Page 10 of Crew

Holy shit. Did Crew Stratton just admit he was bi?

Curious, I asked, “Does anyone know?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Not even my friends or family.”

“It’s gotta be hard keeping a secret like that.”

“Not when you come from a super small conservative town and grew up with people who aren’t accepting,” he replied.

Even before coming out to my parents, they’d made it clear they were allies to the LGBTQ+ community. Because of that, I sometimes took their support for granted. Stratton’s confession reminded me that not everyone had the same experience.

“True, but I can’t imagine a whole town having an issue.”

“You clearly don’t know what it’s like growing up in a place like Harvest Ridge, Tennessee. Everyone went to the same church where they constantly preached about the sins of the flesh.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he continued to share. “Although no oneback home ever had anything negative to say when they knew I was messing around with chicks in high school, they’d have plenty of opinions about me being with another man.”

“Well, if that isn’t hypocritical,” I muttered.

“Tell me about it.”

“But things would be different with our teammates,” I said. “You saw how it wasn’t a big deal when I told them I was gay.”

“That definitely took some balls. What would you have done if they hadn’t been cool with it?”

I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. I’ve never let that worry me before. I’d rather know who has a problem with me and who doesn’t.”

He finally smiled. “Makes sense.”

Wanting to lighten the mood more, I flashed him a teasing grin. “At least now I don’t have to feel silly for checking you out. Straight guys aren’t really my thing.”

The second the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. Just because Stratton was bi, it didn’t mean he’d be interested in me. Sometimes people assumed that because someone dated men, it meant he wanted to fuck every guy he saw. That sort of ignorant thinking annoyed the shit out of me, and I hated that I’d basically made a joke about the same thing.

Before I could backtrack, the bartender came over and told us he was closing up.

I went to pay my portion of the tab, but Stratton handed over his credit card first. “You can buy next time.”

I tucked my wallet back into my pocket. “Will do.”

We walked to the elevators and stepped inside. I leaned against the wall while Stratton pressed the button for the eighteenth floor.

Without looking at me, he said. “So, you’ve been checking me out, huh?”

I groaned. “You were supposed to forget I’d said that.”

“Nah.” He turned to face me and stepped closer, causing my heart to speed up. “I definitely want to hear more about that.”

Before I could register what was happening, he reached for my shirt and pulled me toward him.

He captured my mouth with his, and for a second, I didn’t react. Not because I didn’t want to kiss him back, but he’d taken me by surprise.

The elevator dinged, signaling we’d reached our floor, and he pulled away just before the doors slid open.

“Come to my room,” he whispered.

“Okay,” I breathed.

5

CREW