Page 9 of The Goat in the Bedroom
“You're not going to ask me about it?”
I considered this. “Do you want me to ask about it?”
“Not really.”
“Then I won't.”
We walked toward the Dragon’s Brew campus coffee shop in comfortable silence. We'd been friends long enough that we knew both when to push and when to just be present.
When we got inside and up to the counter, I automatically ordered our usual. “I’ll have the medium iced strawberry matcha, and he’ll have a medium hot honeycomb latte with extra vanilla sweet foam.”
I grabbed our drinks when they called my name and handed Gryff his. “Here’s your gross sweetened hot bean water.”
“At least my bean water tastes good. You had to add strawberries to your chewed up grass drink to make it taste less like pure unadulterated chlorophyll.”
We grabbed a table outside. “But I lurrrve strawberries.”
Gryff chuckled which was a good sign. “You’re a strawberry.”
“Your face is a strawberry.”
He settled down next to me with a long sigh. “Can I ask you something?”
“About whether I knew about you and Captain Closeted?” I nodded and took a long sip of my drink.
“Was I that obvious?”
“To me? Yeah. But I know you better than most people.”
He was quiet for a moment, running his fingers through his beard in that way he did when he was thinking deep thoughts. “When did I give it away?”
I nudged his shoulder. “The hockey house party before spring break. The two of you conveniently disappeared. And Xan's not great at hiding beard burn.”
“Shit.” He leaned back and looked up at the sky. “That was right after we hooked up. He pulled me into a dark corner and kissed the shit out of me. But then freaked the fuck out and said to forget it ever happened.”
“That's what had you in a funk over spring break?”
“Yeah, this isn't the first time we've broken up.” Gryff sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I wish he didn't feel like he had to hide it at all.”
Uh-oh. Had Gryff caught feelings for that asshat? “It's not stupid to want a real relationship.”
“It is when the other person has made it crystal clear they think you're just an experiment.” The bitterness in his voice made my chest ache. “Listening to him talk about my 'reputation being able to handle rumors' like I'm some kind of fuck boy who doesn't take anything seriously.”
I studied his profile, noting the tension in his jaw, the way he was gripping the edge of the step. “For what it's worth, Xander can go eat a bag of dicks as far as I'm concerned.”
This was probably the first time either of us had been single at the same time in... well, ever. Since I'd known Gryff, one of us had always been dating someone, even if it was just casual.
“Well, your misery can enjoy mine as company. Olivia just dumped me too.”
Gryff twisted in his seat and scowled like I'd made him eat stinky cheese. “What? When?”
“About an hour ago. Phone call.” I kicked at a loose piece of concrete on the pavement. “She got accepted to the development program in Australia. Leaves right after graduation.”
“Fuck. I'm sorry.”
“It's fine. I mean, it's not fine, but it's not unexpected either.” I shrugged because what else was I supposed to do? “It's okay. Long-term relationships probably aren't for me. I’m used to it.”
“You shouldn't have to be.”
