Page 72 of Tongue-Tied

“I just showed him how amazing he already is.”

The butterflies are flapping their wings something fierce when I hear Luna say, “Aww, that’s sweet.”

“Right?” Kael replies. “He’s a good guy.”

Angelica smiles at Dex. “You’d make a good boyfriend.”

“No thanks.” Dex averts his eyes, and the fluttering grows still. Suppose that settles some of the confusion for me. Dex will never want anything more than casual hookups, so I should focus harder on keeping our friendship intact.

I get up from the table first, and Dex decides to walk with me.

He playfully bumps my shoulder. “Don’t forget to use those amazing tongue skills on your future dates.”

“Oh my God, stop!” My face grows hot. “Besides, hooking up on the first date isn’t the best way to establish a relationship.”

He huffs out a laugh. “The 1950s called, they want their sexually repressive mindset back.”

“Shut up.” I can’t help grinning because I know he’s only teasing. “What I mean is, I want to get to know someone before I jump into anything physical.”

“I know that already, silly. And that’s perfectly fine.” Dex grows serious. “What if he wants to kiss you?”

I stop in front of my dorm. “Guess I’ll play it by ear.”

“Good plan. Well…just be yourself, but also don’t be too uptight.”

“Gee, thanks, Dad.”

We part ways, and I head inside to get started on homework.

By the time I’m ready to leave for my date, I’m nervous as shit. But maybe not quite as panicky as I could be, thanks to my dates with Dex.

I get dropped off outside the coffee shop and head inside. Toby is waiting near the counter, and we hug in greeting.

“Thanks for meeting me,” Toby says. “Want to order?”

We get mocha cappuccinos and grab a table near the window. I’m glad for it because the conversation is plenty awkward, and I can stare at people walking by instead of fiddling with the sleeve on the cup. Or should I say the zarf.

A laugh bubbles in my throat, but I hold it back. I consider telling Toby about the real name for the sleeves, but it feels like that inside joke belongs to Dex and me.

Soon enough, he draws me into a conversation about classes and work, and I confess that I’m employed by Bean Necessities.

“Well, shoot. You should’ve told me.”

“Nah, it’s cool. It’s nice to be away from campus.”

The discussion continues from there, but it dawns on me that I don’t feel any sort of spark with Toby. I have no desire to see what he smells like or how his lips taste. Not like I did with Dex. I’m so distracted by that thought that I miss his question.

“What’s that?”

“I said that despite Dex no longer being your roommate, it seems you’ve stayed close friends.” He arches a brow. “Or maybe it’s more?”

I’m thrown. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you’ve talked about him a lot.”

“Well, fuck. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous, and when I get like that, it helps to talk about something familiar. And Dex is familiar. He’s like my comfort zone.”

He stares hard at me. “You sure he’s not more than your friend?”