Page 82 of Unfix Me

After taking a bite of it, I set my fork down. “It’s bland as hell. Next year, we’re doing a Friendsgiving.”

West laughed. “None of us can cook.”

“We’ll learn together. We’re strong, independent men of the modern age.”

“I’ll hire a cook when I’m making millions.”

“Same,” Brooks agreed.

Sen snickered, throwing me a mocking look while he brought a bite of his sickly potatoes to his mouth.

“Are you gonna be a millionaire too?” I taunted.

“I think I’ll be lucky if I can rub two pennies together.”

“Good thing your boyfriend is a nurturer,” West pointed out.

“What are you even studying?” Brooks asked.

“Business,” I replied simply.

“Why?”

“Uh, for business purposes.” When he gave me a pointed look, I chuckled. “My dad owns a nonprofit organization for underprivileged youths in Maine. It’ll become mine someday and I want to expand it into more areas.”

“That’s cool. What’s it all about?”

“It’s big on teaching useful skills and getting them into activities that interest them outside of the one-dimensional public school model that pushes them all toward the same things. They have sports, mechanics, culinary arts, trades, you name it. It encourages non-gendered roles, so every person can find something that interests them, regardless of male or female-dominated fields.”

“Shit. Your dad started this?”

“Before I was born, yeah.”

“Kai’s dad is a badass,” West interjected. “He punched my dad in the face one time. He was being a mighty doucheasaurus, so it was justified.”

I laughed at the memory. When it happened, it was more shocking than anything, but the surprise on his dad’s face was priceless.

Sen pushed his plate away and leaned back in his seat. I inconspicuously put a hand on his thigh underneath the table. He’d been up and down since Halloween, but overall, he seemed to be managing - as well as someone in his position could, at least.

“Do you wanna go?” I murmured close to his ear.

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“That’s not encouraging. You could be leading me to my death after I just fattened myself up on turkey.”

“Oh, ye of little faith.”

“Don’t trust him,” West warned. “He has a habit of sacrificing his boyfriends when he gets tired of them.”

Picking up my roll, which was way too dense to count as bread, I threw it at his head. It made a distinct ‘thud’ when it hit him. Before he could start a food fight, I took Sen’s hand and started running. Something soared past my face, but I didn’t slow to see what it was.

When we were outside, I laughed and slipped my arm around Sen’s waist. After I kissed his temple, I started to pull away, but he tucked himself against my side.

“There’s nobody out here,” he said.

I looked around, confirming it was dead silent around us. There were still quite a few people on campus, but a lot went home for the holiday or found something else to do. It was a four-day weekend, which didn’t justify flying across the country, so I’d face-timed with my parents for a while earlier, then spent the evening with the guys. It wasn’t the best Thanksgiving, but it had its moments.

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