Chapter 3

The late morning had started all warm and lazy. I"d awakened in strong, slender arms with my face pressed into Rogue"s neck. I hadn"t realized it was them for a minute. All I could remember was feeling safe as fingertips traced along the indent of my spine. I"d slowly come to consciousness to find Rogue watching me sleep. They'd smirked at me and I couldn't resist cuddling closer to their warmth.

Then my body jolted as I"d asked what time it was, and they"d told me almost noon. I"d been out of contact with my best friend for over twelve hours. Mentally cursing my fuck-up, I jumped up to grab my phone only to find it dead. In my panic, I couldn"t even remember Freida"s number off the top of my head.

I"d run from Rogue"s house with her in the doorway watching me until the car arrived to take me back to my place. Rogue had actually tried to talk me into letting her go with me, but in the end, asked for my phone number instead. I"d absently rattled it off and promised to text and let them know when I was home. I prayed that Freida had stayed over at her new friend-with- benefits' place, or at least got in late enough she"d sleep most of the day away.

Once in the car, I looked down at myself and realized I was still dressed in the pink silk pajamas and my high heels. I"d left my clothes behind. I laughed at my situation. My first stereotypical walk of shame, and I hadn"t even let Rogue do more than hold me. Freida was going to kill me and that was no more apparent when I let myself into the apartment. She hissed at me that she"d been about to call the cops to report me missing.

"Where the fuck were you?" Freida yelled as she threw her phone onto the couch and glared at me.

"I fell asleep and didn"t wake up until thirty minutes ago." I kicked off my heels and quickly removed my phone from my tiny clutch, and plugged it in to charge. I wasn"t looking forward to reading all the messages I"d received from Freida in her attempt to track me down.

"What the hell are you wearing?" She motioned to my clothes.

"Rogue gave me clothes to sleep in."

"Who is Rogue?" Her voice kept going up until she was practically screeching.

"Owner of Club Q."

"Backtrack a bit. You didn"t tell me you were going out. You know the rules, we agreed to them."

We"d always had a rule we called or texted each other that we were going out. Send a picture of the person we were with and the location, and any place we thought we"d end up. Not once when I was with Rogue did I even think about my phone or keeping in contact with Freida. I"d enjoyed Rogue"s company maybe a bit too much.

"You were out on your date and I didn"t want to sit at home." I talked as I moved through the apartment to the kitchen to make me some coffee and she was right on my heels. "When I got there, I met some guy, we hooked up, and he left without a thanks or a goodbye. I went to the bar for a drink. Rogue bought me one."

"What happened to your clothes?" she asked.

"Well, I went back to Rogue"s place."

"Trinity!" she yelled. "We do not go to some strange dude"s place just because they buy us a drink."

"It was fine. Rogue is Nonbinary, they/them pronouns. They made me dinner, we watched a movie and I fell asleep. My phone was dead, they ordered me a car and here I am. I"m sorry. I can"t believe I slept so long and I left my clothes there." I didn"t pay attention to the address but I knew where Rogue worked, and they said they'd text me.

"Not the point. You don"t go to strange people"s places without letting me know. Anything could"ve happened to you."

"But nothing did and here I am, safe and sound." I mentally cheered as my coffee finished brewing. I filled an oversized mug, doctored it up and then went to see if I could turn on my phone. Freida was still close behind me. I groaned as the chimes started going off. "How many are yours?"

"All. Of. Them." She stepped up beside me and set her cheek on my upper arm.

And she was almost right, except for the text from an unknown number probably five minutes after I"d left Rogue"s. I clicked on it.

Rogue: Are you grounded, babygirl?

Rogue: Oh, FYI I"m holding your clothes hostage until you have dinner with me again. We both know you want to. Be a good girl and say yes.

"Asshole," I muttered.

"What"s this mysterious Rogue"s name?"

I answered without thinking about it and tried to decide if I was going to answer Rogue or not. Not that I wasn"t extremely tempted. Physically, they were my type. Tall-ish and lean, and there was something about the way they called me babygirl in that raspy voice.

They were literally the first person I"d ever spent the night with and just slept. Past experience was sex and going our separate ways. Rogue had kept their arm around me as I"d leaned back against their side as we watched some movie Rogue let me pick. The most they did was lace their fingers through mine and drop a kiss or two to the top of my head. Dinner and a movie with Rogue was the closest I"d ever come to having a date and how sad was that?

"Fuck, Trinity."

I dropped my phone to the table and spun on my toes to find Freida staring at her phone. "What? Someone else send you a dick pic? I"m not looking at another one."

"Rogue Barrister. Please tell me you had sex with that gorgeous Butch and give me all the details."

I snorted and shook my head. "No, I didn"t have sex with Rogue. You know I"m straight."

"So am I, but I"d make an exception. Look," She turned her phone and showed me the screen.

Rogue was on a boat surrounded by drag queens and they were all leaned in close, smiling at the camera. They wore a pair of pale blue linen shorts, a white tank and a blue pinstripe short sleeve shirt over it. The sunglasses Rogue had on were the same style of frames as the glasses they'd worn the previous night.

"Yes, that"s Rogue."

"Your lack of excitement concerns me." She put her phone to sleep and slipped it into one of the pockets on her pajamas.

"I"m not like you. I believe in romance, and, despite my hookup last night, I want to find someone. Rogue is fun and flirty, but that"s it. Rogue could have anyone they wanted."

"You need to work on your self-esteem a bit. We"ve discussed this."

"Please, don"t start. There"s nothing wrong with my self-esteem. Rogue owns a club that they"re probably at every night."

"That"s an assumption. They obviously want to see you again. What could it hurt? A gorgeous person to flirt with you."

"I"ll think about it." Freida knew that was my go-to answer when I didn't want to openly agree. She'd annoy the shit out of me until I did what she wanted. Hopefully my best friend forgot about Rogue and me seeing them again.

"Did you sleep with Rogue?" she asked.

I huffed, and headed for my bedroom, sipping my coffee.

"Come on, did you get the guest room?"

"No, we fell asleep together watching a movie. I woke up cuddling them."

"Aw, your first cuddle."

"You"re annoying." I sat down on the foot of my bed and watched her where she leaned in the doorway.

"Come on, part of you likes them. I can tell."

I sighed as I leaned forward to set my mug on the floor, and then straightened. "It was odd. I left the bathroom and went to the bar, and they bought me a drink. I liked when they called me babygirl. Their mom is Trans."

"So they"re not a TERF, bonus points. Okay." She crossed the room and sat down beside me. "Take out the possibly amazing sexual element."

I snorted.

"Friends never hurt. You haven"t made many since we moved here. This new friend could be good for you. You"re a complete bottom and Rogue looks like a complete dominant top."

"I thought you were taking out the sexual element."

"I was just saying. Seriously though, make a new friend. They made you feel good, and you were comfortable enough to fall asleep with them. You"ve never done that before."

"I"ve never had the opportunity. Closeted gay boys and some strangers in clubs, my experience isn"t all that great."

"Also think about Rogue having a Trans mom."

"Rogue said she was married to a man who"s extremely obsessed with her."

"See, it can work despite whatever we learned in that tiny-ass town. And I know I don"t get the romance thing, but I know how much you want to find someone. Being around Rogue, maybe you can find someone who isn"t an asshole."

"True. I"m going to take a shower and change, and I need food."

There was a knock at the door.

"People coming around without calling, the nerve." Freida jumped up from the bed and went to answer the door. A few minutes of silence later, Freida yelled my name. "Delivery for you."

"Who would send me—" I stopped talking when I saw her standing there with a small flower bouquet and a delivery bag. "What"s that?" I asked.

"Rogue says…" She cleared her throat. "I did say that I always offer breakfast. I sent extra along for the best friend. Flowers are subpar I"m sure, but I"ll do better next time. Enjoy, babygirl." She lowered the receipt she"d read the message off of. "Wow, are you sure all you did was let them cuddle you?"

"I"ve never gotten flowers before." I took the bag, receipt and flowers from her, turning to walk to the kitchen mainly to hide the silly grin I was sure curved my lips. The flowers weren"t roses or anything, but a pretty mixture of bright wildflowers. They weren"t grand, yet they were just right.

I set everything on the counter and removed three to-go boxes.

"How much food did they order?" Freida asked.

"I think enough for us to pick what we like best."

"What"s the thing about breakfast?"

Smiling to myself at the memory, I shook my head. "I told Rogue about what happened in the bathroom and they said at least they offered breakfast after a hookup."

"At least they"re handsome." Freida muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Rogue said the same thing, made up for their lack of charm."

"Text Rogue. Hang out. I think you"ll regret it if you don"t."

"Maybe." Even as I said it, I knew I"d call or text Rogue. I didn"t see a romantic relationship between the two of us, but Freida was right, more friends wouldn"t hurt. Someone I didn"t know from work or school.

"You"re going to call; I know you too well. Eat. I"m so hungry, I was too worried about you."

"I"m sorry, while I was with Rogue I didn"t even think about my phone. I should"ve stuck to the rules. I"ll make sure it doesn"t happen again."

"Please, my anxiety would appreciate it."

We settled in to have breakfast, and I kept glancing at the flowers and note. Rogue made me feel feminine. To Freida, I was just her best friend. To my coworkers and the people at school I was just the quiet, bookish one. Rogue had seen me as someone to flirt with, make dinner for, and no matter how much Rogue suggested sex, I hadn"t felt as if they were completely serious. What could it hurt to have a new friend? Especially one that made you feel good and more comfortable in your skin.