Chapter 8
Tex
"Oh my gosh!" Bean squeals so loudly I have to tug on his cardigan sleeve to quiet him so everyone at The Leafy Nook doesn't stare at us. "What are you going to do?"
I blow out a breath and nudge aside the plate with my untouched panini on it. "I don't know. What chapter in the roommates handbook covers walking in on your roomie…coming?"
"Chapter eight," Bean says, the enjoyment evident all over his face. "Right under the section about hearing your roommate fucking through the shared wall."
"This isn't funny."
"I'm sorry. You're right. You're right." He tries to stifle a giggle. Can't. Then bursts out laughing. "It's freaking hilarious! Wait 'til I tell Kimball."
"No. Do not breathe a word of this to him. They work together."
TD is technically Kimball's boss, and I don't want to put him in a situation where he has to deal with something that happened at home, and is a very private matter, at work. Why should he pay for me only having two people in my life I'm close to?
"Okay, okay. I won't."
"Promise."
"Pinky swear."
I actually make him hook his pinky around mine so I know he’s not just saying it. "Thank you."
"What are you going to say to TD when you go home?"
"I have no idea." I slide my panini closer and take a bite, desperate for some comfort. Although, maybe comfort is the wrong word. Needing comfort implies there's some distress involved, and catching TD coming wasn't distressing. It was…hot. But wrong. But also hot. But also wrong.
"I don't want him to feel bad, that's for sure. Especially since…" I suck in a breath. Since I've already secured Bean's secrecy on this issue, I decide to come clean on an adjacent, semi-related matter. "I may have cranked one out to TD myself."
Bean's mouth drops open. "For real?"
"Yes." I slump in my chair. "You don't have to tell me how pathetic I am because I already know."
"Hey." His voice sharpens. "I would never think that."
He sounds slightly hurt, too, so I say, "I know. I didn't mean that you would. Sorry."
"I love you so freaking much, and I think you're the greatest best friend in the world."
I smile. "And you're the best at cheering me up."
He takes a beat, smiling, too. "And I say go for it."
"Go for what?"
"This thing with TD."
"There is no thing with TD."
"Why not?"
"Hmm. Let's see." I drum my fingers against the table he made from repurposed pallet wood. "For starters, there's the fact that he's straight."
"Do you know that for a fact?"
"Well, no, but…"
"But what?"
"After all the digging I did on him, I never came across anything suggesting he wasn’t."
Oops. I probably shouldn't have revealed that, not really helping my cause here.
"Uh-huh," Bean mumbles around a mouthful of lobster roll. "What else you got?"
Oh, I got plenty.
I list off the bitter custody battle he's embroiled in, the huge shift he’s making in his career and how big an undertaking it is getting the Grizzlies ready for their first season, and that from what I've read, he's only a few months out of rehab.
All perfectly sound, logical reasons why TD might not be open to dating anyone.
When Bean opens his mouth with what I'm sure is a well-intentioned counter-argument, I throw in what I do for work because if nothing else I've said cuts through, that doozy is guaranteed to repel anyone even remotely interested in me.
To my surprise, my offense-as-defense play actually works. I've silenced my best friend, which is a very rare achievement. He finishes chewing his roll, wipes the corner of his mouth with his napkin, and simply says, "Just talk to him, and I'm sure you'll be able to sort it out."
Funnily enough, he's absolutely right.
When I get home, the first words out of TD's mouth are, "I'm so sorry." I tell him it's no big deal, and we agree to put it behind us.
Well, I'm sure he's able to do that.
Me? I crank out another one under the covers that night, imagining I walked in a few minutes earlier. TD would be embarrassed, of course, but still hard. I'd tell him it's fine, and in some romantic and totally non-porny way, we'd end up having hot, passionate, sweaty sex.
So, yeah, it's official. I'm totally crushing on my coach roomie.