Page 90 of Roommate
Then he moves over a bit, making room for me to sit beside him, and I feel just a millimeter better.
I sit down and wait, while Griff studies his hands. Eventually he clears his throat. “Talk,” he says. “Is this a new thing?”
That’s surprisingly hard to answer. “Yes and no? I don’t know. I never dated anyone before now. But, well…” I’m so uncomfortable right now that I wish I could just disappear from this Earth. “I guess it’s been a long time coming.”
“I had no idea,” he says to his shoes. “None. You never said a word.”
“No kidding.”
“Why?” The word is surprisingly harsh. “My sister is bisexual. You know we don’t care.”
“But it’s weirder among guys,” I say quietly. It sounds like a cop-out.
“Is it? If Dylan was gay, I wouldn’t feel differently about him…” Griff puts his head in his hands. “Shit. I’m not trying to make this about me. Never mind. I’m just surprised, that’s all. That you’d carry that around and not tell anybody. Is this why you moved out of your house?”
Yes. “Partly. I was just so stuck in a rut at home. Dad and I fight. Kyle doesn’t step up, even though he’s supposed to run the place with Dad.”
Griffin lifts his head and looks me in the eye for the first time. “Does Kyle know about you and the baker? He doesn’t, does he?”
I shake my head.
“That one time he was shooting off his mouth about you living with a gay guy. Jesus. You must have wanted to strangle Kyle.”
“A little,” I admit. “But Kyle isn’t the big problem, okay?”
“Who is? Your dad?”
“Yeah. It’s like…” There’s no way I can make Griffin understand, because he doesn’t know my other secrets. “I’m not ready to come clean about Roderick, because it’s one more thing for Dad to comment on. I don’t want to discuss my personal life.”
My cousin listens quietly. “Okay. I get it. Sort of. I won’t say anything when I go home. Or later today.”
“Ugh.” Fucking holiday. “Why did you, uh, end up in my bedroom anyway?”
Griffin laughs. “I brought you a dresser. Remember I said I’d ask my mom?”
“Oh. And she just had a dresser lying around?”
“Yeah. Anyway, I loaded it into the truck and also took six pies to the church for their Christmas supper.” He points at the church, just across the green. “Two birds, one stone, right? You didn’t answer your door, but it was open, and I heard music. Your kitchen has breakfast all over the counters—thanks for that strip of bacon, by the way—and since nobody answered when I called your name, I went upstairs.”
It all makes perfect sense. And now my face is burning up again.
“You can bet I won’t make that mistake again.”
I let out a groan.
“Looking you both in the eye this afternoon will be a little tricky, since I’ll be trying not to laugh.” He lets out a snicker. “Roderick is coming over, right?”
“Yeah,” I say in a low voice. “He has nowhere else to go.”
“Oh right—Mom said something about his parents being dicks.”
“Aunt Ruth did not use the word dick.”
“I’m paraphrasing.” He grins.
That’s the moment I know that Griff and I will be okay. Kyle wouldn’t understand, and Dad might treat me like a freak show, but Griffin and I will be fine.
“So let’s unload this fucker, okay?” Griff stands up and walks down toward his truck. “If I don’t get home soon, Audrey is going to ask what took so long. And I’m going to have to make up some shit about an alien abduction or something so as not to let the world in on your big secret, if you’re not willing to tell.”
