“It won’t,” I promise him. “You know these guys. They’re the good kind.”
“I …” he lets out a heavy sigh and squeezes my hand. “You really think so?”
“Well, you’ve kinda already said it so there’s really no going back now. Just own what you said and be your true self, and then maybe you can take Jess aside and apologize for that bullshit because if you don’t, you and I are going to have words, that was mean.”
His hands begin to shake as the nerves spread throughout him. “Okay,” he finally says. “You’re right. I can’t keep this bottled up anymore.” He pulls me aside and I turn to face the group, keeping myself right beside him and not allowing him the chance to back down. He's strong enough. He can do this.
The look on his face is terrifying. The self-doubt and fear of the unknown shining so fucking bright it nearly cripples me, but he raises his chin and takes a hesitant step towards them.
Milo glances around our small group, watching the way they all sit up straighter in dead silence waiting to hear what he’s about to say, all except Jess who looks nothing short of broken. “So, I, uhh … didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that but, yeah …” He looks back to Jess with his heart on his sleeve. “I’m really sorry Jess. I think you’re one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting to know, but I’m gay. I’ve always been gay, and that night at the party, I was trying to cover it up. People had been whispering about me for weeks, assuming they knew but didn’t have the proof, and when you kissed me …”
“You used me.”
Milo’s gaze drops to the ground. “Yeah, I did,” he whispers, “and I’m so fucking ashamed about that, but then things kept happening between us and for a short minute, I thought maybe I was bi because, girl, damn … you knew what you were doing. You’re a fucking rocket in the sack and that tongue. Fuck, baby. You’re a man’s dream come true.”
“Just not yours.”
Milo shakes his head as Colton’s questioning gaze meets my eyes, realizing that I knew this all along and didn’t say a word.
Jess lets out a heavy sigh as her eyes begin to fill with tears. Drix scurries over and squishes herself beside Jess, holding her tight, just as a best friend should. She looks up at Milo with a fierce stare. “That’s really low of you, Milo. I get that you weren’t ready to come out and tell people yet. This world isn’t exactly accepting of gay people, but using her like that … it’s fucking wrong.”
“I know,” he says, “Which is exactly why I cut things off with her. She doesn’t deserve that and I could see that she was starting to have real feelings for me. I couldn’t morally let it go on. I’ve been so far locked in the closet that the thought of coming out has made me physically sick, and believe me when I say that in this world, it’s safer to pretend to be straight than to be who I really am.”
Jess looks down at her lap. “It’s fine,” she whispers. “I should have known. No straight man has the right to be that manscaped. You’re practically a work of art down there.”
“Hey,” Charlie snaps, throwing himself to his feet. “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of manscaping. I’ll have you know that my junk looks like a fucking treat.”
Drix raises her chin. “Prove it.”
Charlie’s brow arches as his hands fall to the front of his shorts and within the blink of an eye, his dick is out and gently waving around, showing off every inch of manscaped skin.
“Fuck me,” Colton groans, standing up and looking anywhere but at Charlie’s dick. He walks over to Milo and pulls him in for a tight hug. He claps him on the back and a warm smile spreads across my face. “You’re all good, man. Your secret is safe with me. That couldn’t have been easy.”
Milo pulls back and gives him a grateful nod. “Thanks.”
“I got to say, I feel a shitload better about the bullshit with you dating my girl before I got to her now. It finally makes sense why you didn’t put up a fight when I stole her away.”
Milo laughs. “Yeah, I wasn’t about to stand between that shit. I have a feeling you would have taken me out if I kept her from you.”
Colton’s eyes flash down to mine and sparkle with mirth. “You’re damn right.”
Spencer moves in next and gives Milo a hug and within seconds, everyone is surrounding him—even Jess—and promising that not a word will be said until he’s ready to share it with the rest of the world.
Chapter 18
I roll Colton’s sweatpants over at my hips, keeping them in place so they quit falling down to my ankles. I have no idea what happened to mine after our fuck-fest last weekend, but they’re gone. Like, gone gone, not just hiding in the laundry somewhere, but freaking gone. I was too preoccupied with the mind-blowing dick I was getting to realize that when he tore them off me, they must have been thrown or shredded or … I don’t fucking know. Either way, I need a new pair because Colton’s just won’t do. My hips are far too small to pull this off for much longer.
I lean over the counter as the party rages around me. I don’t know how our little poolside chill session turned into a huge party but somehow it did and I wouldn't have it any other way.
After Milo finally came out of his closet—well, halfway out—the mood accelerated and everyone was ready to party. Though that could have had a little something to do with the cocktails we were sucking down way too fast for our own good.
Charlie made one call and nearly the whole senior class from Bellevue Springs Academy was here and when Drix did the same, the sausage fest suddenly had an equal share of buns to go around.
Charlie and Drix haven’t stopped flirting with each other since I put the idea in their heads and now that I see it, I like it. The two of them would be perfect together. Charlie needs a strong girl like Drix to even out his bullshit. Hell, he just needs someone who could put up with him, and Drix is perfect for that. Not to mention, they’re both sexy as fuck. They’re a perfect match.
There’s nothing better than sitting back and watching two people come together and now that the idea is in my head, I’m intent on making it work between them. Charlie and Drix together would be like a sonic boom. Fucking perfect.
I lean over the kitchen counter, watching the party around us. When all the girls from BSP showed up, Cora came wandering out of her bedroom as though the party was her idea in the first place and after rolling my eyes for the hundredth time, I gave up caring. Casey can deal with her, she’s not my problem.
I pick at the grapes on the counter, watching Milo as he dances across the party. I've never seen him so energetic before and that’s saying a lot when it comes to Milo. He’s always the life of the party but now, it’s like Milo on crack. A massive weight has fallen off his shoulders and while he’s still keeping his secret from the rest of the world, around our friends, he can finally be himself and nothing will ever make me so fucking happy.
The lights are dimmed and the vibe in the room is enough to have me forgetting all the shit going on in my life. Nic who? Widows who? Except for Sebastian, of course. He somehow managed to weasel his way back in. Even though I’ll always question if I can trust anything he says to me, I’m glad to have him back in my life where he belongs.