Page 6 of 12 Gays of Christmas

I grin at his response, but then it becomes awkward. How is this going to work? I’m crap at picking up guys. Obviously, or I wouldn’t need my roommate’s help. “So, uh—”

“What about him?” He nods to the guy on the left working on his quads. “He keeps looking over here.”

“Are you sure he’s looking at me?” The guy is cute. Lots of muscles. Light-brown hair and a slightly crooked nose. He catches me staring and smiles.

“Yeah. Pretty sure.” Colin takes a step back. “Welp, you don’t need me anymore.”

“Don’t you dare leave me,” I say, trying to push down the panic and failing.

“He’s not going to talk to you with me here. You can do this, Gil. You’re a badass sports star for the ASU Redbirds. Talking to a cute guy should be easy.”

“Okay, fine. But can you hang out…like, over there?”

“For fuck’s sake, Gil.”

I give him my puppy-dog look. The one that gets me almost anything I want. He shuts his eyes and mumbles cuss words at me.

“Fine. I’ll be on the treadmill. If I fall down, just leave me there to die.”

After he leaves for the other side of the gym but is still within my field of vision, I have no idea what to do. Should I try to talk to the guy? Or work on a different muscle group and hope he approaches me? Is getting a guy or losing my virginity worth all this stress?

“Hey, your spotter left. Need some help?”

And there he is. I had almost convinced myself he was interested in Colin, and I’d started to not like the guy but now, up close, I can see the interest in his brown eyes. Maybe Plan Pop the Cherry or Top the Tree—I need a better name—is still a go.

“I’m Ray,” he says. “I haven’t seen you around here.” But he’s not fooling me. He knows who I am.

“Oh.” God, I sound lame. “I’m usually here in the mornings.”

“But you came in later today? Why?”

I smile. I can do this, right? “Needed a change of scenery.”

“Are you enjoying the view?”

Okay, cheesy. But at least we are headed in the right direction. “Very much.” And I let myself really enjoy the view of him. He’s a little sweaty, but I like it.

The rest of the time, we spot each other, and then he asks me out for tomorrow night. “How about tonight,” I say, trying to sound casual and not like some weirdo with a detailed gay to-do list. “If you’re free.”

He grins. “I like your enthusiasm. Sure, tonight.”

* * *

COLIN

When didmy life go so downhill that I’m now cast in the role of Cyrano de Bergerac in this fucked-up scenario?

After the gym, I try to retreat to my room, but Gil pulls out the roommates-back-each-other-up card.

“Dude, who helped you con your mother?”

“I didn’t con her,” I say, slamming the kitchen cabinet closed. Where did he hide the gummy bears? Working out makes me hungry and a little depressed. Or is it going to the gym? All that muscle on display. Showoffs. “And you admitting over Zoom to eating all the cookies she sent isn’t the same as spying on you and your future BF.”

“I didn’t eat those cookies. You did.”

“All I needed was for you to tell her I shared them.”

“But you didn’t share.”

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