Page 36 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

I scoff. “No.”

Indy turns so he’s facing me, walking backward with his arms stretched wide. “Here’s your proof, man. Anything can happen. I sure as fuck didn’t see things with me and Salem playing out the way they did.”

“I know. Stranger things have happened, I guess, but I don’t think that’s where his mind is right now even if I could get on board. He’s pretty fucked up still, emotionally.”

“Fair. It can take time to get over a bad relationship.”

“Maybe by the time he’s ready to move on, I’ll be over my fascination with him.”

“Maybe. Or maybe…” He does a shimmy with his shoulders, singing “Another One Bites the Dust” at me. We’re both laughing as we finish our walk home.

When we enter the house, no one is in bed yet, and vibrant voices and laughter spread through the foyer, guiding us to the kitchen. All the guys are crowded around the island, eating chips and salsa.

Salem practically leaps into Indy’s arms, kissing him obscenely as if they don’t spend every waking moment together. Stewart laughs as Kit nuzzles his neck, and Lowen leans into Oakley, who has his arms wrapped around his man. Bane and Jerryn, who aren’t an official couple, but might as well be, discuss the finer points of salsa.

Wren watches all the interactions before he looks over at me, smiling sweetly as his cheeks flush. Indy’s words replay in my mind, twisting my stomach. Wren will move on someday, finding a new place to live and a new man to build a life with,and I’ll keep watching from the sidelines, wondering what it would take to unlock the part of my heart that wants all that shit. I’ll remember my time with him, maybe even jack off to his memory, before falling into bed with someone who looks too much like him but could never be him.

But that’s the future, and I’m a firmly live-in-the-present kind of guy, so I grab a chip, scoop some salsa onto it, and toss it into my mouth, enjoying my friends and whatever bone Wren wants to throw me. Good enough for now.

“This might bethe dumbest one we’ve watched so far,” Wren says, chuckling as he leans back on the couch. “Seriously low budget for the special effects department.”

I laugh too. “It’s bad.” Glancing at my phone, I catch the time. “It’s almost three a.m.”

“I know. My brain is constantly doing the math on how many hours I have left before I have to officially get up for the day.”

“Same.”

Wren grabs the remote and turns the sound on the movie down a little. “When did yours start?”

“Trouble sleeping?”

He nods.

“Can’t even remember. It’s been like this for so long I don’t know if it ever wasn’t. You?”

“Couple of years ago. I think it was a combination of job stress and bullshit with Trent. I was hoping getting away from him would make it better.”

“It’s usually deeper than that. At least from what I’ve read.”

“Right. Do you ever fantasize about what it would be like to just go to bed and fall asleep like other people do?”

“Often. It can be lonely, right? Awake in the night when everyone else is sleeping, nothing to keep you company but a TV screen.”

“Or an insomniac roommate.”

I chuckle. “It’s been nice having you for company, but shitty that you have to suffer too.”

Wren nods. “I feel the same way. It’s much better watching dumb horror movies with you than pacing my room for hours, desperately praying to sleep gods who aren’t listening.”

I want to tell him the regular frotting and blow jobs is a pretty peak benefit too, but I keep it to myself, giving him space to talk about whatever he wants to. We don’t do a lot of talking yet, but I hope he sees me as someone he can talk to.

“Have you ever been cheated on?” he asks.

“Not really, but I’ve never really been in an exclusive relationship either.”

“Never?”

“High school for, like, six months, I think. I’m a free bird, you know? A rolling stone. That’s not appealing to a lot of people who want to plant roots.”

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