Page 76 of Show Me
As we walked onto the field, Nate and Eric got sidetracked when they spotted Amanda. I waved to her as I tried to figure out what I was supposed to be doing, stuck in some kind of weird social limbo among several different circles.
I offered Reid a polite smile when he tipped me an acknowledging nod, relieved to have closure with him and no longer actively stoking an inferno of hatred inside me. Now it was just the tiniest flicker of a flame.
He waved me over, but I shook my head, my smile faltering as he trotted toward me.
“I’m so glad you came,” he said, out of breath. “This is actually perfect.”
He didn’t think I’d come for him, did he? I frowned as I thumbed behind me. “Sam got all of us seats.”
“Pros of having a player for a roomie, right?” He slung an arm over my shoulder, and it caught me so off guard that even when he started navigating me across the grass, I didn’t immediately shrug him off. He leaned too close, speaking confidentially. “Okay, listen. I need the hugest favor ever, and you’re literally one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known and the only one I can ask to do this. I’ll even pay you if you want.”
“Hold up.” I slowed my steps, but he kept urging us forward. “Do what?”
“I need you to be my boyfriend again for, like, five minutes. Just five minutes. I just need to introduce you to this reporter, and then you can walk away. I mean, I’d take you for my boyfriend for longer than that, but you already said—”
“What the fuck?”
Reid gestured toward something—I wasn’t sure what—and turned to me, his eyes pleading. “Five minutes. It could mean my future.”
“But why? No, wait, just no—”
“Five hundred dollars. C’mon. Five minutes. That’s nothing.”
“There he is!” A tall guy with a swoopy brown coif, holding a microphone, rushed forward and stopped in front of us. “Great game, Reid. That play-action pass in the third quarter really showed the speed gains you’ve made.” I tried to slide from beneath Reid’s arm, but he gripped me tighter. The reporter looked me over, his smile gleaming. “Might this be the mysterious boyfriend we’ve heard so much about?”
No. No fucking way.
Reid’s desperation was telegraphed to me on its own fucking wavelength as he said, “Yes,” and leaned in to kiss my cheek.
“No.” I leaned back at the same time, and his lips smushed awkwardly over my jaw.
“We’re having a bit of a…a disagreement, actually.” That was Reid; in for a penny, in for a pound.
When the reporter cocked his head, I nodded emphatically. “He’s right. We are.”
Three years I’d stewed over the things I wished I’d said to Reid the day I caught him cheating. Three years I’d been polite, always made way for him and others like him. I didn’t stir up shit, I listened when people needed an ear, I fed people when they were hungry. I cooked and cleaned and fucking took care of people, and I washappyto do it for the most part because I was good at it, and because, sure, a certain part of me liked feeling needed and useful. And nine times out of ten, people were grateful and didn’t take advantage of me.
In the back of my mind, I could admit I’d always hoped that at some point maybe the same would happen to me in return. That karma would reward my good behavior and mete out the punishment guys like Reid deserved. But the second I’d felt Reid’s desperate gaze on my face and theyesslipped out of his mouth, so confident that I, once again, would look out forhisbest interests, I finally fucking got it. There was only so much you could do for a person who was only capable of taking.
Sometimes karma needed a helping hand to balance the scales.
I stood a little taller. “See, three years ago, when I was a naive little freshman, a naive, romance-loving gay boy ecstatic about freshman year of college, I met Reid here.” Reid cocked his head, brows pensive like he wasn’t sure whether this was going to go well for him or not. I smiled at him, and the confusion evaporated as his shoulders slumped. Guess he wasn’t confused anymore. I swatted him away when he made a grab for my arm. “I met him the second week of school. My first-ever boyfriend, and it was everything high school Jesse had dreamed about. We were madly in love. He told me daily. Even hours before I walked in on him with someone else. So my argument falls heavily on the ‘I’m not the mysterious boyfriend’ end, considering we haven’t been together in years—though he did offer me money to pretend.”
“You’re lying.” Reid exhaled a noisy, frustrated sigh.
“What the fuck?” Sam’s voice boomed from behind. “Did you just say you’re with Jesse?” He shoved Reid’s shoulder.
Reid staggered back a step before rebounding with a glare. “What’s your problem, Harding? You’ve been a dick to me all semester. Is this roommate loyalty bullshit, or are you changing teams late in the game?” he smirked at his own wit.
“Stop,” I cried, trying to step between them, but Sam was already lunging forward to shove Reid again, this time with more fervor.
“What if I did? You have a problem if he’s with me?”
Reid took a menacing step forward and then stopped, his mouth falling open as he looked between the two of us, though it was Sam he addressed. “Areyou with him?”
“I. We—” His gaze darted over to me and then over his shoulder at his family behind him before shooting back to me. There was a plea in his eyes, but I wasn’t sure how to read it. The old scripts kicked in and my heart turned itself inside out.This is why you don’t mess with baby bi’s,an insidious voice in the back of my head insisted, even as I tried to mute it.
I was hyperaware of all the eyes on me. So much for making a good impression. Heat flooded my face as Sam’s dad’s brows furrowed and his mom’s pinched together with what looked like concern. The voice inside my head got louder.