Page 46 of Something Good
“Fuck off. I’ve had boyfriends before.”
“Not sure you can count them as boyfriends just because you fucked them more than once.”
I flipped him off.
“So who is he?” Joey nodded back toward Will again.
I sighed. “Will Hartley. We were childhood friends?—”
“Bestfriends,” Jimmy interjected. I glared at him.
“He moved back to town at the start of summer. We started dating around the Fourth of July. It’s not a big deal.” My heart twisted painfully at the lie. It was avery bigdeal, no matter how much I tried to deny it.
“Sammy’s inlurvewith him.” Jimmy was being such a shit.
“Oh my god. Will you shut the fuck up?” It was nice to see Jimmy smiling and joking around, but I really would have preferred it didn’t come at my expense.
“You guys should come to the bonfire tonight.”
I thought back to the last time I’d been to a bonfire at the lake, back in June, when I’d taken Will’s drunk ass back to my house to sleep it off. The next day, Charlotte moved out and everything changed.
“I have to work tonight.” I hedged. Will and I had completely different groups of friends, and though I knew he’d come out to most of the guys, I didn’t know if he was ready for the reality of being out with a boyfriend.
“So come out to the lake after your shift. It’s gonna be lit.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
He shook his head but didn’t press further.
“Baby, I need more sunscreen. I’m starting to burn,” Grace said to Joey. We all made our way out of the pool, drying off and finding some shade to get out of the burning sun. Joey and Grace pulled a couple of loungers together and closed their eyes for a nap while Jimmy pulled out a book from the library. I fucked around on my phone, but mostly just watched Will. God, that boy had me twisted up. Every day that we got closer to him leaving, I told myself I’d pull away. That would make it easier when he left. And every day, I clung to him just a little harder. I didn’t know what I was going to do about it.
It turnedout Will also wanted to go to the bonfire. He thought it would probably be the last one he’d be able to go to, and he didn’t want to miss it. Fuck me if I could say no to him.
Jimmy begged to go, but he was way too young to be in the middle of that shit, so I put my foot down. He ended up heading to his friend Sidney’s house for a movie night with another friend of theirs.
The parking lot at the lake was full, so we found a spot a little way down the road and parked on the shoulder. Will killed the engine and turned to look at me. “Nervous?”
“What? Why would you think that?”
He pulled my hand away from my face where I’d been chewing one of my nails to shit. He looked pointedly at the damage I’d done, then pulled my hand closer and kissed my fingers. “We don’t have to go down there tonight. We can head to the overlook or go back to my house and play video games.”
“I thought you wanted to come here?”
“I do. But not if it’s going to upset you.”
“I’m not upset.”
“Okay…” At his dubious tone, I huffed out a breath.
“Look, I know you said you were out to your friends, but it’s different telling them you’re gay and then actually shoving evidence of that fact in their faces.”
“They’re cool with it. You know most of these guys. Have you ever seen any of them act homophobic?”
I hadn’t ever seen anyone our age show any signs of intolerance. At least not for being gay. Being white trash, on the other hand…
“No, not really. But that doesn’t mean they’re my biggest fans either. I’m not like you, golden boy. I don’t fit in with those guys. And I never really cared because if I’m not good enough for a bunch of dude-bros who’ve had everything handed to them, then fuck them.” I ran my hand through my hair, ruffling it in my frustration. “But they matter to you, and I don’t want to, I don’t know, embarrass you or something.”
“Look at me.” My eyes shot up at his tone. His blue eyes were laser-focused on me and his jaw was tight. “First of all, I choose my friends better than that. But if I’m wrong and they treat you with anything less than respect, then I’m done with them. Period.”
