Chapter Five

Theo

"Are you and your brother close?" I ask Perry once we get seated and order. Then I wonder if that's a little nosy and personal, and wince. "Shit. Sorry if I shouldn't ask that."

He waves his hand as if to say it doesn't matter. "If I didn't want you to mention it, I shouldn't have said anything. And yeah, he's great. We don't look alike at all, but we're similar in other ways. Both bi, both sarcastic and cocky. One might also call us stubborn."

Oh, wow. I didn't realize he's bi—or why it matters to me. I'm not one of those straight guys who thinks any queer man is checking me out or wants me. Some of my best friends are queer, but I feel like usually, I catch on, and I didn't with Perry.

"I can see you being stubborn."

"Well, that's not very nice, especially after how I saved your life and kept your secrets last night."

I chuckle. "You have a point there. But I'm paying my debt with this lunch, which means I don't owe you anymore."

"So after lunch you're going to start busting my balls?"

"I mean, I probably won't wait until then." We laugh together, and it strikes me how easy Perry is to be around, how natural it is to tease and joke with him. To talk to him. Maybe all the shit that's happened in my life the past few days all happened to bring me a new friend. "Would I know your brother?"

"Why, you interested in him?"

"God no," I rush out. He grins, but I feel like there's something more there than he's showing. It would make sense. If their dad raised his brother but not him, he'd have to feel some kind of way about it.

I wouldn't know the first thing about not having parents who would do anything for me—and that's why it's important for me to do the same for them. The thought of letting them down leaves a persistent ache in my gut.

"That's good. Because you're mine." Perry winks, and I unexpectedly feel a little…wobbly. Strange but true. "But he's Tyson Langley, so you've probably heard of him. He played lacrosse."

"We watch them play sometimes. He's dating that guy who's always pissed off, right?"

A loud laugh falls from Perry's lips. "That's him. Brax is actually great, though."

The waitress arrives with our food—both of us having gotten burgers and fries. We dig in, the conversation flowing well the whole time. Perry makes me laugh a lot, and I seem to do the same for him. We don't talk about anything life-changing, but the only time there's a lull is when one of us is chewing.

I pay, but Perry insists on covering the tip, and then we're on our way back to my house. When we get there, Perry doesn't mention all those plans he seemed to have for us earlier, and I'm not ready for him to go home. I feel like there's no pressure to be or do anything I don't want to when I'm with Perry. It's like a clean slate.

"You want to come in?"

He frowns for a moment, and I worry I said something wrong or he's going to say no, but he recovers quickly and says, "Well, that's better than doing this in the car."

Doing what? Hanging out? I shrug because he's right.

The house is quiet when we get inside. Everyone must have left, which I'm thankful for. That way, Perry and I can just chill and get to know each other better without others around.

"You want a drink?" I ask.

"Nah, I'm good."

So I nod and lead him upstairs to my room.

The second we're inside and I close the door, Perry steps closer to me, my back against the door as he grins. This is weird. Am I about to get jumped?

"What do you want?" Perry whispers.

What the fuck is he talking about? "Umm, I'm okay with whatever." Talk? Video games? I'm down with it all.

He gives me another grin, then leans in, and I freeze—body tense, brain off when he presses his lips to mine. There's an unexpected tingle I can't explain, but then, I can't explain anything because, again, my brain isn't working.

I don't move, realizing I might have misjudged this situation. He very clearly had an idea of what this is and seems to have expected me to know the same. My heart punches against my chest, thoughts drowning in my head.

Perry pulls back, his lips turned down in a frown. "You don't kiss?"

"Not guys."

That makes him pull back even farther. "You'll kiss women you hook up with but not men? That's a little fucked up."

"Not when you're straight!" shoots out of my mouth. What is he even talking about? I don't hook up with men. I've never in my life messed around with a guy.

Perry's forehead wrinkles. "I'm so confused."

"You and me both." He's not the one who was suddenly kissed by his new friend.

I sneak around him, making sure not to touch him, and pace my room, run a hand through my hair, bits and pieces of last night and today slotting into place. Perry has been…hitting on me? I don't know why that never occurred to me. But then little comments he said, flirty little things, begin working their way to the surface. Good…because you're mine.

Perry has been hitting on me! How can I be so clueless?

"I asked if you wanted to hook up and you said yes," he finally says, like he's trying to talk himself into understanding how this happened.

My lips tingle slightly, the feel of his mouth pressed there lingering. My heart picks up speed, head spinning. "I meant hook up like hang out, like touch base, not…" I wave my hand between the two of us. "Not bits."

Holy shit. Did I take Perry on a date today? Did he want…well, to have sex with me, but is he looking to date me?

"I'm sure you can see how I was confused. Jesus Christ, either my game can use some work, or you have no clue when someone is hitting on you."

"I've never had a guy hit on me before," I say in my defense.

"How would you know?" He quirks a brow, and while I want to smile, I don't. He has a point. If I didn't realize what was happening with us, maybe I'm not as aware as I thought.

"God, and you're so fucking hot." Perry collapses onto my bed, lying down and looking up at the ceiling.

A wave of dizziness hits me, my pulse racing even faster. I mean, I can't pretend it's not nice to have someone think I'm hot. Especially after the shitshow between me and Whit. "Really? I always thought I'm a six at best."

"At least an eight. Your personality pushes you up to nine territory."

"No shit?" Well, damn. Who'd have thought? Pride makes me hold my head a little higher.

"Yes, but you're straight. You're not supposed to care if I want to fuck you, remember?"

Right. He's definitely one hundred percent right, but, like, a nine? Damn. That's pretty fucking good.

"You literally just puffed your chest out."

"I did not." I probably did, but I don't blame myself for that. He thinks I'm a nine.

Perry rolls his eyes, and then his gaze snags on mine. Last night and this morning play like a movie in my head—him catching me, me grabbing his wrist, smoking, putting me to bed, the texting, lunch…

We both hold on, one beat, then two, and three, before we dissolve into laughter. I'm cracking up so hard, I can hardly stand up, which makes absolutely no sense, but apparently, I'm good at not making sense.

My stomach cramps and my face hurts, the sound of our joy dancing in the air. I lie down beside Perry. "I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. You just gave me blue balls two days in a row." I look toward his groin. "First, I'm kidding. You don't have to apologize for not being sexually attracted to men. Second, are you sure you're straight? You just looked at my junk to see if I'm hard."

Honestly? I'm confused. I'm attracted to women. I don't think I've been attracted to men before, but this whole hookup mix-up has me completely baffled. Maybe I've flirted with guys without realizing it. Maybe I've been attracted to them and just never put a name to it. Maybe guys have been flirting with me for years, and I didn't have a clue.

"You're not answering."

"Because I don't know what to say. I never thought about being with a guy, but, like, I've been weird with you from the start. Maybe my dick is interested, and I just didn't realize it."

He groans, and I roll to my side to look at him. "What?"

"Please don't say stuff like that to me. I already thought I was at least going to get a little head, maybe give some myself. Not that my horniness is your responsibility."

Okay…well, that's sweet—Perry not putting this on me. People can get weird about consent and attraction. He seems like a really good guy. "I like you."

"Talk about mixed signals. I can't keep up with this conversation."

I smirk. "That makes two of us. I meant, I like you as a friend. The other stuff…I'm pretty sure I'm not into guys. Last night I was really drunk and high…and my girlfriend dumped me the night before, so I'm a bit of a mess."

"Hey, what a coincidence. I'm always a mess."

He says that, but I don't think it's true. I think Perry is more put together than he realizes. "I want to be your friend."

He grabs my pillow, smashes it to his face, and screams into it. I grin because for some reason I can't explain, I take this as a good sign. "Stupid puppies," he mumbles.

"Puppy?"

"You. You're like a golden retriever puppy. Sweet, lovable, goofy. It's impossible not to like you."

"I'm happy it's impossible not to like me, but I'm not sure about the puppy thing."

"It's a compliment. Believe me."

I shrug. He hasn't given me a reason not to believe him. "So, are we gonna hang out, or can't you be friends with me because I'm a nine?"

"You're hooked on that part, aren't you?"

My skin prickles with excitement. "How can I not be? It's fucking fantastic."

He snickers, and I know I have him. With a sigh, Perry says, "Yes. We can be friends. I might need to head home and jerk off real quick, though."

My eyes dart to his groin again.

"Stop looking at my junk!"

"Stop drawing my attention to it!"

"I've never met a straight guy like you." He grabs my pillow, sits up, and lets it rest on his lap.

I've never given any thought to being anything other than straight. If I'm not, I figure I'd have to know, but then I also didn't do a lot of dating in high school—and by not a lot, I mean none. If I'm really a nine, I definitely didn't hit that territory until college, and when I first got here, I did go a little wild. I hooked up with like four women before dating Whitney. I haven't really thought about anything else.

"Wanna play some video games?"

Perry shrugs. "Sure." And just like that, it feels like water under the bridge. The comfort we have together wipes away the strangeness of the day.

I turn the game system on, and that's exactly what we do.