Page 20 of Pick One
He gazed down at me and said abruptly, “That bearded guy. You know him?”
I nodded miserably. “That’s my best friend, John.”
He grunted in acknowledgement, and I noticed that he was watching, too. Specifically, he was watching the man in John’s arms.
“You knowthatguy? The one with the…” I made a tornado-like motion at the front of my head.
The man nodded slowly.
“Is heyourbest friend?” I asked hopefully.
He snorted in surprise. “Goodman? Fuck no. He’s my…” He paused for a second and gave the Goodman person a look that was a little impatient and a whole lotlonging. “Something.”
I nodded. “They seem happy,” I volunteered a moment later. It came out sounding like an accusation.
“Goodman seems drunk off his ass,” the man replied. He glanced down at me again. “I’m Knox, by the way.”
“Teagan.” I pushed my hair back indecisively. “Well…”
“Teagan, I have an idea,” the man said suddenly. “Would you like to dance?”
Anything seemed better than standing there overthinking, so I let him lead me out on the floor. But when we got close to where John and… Goodman, or whatever his name was…were dancing, and I saw just exactly how fuckingclosethey were dancing, I kind of lost my mind. I stalked right up to them.
“You must be John’s roommate, Teagan!” the Goodman person said, all gross cheerfulness and smiles.
Overly enthusiastic people weresoannoying.
“Yeah,” I said witheringly, trying to peer over his shoulder at my best friend, who’d plastered himself to this stranger’s back. “John, are you—?”
“Teagan! Hey! Didn’t see you there!” John straightened up and leaned against the guy’s side affectionately. “This is Gay.”
Gay?
“Gage,” the Goodman person corrected.
“Are you sure?” John asked.
“Entirely,” the guy corrected, beaming up at him.
“Gage,” John agreed, giving him a fond look. He dragged the man up against his side. “He’s my new boyfriend.”
My stomach cramped like a giant had clenched it in his enormous fist and squeezed tightly. To the best of my knowledge, John hadn’t dated anyone since last December, and they’d never gotten serious enough for him to invite the guy over to our place. The man had been history by Christmas, and John had spent New Year’s Eve withme. So to hear him call this other guy his boyfriend was… horrifying.
“He’s what?” I repeated softly.
“Oh, John,” the Goodman person simpered in this cloying, utterly fake sort of way as my sweet pure John smiled down at him, steady and calm and unshakable as ever.
What. the. fuck? Could John not see that this guy wasn’t really into him? My protective instincts—yes, it turned out I had some—kicked in, and I set my jaw.
“Did you get him drunk on purpose?” I demanded of Goodman, probably way too loudly. “Are you trying to take advantage of him?”
Goodman acted all shocked and innocent, but I knew better.
“Goodman,” Knox said impatiently, coming up on the man’s other side. “What the hell are you doing?”
Precisely what I wanted to know.
“Knox!” The little asshole sounded way too happy. “Hey! Meet John. He’s my… we’re… boyfriends, so…”
