Page 48 of Becoming Us

I watched his back as I followed.

Not bad.

Could be thicker.

But not bad.

CHAPTER

SEVEN

AFTER

“Hey, Noah. Wait up!”

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

I stopped walking and waited for him to catch up. What was it with this guy? I’d been avoiding looking at him for the past two weeks, and he kept trying to start a conversation. Why couldn’t he just take the hint?

What in the actual fuck would he want to talk to me about? Did he want to compare and contrast our experiences having sex with my boyfriend?

“Yeah?” I kept my voice as neutral as I could under the circumstances.

Mathew jogged up beside me, his ever-present grin sliding into place. His cheeks were lightly flushed. He was attractive. Annoyingly so.

“I just thought we could chat for a bit. Clear the air? We still have weeks left of the course.”

Annoyingly levelheaded too.

“Look, Mathew, I’m perfectly fine letting the awkwardness fester. Why don’t we stick with that?”

His grin only widened.

He looked like the kind of guy you take home for Christmas. A straight-A student. Gets along with your dog. Probably volunteers at nursing homes. And to top it all off, he was infuriatingly lithe—like a fucking ballet dancer.

“I know you and Att are back together. I don’t want to get in the middle of that.”

But you did.

“I’m really happy for both of you. He was struggling last semester, with you being back. If you found a way to make it work, then I’m happy for him.”

If you found a way?What kind of passive-aggressive bullshit was that? I knew Atty was struggling—no one in the world knew it more than me. Where the hell did he get off telling me how Atty felt?

I closed my eyes and drew a slow, steady breath.

Stop it.

“Thanks,” I managed to grit out.

“So we’re good?” he asked, extending a hand. “I don’t want you thinking I’m going after him. Att knows I’m seeing someone.”

I reached for his hand but froze halfway.

Why? Why did Atty know he was seeing someone? Were they still talking?

Mathew didn’t flinch. He took my hand and gave it a firm shake.

“This is great. Good talk. I’ll see you around,” he said, letting my hand drop.