Page 22 of Hidden Plays
“Are you a fan of the gay bar now?” Tex bit into his pastry.
“It’s all right. I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon, though.” As the coffee stream ended, I moved my cup to the counter and poured creamer into it, then stirred with the spoon already laid out on a folded paper towel.
“Why not?” Casey pulled the wrapper off a cupcake and bit into it. “Oh, my fucking God, try this.” He padded to me and held it to my mouth.
I balked. “A little early for so much sugar, don’t you think?”The scent of sugar and buttery frosting drifted into my nose. It smelled heavenly.
“Don’t be such a prude. Eat it.” Casey shoved it closer.
“Fine.” Holding his hand steady, I tipped my head and bit into it. The flavor of bitter chocolate mixed with sugary butter to explode in my mouth. “Fuck.” I licked the crumbs from my lips. “That’s so good.” As I sipped my coffee, the flavors mixed perfectly.
“Told ya.” Casey beamed at me.
“Has your new boyfriend sent you a good morning text yet?” Tex wagged his brows and bit into a long pastry. White filling oozed from the end, and he licked it off.
“I don’t know. I haven’t looked.” In fact, I’d left my phone in my room. Holden wouldn’t text me this morning, anyway. We weren’t boyfriends. We weren’t even close. I probably should never jerk off to his image again. That was a bad move on my part, but I’d barely been awake.
Casey hurried down the hall, his hand striking the corner of the wall as he passed.
“What are you doing?” Damn it, he was getting my phone. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can you all let me have my coffee first?” They were all high on caffeine and sugar already. I drank my coffee. What should I tell them? Lie and say I had a text? What if they wanted to see it?
With a mischievous grin, Casey strode to me with my phone and held it out. “Here. Let’s see how much of an impression you made on this guy.”
I swallowed hard as I snatched my phone from him. If I mentioned there was no text, then they’d feel sorry for me and start this shit about meeting a guy all over again. If I told them I got a text, maybe they’d leave me alone? “Hang on a minute. The coffee’s working.”
Holding up the phone, I strode into the hallway bathroom and shut the door. I had to tell Holden to text me somethingsweet. Fuck, he’d think I was crazy. But there was no other way. I called him, and the phone rang a few times.
“Hello?” Holden’s groggy voice came through. “JJ? You all right?”
“I’m fine. I need you to do something, so my stupid friends will leave me alone.” I glanced at myself in the mirror, my hair tangled at the back of my head. That was from the jerk-off session. Warmth surged in my cheeks.
“Okay, what?”
“Send me a good morning text, like a boyfriend would. Something…I don’t know, not something a straight guy would send a chick.” My heart pounded in my ears. Would he fuck this up?
“What? Why?” He choked on a laugh.
“Just do it. I’ll owe you, okay? I’ll do your fucking stretches twice a day if you do.” Tightening the grip on my phone, I leaned against the door.
“Deal,” he said. “But make sure you change my name in your contacts.”
“I will. I told Casey last night your name is Harry.” I squeezed my eyes shut. This was so lame.
“Harry Cox?” He snorted. “You’ve got some imagination.”
“I’ll change your last name.” I tutted. “Hurry, the guys are getting restless, and they’ll think something is up if I wait any longer. I’ll explain the rest later.” I ended the call and changed his contact information to Harry Smith. It was all I could think of in the moment and would have to do.
My phone chimed with a text. Opening the door, I walked out, tapping the text open.
Harry Smith
Good morning, baby. I’m still hard after our grinding session on the dance floor last night. You have such a sexy ass. Can’t wait for the blowjob you promised me.
I stared at it. Jesus, fuck. What the hell, did he think all gay men were horndogs? Maybe we were, but we didn’t text like that after a date. Not unless we were only looking for a hookup. But this was over the top. He could have just sent a nicegood morning, how are you,text.
“So?” Casey bounded to me and grabbed my phone. As he peered into it, his brows knitted. “Well, he’s, uh, really into your ass.”
“Let me see.” Eli stepped toward the phone, sucking sugar off his fingers. “Oh.” His gaze flicked to me. “That’s, uh, sweet.”
