Page 40 of A Match Made In Evan
Me
Nope. They cheaped out and I’m sharing a twin room with Andi.
Ev
Is he hot?
Me
She.
Ev
Is *she* hot?
I snort.
Me
I don’t check out my colleagues.
Besides, I’m in a committed relationship.
Ev
Oh? Is *he* hot?
Me
Did I say it was with a he?
Evan sends me back a string of emojis, including ‘the finger’ and the emoji poking out its tongue and squinting.
I reply with a blown kiss emoji and look up as Andi clears her throat. I must have missed her coming back out of the bathroom. She arches an eyebrow at me. “We good to go?” she still sounds a bit miffed.
I slide my phone into my pocket and nod. “Yep.” Slinging my laptop bag over my shoulder, I smile at her and sweep my hand towards the door. “Ladies first.”
She rolls her eyes, and I smother a sigh.Great. It’s going to be a long-arse couple of days if she’s going to be in a mood the whole time.
“So,” I ask as I follow her down the hallway, after double checking that our hotel room door definitely locked when I shut it, “are you seeing anyone?”
“Ijusttold you I was single,” she huffs.
It starts to dawn on me thatmaybeher mood hasn’t got anything to do with work. I pause mid-stride. “I’m sorry, I was a little distracted earlier.” I was too concerned with texting Evanwhen we were talking, and now I feel guilty. Maybe I owe her a bit more of an explanation. “I, um…” I stall, not sure what to say.
It hits me that I might just be about to come out for the first time, and I’m not sure how to feel about it. Nervous? Yeah, I’m a bit nervous. But also relieved. Excited, even. Because I love Evan, and there’s a part of me that wants to shout about our relationship from the rooftops.
But, at the same time, it’s still so new, and so different. And we haven’t even told Mia yet. We came close at the end of the school holidays, when we were rostered to assist with the drama department’s after school rehearsals for the musical, but in the end we opted against it. Maybe I was being too cautious, but I want to be able to sit down and talk it out properly with her, not just drop the bomb without giving her adequate processing time.
“Um?” Andi prompts with folded arms from a few feet away, drumming her fingernails over her biceps.
She arches an eyebrow, and I confess, “I’ve started dating someone. It’s…new. And a bit different.”
Andi’s expression seems to flicker through a variety of reactions —not all of which I can place— before she gapes at me with wide eyes.
It’s notthatsurprising, is it? I mean, I haven’t even said I’m dating a man. I kept it all gender neutral.
“Well, shit,” she says, and I blink.
