Page 21 of The Broposal

She immediately slipped through the open door and started sniffing the guy, who yelped and almost dropped the bag of Cane’s he was carrying.

“You don’t like dogs?” I asked, sizing him up. He was tall and lean with curly brown hair and a slightly cropped top. If this guy didn’t like dogs, how compatible could he possibly have been with Kenny?

“No, I’m fine with dogs. I was just surprised,” he said as he held the bag of food out of Luna’s reach. Sure, hesaidhe was fine with dogs, but he wasn’t even petting her. I called her back inside. Normally, she would protest, wanting to explore the new person, but she didn’t. I guess she didn’t find him interesting enough. She was a good judge of character.

Red flag number one.

Once Luna was back inside, the guy waved at me with his free hand. “Kenny, right? You look different from your pictures. Not that I’m complaining…” He looked me up and down.

“Uh, no,” I said, maybe a little colder than I’d intended. “Kenny’s my roommate.”

“Oh! Sorry, I only brought enough food for two… I’m Adam, by the way.” He smiled and held his hand out. I scanned him for any suspicious serial killer signs before shaking it. “Okay… Ow.”

I hadn’t meant to grip his hand that hard, but I was a little on edge. “Sorry…”

He just stood there awkwardly until I realized I was supposed to let him in. “Right.” I opened the door wider and stepped aside. Luna didn’t even bother with him. Instead she lay by the bathroom waiting for Kenny. “Kenny’s in the shower. He’ll be out in a minute,” I said, more to Luna than Adam.

Adam nodded as he looked around. He chuckled at the sight of Thornelius. “Cute cactus.”

“He’s a succulent,” I corrected.

“Uh, yeah. Acactussucculent,” he said with a smile. “Wait, did you say ‘he’?” He let out another little laugh. Dick.

“Do you have a problem?” It wasn’t that I was embarrassed. How could I have been embarrassed about something Kenny was so excited about? But how dare this guy look down on one of the first examples of Kenny expressing his own agency inyears? If Kenny wanted to adopt and coparent and name an emotional support succulent, who was I to stand in his way? So what if it looked silly? Kennychosethis. Maybe choices were easy for most people, but they weren’t for Kenny, and he still chose this specific plant. Chose his outfit. Named him. Yes,him. And chose to raise him withme. So fuck this Adam guy for laughing.

Adam raised his hands in surrender. “No, no problems here.”

Finally, the running water from the bathroom came to a stop, and Adam looked almost as relieved as I felt. Thank fuck.

We both stood there awkwardly, waiting for Kenny to come out. Sure, I could have left Adam alone to go to my room, but I wasn’t getting the best vibes from him. I wanted to make sure Kenny felt comfortable before leaving them alone. Kenny sometimes had a hard time putting his foot down when he was uncomfortable, especially if he felt like someone went out of their way for him. So if he changed his mind about wanting to fuck this guy, I’d kick him out in a heartbeat. With glee.

“Hey! Sorry, I must have overestimated how far away you were,” Kenny said as he scrubbed his hands through his slightly wet hair, then lit up when he saw the Cane’s. “Oh, you brought food! Me and Han had aday. I’m starving.” Kenny went straight to the table, and Adam followed.

“Yeah, sorry, I only brought enough for two.” Adam sounded apologetic enough, but he was obviously trying to get me to leave them alone. But if Kenny wanted to be alone just yet, he’d take Adam to his room. Since he wasn’t doing that, I wasn’t about to hide away in my own fucking house.

“No worries! Han can share with me,” Kenny said, waving me over as he opened one of the to-go boxes.

I sat next to Kenny, and he handed me a chicken strip while he got to work on the fries.

“So, you two are really close, huh?” Adam asked after a couple of bites of chicken. I couldn’t help but notice his hand resting on Kenny’s thigh.

“For sure,” Kenny said, hiding his full mouth behind his hand. “We’ve been friends since, like, first grade.”

“So you’re just friends, then?” he asked, glancing back and forth between me and Kenny like he was suspicious ofus, as ifhewasn’t the potential serial killer in this situation.

“We’re friends,” I answered, almost too quickly. It felt wrong to call anything relating to me and Kenny “just.” As if our relationship was “only” something. This “Adam” (if that was even his real name) was really starting to piss me off.

“Okay, cool,” “Adam” said, then gave Kenny’s thigh a little squeeze. Not that I was paying attention.

Kenny and “Adam” talked while we finished eating, “Adam” not once letting go of Kenny’s thigh.

“So, should we take this somewhere more private?” “Adam” said as he gave Kenny this almost-hungry look. I didn’t like that look. Not on “Adam.”

“How could I say no to that?” Kenny said. While his expression mirrored “Adam’s,” I couldn’t help but read into his response.

Kenny wasn’t exactly great at saying no. Was he hinting that he needed help? I gave him a serious look, trying to telepathically ask if I should shut it down for him. He looked back at me for a second before giving an awkward laugh.

“Um, so, shall we?” “Adam” nodded toward the hallway where the bedrooms were.

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