…” I reached for a chip, chomped one noisily, and blurted, “I came out. I’m bi.”

“Oh. Okay,” he replied carefully.

I gave him a moment to process or judge or whatever. When he didn’t say anything, I started talking. Fast. “At first, I thought we could still be together, but it didn’t feel right. Breakups suck and it was awkward. It got easier eventually. She met my ex-boyfriend, and she freaking loved him. Seriously. And when Drew dumped me, she was super supportive. Long story short…we’re still friends.”

Braden smiled. “That’s cool.”

I cocked my head and narrowed my eyes. “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

“No, and in spite of what Sophie thinks, I’m totally okay being single for now.”

“Playing the field, eh? Nice. Anything I should know about your hookup habits?”

Okay, that was random. I didn’t expect him to reply. I was just trying to make him laugh…and steer the conversation away from personal touchy-feely nonsense.

“Hookup habits?” he repeated.

“Yeah, are you a ‘swipe right, swipe left’ kind of guy or do you prefer going to bars?”

Braden snorted in amusement. “Call me crazy, but I think you’re supposed to tell me about all the great amenities here…not ask me about my sex life.”

“I respectfully disagree. We already covered the video game collection. We might as well move on to the good stuff. How will we establish sex rules if I don’t ask about your booty-call habits? That shit is as important as deciding who cleans what and if it’s okay for me to eat your leftovers. I’d argue that it’s crucial. What happens if I get home early one day and find you gettin’ down and dirty on the sofa with one of your online hotties? That could be embarrassing.”

Tags: Lane Hayes Out in College Romance
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