Chapter 4 #2
Yeah. With as irritated as he looks, it can’t be anything nice. Sometimes it seems like even the straight thing is something that makes him mad. Do gay people hate straight people? I don’t know if that’s a thing, but Baby might.
No, that’s dumb. He’s just mad.
He’s pissed, and I can handle that. Except this does seem like a little more than the usual disdain. He’s annoyed with me a lot, and I’m more than used to the evil eye that comes with that. The look he’s giving me right now is something else entirely.
I do regret jumping headfirst into this facade—it’s clear he didn’t want my help—but it’s also hard to care.
I’m doing him a favor, whether he wants it or not.
I don’t know if he would have said no to his friend’s setup, but even if he had, who’s to say that would have worked?
If being in the closet was what kept this creep from being with Baby to begin with, it makes sense to me that he’d go for it now that he’s out. Right?
I know I’m right. I’m doing this for Baby’s own good, so he can be as mad as he wants. It’s a done deal.
Although I guess it’s possible that he wanted to say yes. Baby said that he doesn’t like Zeke, but that was when he wasn’t out. He is now, and there’s a chance that changes things.
If that’s the case… I have no clue. Honestly, if it is, I’m even more glad I did this. He deserves better. I don’t know the guy, but I know he’s not good enough for Baby.
I’m not either, but at least I know that.
∞∞∞
“What’s his deal?”
“He’s mad at me.”
“Isn’t he always mad at you?” Cade says with a soft laugh.
When other people are around, yeah, he usually is.
But this is different. Baby has been icing me out for three days.
I’ve tried to apologize, told him I’d tell Audrey myself that I was fucking with them.
I even bought another one of those gross coconut-covered cakes he loves…
nothing has worked. He wouldn’t take a slice until after I went to bed. He’s deadset on hating my guts.
For real this time.
Apparently, he had planned on telling her he didn’t want to be in the wedding but would love to be a guest. I ruined that.
And it didn’t help that Audrey told his moms about us.
It’s a whole thing now that it’s not just Audrey who thinks he’s dating me.
His moms are very interested. I told him he could just come clean, but that upset him too.
Apparently, it’s embarrassing to admit to your parents that you faked having a relationship with a straight guy.
Cade coming home to a tantrum throwing Baby isn’t unusual, but the silent part of it all is new.
“What’d you do?” He holds his bag of chips out as he sits next to me on the couch, but I shake my head. I’m not in a munching mood.
“I’m not allowed to say.”
Cade huffs a full-on laugh, finding humor in my fuck up. I wish he had stayed gone just a little bit longer. It’s going to be harder to convince Baby I’m not the worst person in the world with him and Nic here.
He’s an okay roommate. Clean and quiet—at least he used to be quiet. He’s gotten a little noisier ever since Nic moved in, but it’s not unbearable. And Nic sort of hides. If I didn’t have to listen to him spanking his stepbrother every so often, I’d forget he was here.
“How’s married life?” I ask, hoping to change the subject.
He shrugs, but where I’d expect a little embarrassment, all I find is something close to smug. “It’s not all that different.”
“Then why do it?” I’m a fairly laid-back guy, but marriage… well that’s not something a laid-back kind of guy would jump into.
It reminds me of Baby. He seems to want that sort of thing sooner rather than later.
“He’s… mine.” Cade shrugs, some of that embarrassment finally showing up. “I was already his, but now he’s mine, and I like that.” Another shrug before he’s stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth.
I’m not sure I fully understand his reasoning, not on a personal level, but it’s got nothing to do with me.
I do wonder what that’s like, though—being that possessive of a person. I can’t imagine feeling that strongly about a person. Nobody has ever been mine, and I can’t say that I’ve even wanted that. It’s just not what I picture when I think of love.
The way Cade shakes his shirt has me raising my eyebrows.
“Baby would not appreciate the crumb situation going on right now.” I don’t mean to circle back to Baby, but as Cade wipes his hand across his shirt, it’s all I can think of.
“I think he’s mad enough at you that I’m safe for now.”
I sigh. He better hope he’s right. Baby seems more like the mad-in-general kind of person, at least at the moment. It might hurt my feelings a bit if he doesn’t at least snap at Cade for the mess of luggage he’s got all over the living room.
And like my thoughts have summoned him, there he is.
He’s wearing his usual lounge wear, a pair of non-existent shorts—the pink ones I’ve seen a lot of—and a sleeveless shirt.
I’ve seen him in matching pajama sets, but I like these fits more.
It’s an odd mix of girly and boyish and… I don’t know. It suits him.
“It’s disgusting in here.”
I smile, being careful not to look at him as he stomps his way into the room. It’s a relief to see he’s capable of focusing his anger on someone other than me.
“It’s not disgusting,” Cade needlessly argues. “It’s just… cluttered. I’ll pick it up in a little while.”
“Or you could pick it up now.” He uses his bare foot to push at one of Cade’s bags that’s blocking the walkway.
Cade groans, but—for reasons I still don’t understand—he does as he’s told. Most people do when it’s Baby doing the telling.
I expect Baby to come and go, to ignore me while he does so, but he makes it known that he has other plans when he chooses to stand in front of me instead.
Quietly—a little eerily even. It’s awkward as fuck, feeling his hateful stare as Cade grumbles his complaints as he loads as much junk as he can into his arms.
“We have to go to a dinner,” Baby breaks the silent treatment he’s been giving me the second Cade is gone.
I’m quiet for a moment before muttering a confused, “Huh?”
“Audrey insists that you be there. With me. And it’s all your fault, so you can’t say no.”
“Dinner?” I lean forward to rest my elbows on my knees and can’t help but notice that it puts me the closest I’ve been to him in days.
“I—yes.” He swipes impatiently at the hair on his forehead in an attempt to compose himself.
But his cheeks are red, and his foot is tapping away incessantly—telltale signs that he’s still very much upset with me.
“Just to get all the bridesmaids together. She tried convincing me to bring you to the bridal shower and her bachelorette party and… I just couldn’t say no to every attempt she made to see us together. ”
“Bachelorette party?”
“Yes,” he snaps. “She thinks you’re gay! Idiot.” That’s gotta be the thousandth time he’s called me that. “Inviting gay guys to an all-male strip club is normal.”
“Are you going?” I reach for his hand, the fist he has balled up tightly enough that his knuckles are pale white, and he retaliates by smacking my fingers before they get close enough to touch. But his fingers are relaxed now, and that’s really all I wanted, so I don’t mind.
“Obviously.”
“Then I will too.” I shrug when all he does is gape at me.
His hair falls back over his forehead, a little rope that I just know is silky smooth.
If I didn’t think he’d hate it, I’d reach out and touch it.
“I’d rather go to a strip club than a dinner with a bunch of girls I don’t know anyway,” I say, my eyes still locked on that strand of satin-like hair. “I’ve never been to one. Sounds fun.”
“It’s not—there aren’t going to be any naked girls there, Logan. It’s going to be male strippers.”
Oh. Duh. That does probably take some of the fun out of it, but whatever. “So?”
“With penises.”
I laugh.
“You’re not going! You are coming to this dinner, though.”
“I can do both.”
“You can’t go to the bachelorette party, Logan. I only need you for the dinner.”
“Hm.” I nod my head as I mull it over. “No.”
“No?”
“I know.” I feign sympathy, but the smirk probably gives me away.
“That’s not a word you hear very often, but…
nope. I go to both, or I don’t go to either.
” I don’t know why I want to go to a bachelorette party, but…
actually, yes, I do. I want to go because he’s going.
Baby’s a prude. Mostly. It’d be fun to see him in that setting.
Seeing him all flustered because he’s in a room full of almost naked men.
I clear my throat as I think about it a little more. He’s talked about guys before. Liam and Liam’s boyfriend, random guys he saw at the gym, and one of his professors from last semester. Zeke. I know he likes men, but… I don’t know. I kind of don’t like that he does.
I’m not homophobic. I couldn’t give less of a fuck what people like in the bedroom. I don’t know what to make of how I feel when it comes to Baby. I’ve tried to dissect it, to make sense of it, but I can’t.
All I know is that I don’t really want to see him drool at the sight of male strippers, but I gotta be there when he does.
“Logan, you lied. To one of my best friends, you lied, and now I’m lying to her. And to my mom’s! You’re not leaving me alone to—”
“I’ll go to the dinner, Baby. Promise.”
He relaxes a bit, misunderstanding what I mean.
“But only if I can go to the bachelorette party too.”
“No!”
“Why do you not want me to go?” It’s not that big of a deal. I’m sure gay men have gone and watched girls strip before. Probably lots of times.
He either doesn’t want to answer me or doesn’t have an answer.
My guess is the first. He gets embarrassed out of nowhere sometimes.
I’ve seen it. He’ll be laughing at a joke I make and then suddenly realize he’s doing it and force himself to calm down.
He’ll go on a tangent about some movie trivia and get more and more animated as he goes on, hands flying all over the place, but as soon as he realizes, he slumps and goes quiet.
When stuff like that happens, he usually has the same expression on his face that I see now.
It makes me feel guilty. It makes me want to… I’m not sure. It just sucks to think he’d feel the need to dull himself around me.
“I just don’t.”
I roll my eyes, suddenly feeling less guilty. “Then I’m not going to the dinner.”
“You—”
“Hey, do you guys want—oh. Never mind.” Cade stops all movement as soon as Baby’s head snaps in his direction, and I wish I knew why that is.
People listen to him. Baby is like half a foot smaller than me, skinny as hell, and is wearing a tiny pair of pink shorts.
He looks adorable and somehow still has everyone wrapped around his finger.
This present moment is an anomaly, because even I typically do whatever he says.
Not sure why, but I don’t mind it. I mean, sometimes it’s a little funny being bossed around by him.
Other times, it makes me feel weird. Not bad, but…
weird. Warm. I don’t know what that’s about, but it doesn’t matter. I still listen to him.
And it’s clearly not just me—Cade has his mouth zipped because it’s what our bossy roommate wants.
Baby looks at me again, but I know he’s keeping this situation on a need-to-know basis—Cade doesn’t need to know, so he doesn’t get to.
“Fine, Logan! You can go.”
Oh. Can’t believe I won a round. Maybe I should put up a fight more often.
“Dick,” he mutters as he stalks his way out of the room.
The grin on my face stalls when I get a good look at nearly half his ass as it bounces with every step he takes. I try not to look most of the time, but it’s there, and it’s hard not to notice. He has a bubbly butt. It’s got more squish to it than I’d expect someone as skinny as him to have.
Not that I’ve squished it or anything. It just looks like it does.
It’s really not fair that I can’t go shirtless but he can wear shorts that could double as a belt.