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“It’s just you?”

Abel usually worked the afternoon shift at Erika’s gym, but I hadn’t asked when I’d texted Sergio during my lunch break. I couldn’t figure out how to phrase the question in a way that didn’t sound sus as fuck, and I knew there was no way Sergio would let it go if he thought something was up.

“Yeah?” Sergio frowned. “Are you okay? You look a bit pale. Do you need to sit down? You can help me pick a cat. That’s what I was doing. Daddy says I should just wait until we go to the shelters to meet the cats, because personality or whatever, but I think that’s nonsense. Did you know there are, like, three different cat shelters around here?So manycats.”

I blinked.

He hadn’t even taken a sip of the drink yet.

“You have to shake the cup first before punching the straw in,” I remembered to say. It was almost robotic, but it was what came out. “So the brown sugar isn’t all stuck at the bottom.”

I was obsessed with all flavors and types of boba tea. There was only a tiny place here that sold them, and I’d already filled out my loyalty card so many times, I was sure their boss was questioning their business model.

“Okay.” Sergio shook it hard enough I wasthis closeto taking it from him. Thankfully, there were no spillages or broken plastic. “But seriously, what’s up with you?”

“Um.” I glanced around. No, it didn’t escape me either that, just like at Tony’s, I was stuck by the door where everyone couldsee me completely lose my marbles. The house Sergio and Abel had bought wasn’t as big or suburb-like as Tony’s, but it was still one of those half-attached things in a neighborhood where all the houses looked the same. I trusted apartment buildings more. “I deepthroated Tony. Yesterday.”

“Um.” Sergio blinked. Twice. “Congrats? Daddy’s dick is bigger.”

“Huh?”

What the fuck?

Before he answered—and while I was trying to figure out what was going on, Sergio stepped aside. I walked in and followed him to the living room in a trance. The distribution of the place was strange. The kitchen was before the living room. It was the other way around in every other place I’d been in.

Sergio plopped down on the monstrosity of a couch he’d been so proud of snatching from some local store. “You said you deepthroated Tony like that’s a big thing. But Daddy’s dick is bigger, so… it’s not that big of an achievement. Sorry not sorry.”

He sucked in a few pearls through the straw while he watched me. I swallowed. When he was feeling more Little, I struggled to tell if he was being obtuse on purpose or if he really didn’t see it.

“It’s not about deepthroating.” I didn’t mention that I’d deepthroated his Daddy, too, thank you very much, so if he was implying he was better than me at it, he could quit it. “I need you to focus, okay? I’m freaking out enough already.”

For a few seconds, I thought it would not happen. Sergio just looked confused as fuck.

Eventually, he blinked a few times and shook his head. “Why are you freaking out?”

“Why aren’t you?” I huffed.

Sergio just cocked his head to the side while drinking more of his boba tea. I hadn’t even punched the straw in mine. “I think you’re the one who needs the extra sugar. Why should I befreaked out? I mean, I’m questioning your taste in men, because ew, but like… your body, your choice and all that.”

Since when was Sergio the voice of reason?

I narrowed my eyes. “Because he was shit to you and we don’t like him?”

“Well, you clearly like him,” Sergio teased. Then he lowered his drink. “I mean, you liked it, right? He didn’t force you?”

I punched the plastic cover of my boba tea with the pointy straw and took a sip before I answered. “I did, and no, he didn’t. It was strange.”

“Okay, good.” Sergio breathed out, sitting cross-legged on the couch. I pulled my knees closer to my chest. “Is this where you finally give me details so any of this makes sense?”

I groaned. “Do I have to?”

Just because I was usually the one asking for those details didn’t mean I liked being on the other side of it. Definitely not while I was still in… shock. That had to be it. I’d expected at least three different reactions from Sergio when I’d planned out what I wanted to tell him. All of those had included some degree of anger, shock, hurt, disgust. Somehow dare yous had been tossed in there. None of them had included Sergio asking for details and leaning forward as if we were just about to spill the tea.

Heh. Pun not intended but one hundred percent owning it now.

“Yes.” Sergio bobbed his head. “I won’t let you see kitties until you spill. So.”

I rolled my eyes. Right. Sergio was apparently looking into adopting a cat now. I wanted and didn’t want to ask how cats had been brought up in the first place. Last I checked, neither he nor Abel were big animal people. Then again, I’d never actually asked. We hung out plenty, but it had never come up. Or I didn’tremember. Most of the time we talked pets, it was the human variety.