Page 104 of The Frathole

Hearing him say the word activates something in me, this swirling sensation in my belly, like the excitement before playing a big game, but so much better.

“Do you want to be boyfriends?” he asks.

As excited as the idea makes me, I must admit, “I don’t really even know what that means.”

“I think it means we’re more than fuck buddies…”

“We’re definitely more than that.” I know that’s not what he was suggesting, but the thought that anyone would think that’s allwe are pisses me the fuck off.

“And more than just seeing each other…” he adds.

“Yeah, there’s been a lot of seeing each other already.”

Marty bites his bottom lip.

“Jesus, you make even that look sexy,” I observe.

“What?”

“How am I supposed to think about this when you’re biting your lip like that?”

He flinches. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”

“That’s what makes it so fucking sexy.”

He stops biting it. “Sorry. I was thinking that I’ve never had a boyfriend.”

“Neither have I. Or a girlfriend, aside from high school for, like, a minute.”

“What does that even mean—boyfriends?”

“At least that it’s a long-term thing, or that we want it to be.”

“I’m planning to come back here once we finish helping with the Activate Kindness builds,” Marty says. “And you’re planning to move to Peachtree Springs to work at the shop.”

“That’s a thirty-minute drive max, and you’re going to grad school at Peach State, so that’s not really an issue.” That this would even be considered an obstacle grates on my nerves.

“I know it’s not this big thing,” Marty insists. “But I’m trying to be practical and make sure we’re thinking this through.”

“Because you don’t want to be my boyfriend?” Christ, I sound as annoyed as I did when Gisele was about to kiss him. The way he’s talking about this is stressing me, nerves twisting up, my jaw tense.

“Whoa, where is this coming from?” Marty asks. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be freaking out over shit.”

I shake my head. “You’re not wrong, and I know you have no reason to not want to be my boyfriend, right? Or do you, and youwant to break it to me easy? Or has this all just been fun for you? Fuck, is this what’s always running through your head? This is awful!”

He laughs, approaching me. He rests his hands on my shoulders, the tension in my jaw instantly easing up.

“I’m not gonna let you suffer, Ry. I haven’t even considered that until today because I’ve enjoyed what it’s been, but I don’t want this to end after the build.”

There’s a lightness in my chest as it feels like, for the first time since we started talking about this, I can take a decent breath of air. As though I’ve been holding it, worried about what he would say.

“I want to be your boyfriend,” he says, a smile playing across his lips.

I’m surprised how quickly that shifts my mood, as his words assure me that he was just doing his risk-management assessment of us, not trying to talk himself out of continuing this long term. “I mean, of course you do. Who wouldn’t?” I tease, pulling a laugh right from him.

“And back to your usual conceited self.”

I slide my arms around his hips, cupping his sides and reeling him close. “Hey, I’m not the guy who decided to be my boyfriend, but don’t worry. I want to be your boyfriend too, so I guess you’re one lucky guy.”