Page 11 of Winning You
Even now, it was the most bizarre concept. You could just point your face at someone and know what they were wearing? Or if they had globs of delicious, delicious guacamole on their cheek?
Fucking wild.
Though he supposed he did understand it as the same concept as echolocation. He wasn’t the most skilled at it, as his brain wasn’t wired that way. There were days he wished he had that flavor of autism because it would make life a lot easier. But what he could use, he assumed was something like sight.
He could tap his cane in a parking lot and get some idea of how far away a building was or how tall it stood. So…yeah. He kind of got it.
“You might want to use a napkin before we get to the house. That Oliver dude is there.”
A few months ago—hell, a few weeks ago—that might have had Lucas jumping out of his skin at the sound of Oliver’s name, but his crush was over.
It was more than over. It had been obliterated. Oliver was a new recruit to their party, and he had a very nice voice.
It was low and rumbly and reminded Lucas of Christmas spices. He laughed at Lucas’s jokes and always made sure not only to include him but to give extra descriptions of what was going on around the board since the tactile map and pieces could only provide so much information.
Lucas’s crush could be seen from outer space. And Gage, though he didn’t come around as often as he used to, was around enough to tell Lucas that he should go for it. That there was no way Oliver was doing all that to be nice.
He was hot, and so was Oliver. It would be a great match.
So, three weeks ago, he decided it was time. He was going to take the leap. The last time he’d confessed to someone, it had been Gage, and it had torn his heart almost completely in two. He’d only just started healing and feeling ready to take another risk.
This time, he wasn’t rejected to his face. This time, he’d come around the corner with one hand on the wall, following Oliver’s voice because he was on the phone. And he froze at the sound of Oliver’s clove-and-nutmeg voice using the R-slur. “Yeah, I mean, call it charity or whatever. I should mark this down in case I ever need to do community service. They’d totally count that, right? Some fucking blind autistic? You should see the way he flaps his hands, dude.”
He didn’t stick around for the rest of what Oliver thought about him. He turned on his heel and made his way back to the table and sat. His hands didn’t so much as twitch for the rest of the night.
Everyone asked him if he was okay. Everyone pointed out he wasn’t being himself.
Especially Gage.
But he’d been too chickenshit and too humiliated to say it aloud. So he lived with the pain of knowing how his former crush had seen him, and he lived with Gage still thinking that Lucas wanted him.
“You know what? I’m feeling kind of meh. Can you take me home instead?”
“Bro. This is my one night off,” Gage whined. “Please don’t do this to me.”
“You go. You’ll have fun. You can even drop me here if you want. It’s like a thirty-minute walk and?—”
“I’m not going to drop my best friend in the middle of ass-fuck nowhere and make him walk home. Fuck you.”
Lucas smiled and leaned back. “Thanks.”
Gage hummed, then shattered the moment by asking, “Is it Oliver? Something happened, didn’t it?”
Lucas bit his tongue so hard he tasted copper. He wanted to tell him so badly. It was burning a hole in his sternum. He hated keeping secrets, and he hated lying. But he also didn’t want to be the guy who ruined the harmony of their party.
He’d get over it. It wasn’t like Oliver was the first person to think of him that way, and he sure as hell wouldn’t be the last. So why cause a stir now? He had more pressing matters in his life—like when was he going to lose his virginity?
And to whom?
And where?
“Why don’t I hang out with you,” Gage said as the car began to slow. Lucas recognized the driving pattern. They were about to turn into the parking lot of his apartment. “We can watch a movie or something.”
“Dude. Go finish the fucking campaign.” Gage was the DM for the first time in almost a year. “You worked for, like, two months on that thing. I’m going to sit here, listen to a really, really sexy audiobook, and probably pass out with my dick in my hand.”
“Why are you the worst?” Gage asked as he pulled into his usual parking space.
Lucas grinned at him. “I’m a damn delight. Now, kiss my forehead and send me off to bed.”
