Page 66 of Their Wicked Ways
“Wow.” Nick shook his head like he was clearing it. “Yeah. Definitely won’t be forgettingthatin a few weeks. But I am going to need some context if you want advice.” He paused. “Do you want advice? Or just to vent?”
“Advice. Please.”
He nodded and rolled his hand in a ‘go on’ motion.
“I went to a club a while ago, and I ended up hooking up with a couple.”
“And just to be clear, a couple like a guy and a girl, or two guys?”
“Two guys.”
“Okay. That’s what I thought. Continue.”
“I figured it would be the only time I saw them. But I was wrong.”
Nick winced. “Oof, I’m feeling a ton of sympathy pains for you right now because that discovery can only be awkward as fuck.”
“Oh yeah.”
“Did you run into them somewhere?” he asked. “Is that how the date happened?”
“Not exactly. They’re the new guys on the crew.”
He froze. “You mean Quinn’s crew?”
I nodded.
“Holy guacamole.” He slapped his hand over his mouth to cover up a nervous-sounding laugh. “I’m so sorry,” he said around his hand. “I don’t mean to laugh because this is soooonot funny, but my brain just short-circuited picturing that, and that’s what came out.”
“It’s okay.” I shot him a wry grin. “You’re gonna laugh your ass off when you hear about how I had a panic attack when I saw them three days after they spit-roasted me in a hotel room.”
Nick dropped his hand, his face twisted up in sympathy. “I’d never laugh at that. It sounds awful. I’ve had panic attacks, and they’re the worst feeling ever.”
I sighed. “Yeah. It wasn’t my finest moment.”
“What happened next?”
“Not a whole lot. We talked and decided to keep things quiet. I’m not out, and people don’t know about them picking up thirds. I shouldn’t even tell you, but I need to talk to someone about it.”
“I promise I won’t say a word to anyone,” he said seriously. “You can trust me.”
“I know.” I sighed, more of the weight lifting from my shoulders.
“That’s a lot to deal with,” he said softly. “What else happened?”
“Remember when I moved into my new place?”
He nodded.
“They stayed after everyone left, and we hooked up again.”
Nick kept quiet.
“We went back to just being friends, but then things at work changed. Or at least I think they did. It’s hard to explain, but we agreed to be friends, and we are, but sometimes it feels like things aren’t just friendly between us.”
“How do you mean?”
“Like yesterday. I was talking about getting this done.” I pointed to my nose. “And somehow that turned into the three of us going out to dinner and them taking me to my appointment before work.”