Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
It’s such a weird thing to imagine, so why am I doing it?
Cass is red. “Calm down, okay? You’re right, I should have told you.”
“I am calm,” I say despite my heartbeat going way beyond the territory of cardio. I’m officially on my way to a heart attack.
The girl who brought me the water earlier shoves another glass at me with concern passing over her round features. “Dude, drink. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
I accept it, cradling the drink in both my hands as she pushes me against the backrest. “No… I just got a bit overwhelmed from the lack of air,” I say and hide behind the glass, gulping down the icy water.
This is the worst day of my life.
I embarrassed Cass, and the Logan dude is staring at me with a mocking half-smile. I want to splash the damn water in his face. What if I pretended to trip and spilled it over him? Too obvious?
“Maybe I should leave you to it?” Logan asks after a moment, no doubt not wanting to be associated with the likes of me.
I raise my hands. “No, no, you stay, I’ll go! I can sit…” I look around and my gaze meets Aaron’s. I walk up to him. “With this guy here. Aaron, right? I owe you a drink for scaring you with half-chewed food bombs. I hope I didn’t do any damage?” He abruptly closes his computer when I try peeking at the screen. He’s really protective of that Great American Novel.
“It’s okay,” Aaron says and the tiniest wrinkle appears between his brows. His face is smooth as if he never had a pimple in his life. From the collar of his shirt to his leather loafers, he looks like the kind of guy who lives at the library.
Cass entwines his fingers on his nape, which tells me he’s on the brink between frustration and anger, and I desperately need to keep this situation from escalating.
Logan lets out a chuckle and pulls away the chairs standing between the two tables. “I hope you’re up for a double date, because it’s happening.”
Aaron’s lips shut, and he pulls the computer to his chest, as if it were a shield. Oh, he does not want to sit with Cass or Logan, but especially not with the stranger who caused all this mess.
It’s inconsiderate of Logan to force this situation on a friend. Sure, I might have been the one to propose it, but it was just a knee-jerk reaction to Logan’s presence. Ignoring Aaron’s obvious discomfort, Logan pushes the table together and faces the girl, who watches them with disapproval, picking at her short ‘fro.
“Look, Quinta, I promise I’ll arrange them back to how they were once we’re done.”
She rolls up the sleeves of her shirt, showing off her thick arms, as if in warning. “Fine, but I’ll be watching you. What are you having?”
Logan licks his lips, glancing toward the massive coffee machine. “Just black coffee.”
I mentally roll my eyes, because of course this dude would never let even a drop of creamer spoil his manly black brew. It’s not normal to drink burnt bean water without anything to soften its flavor.
The preppy Timothée Chalamet impersonator goes a step further and orders an espresso.
Quinta walks off, and I shuffle closer to Aaron, not wanting to impose on the happy couple. Cass watches me with a frown, but what is the point in making things more complicated than they have to be? Wasn’t it Logan who suggested it was a double d—
“Oh, by the way, I’m not gay. No offense,” I tell Aaron, who shuffles a few inches away from me.
“Neither am I,” Logan says, making me choke on air as if I was a fish. I look between him and Cass, who keeps watching me with a tight set to his lips. If Logan is not gay, then how does their thing work? Maybe they’re not a couple-couple, and Kai was only messing with us?
Aaron sighs, playing with the sleeve of his beige sweater. “He’s bisexual and hates his identity being erased.”
I swallow. Of course the fucker wants to have everything.
“Oh. But I’m not. I’m straight,” I add just to make that crystal-clear.
Aaron smirks but doesn’t look my way. “I used to be straight too, once upon a time.”
“It’s not like that!” I protest, reaching for my cake with resignation. “So how did you two meet?” I ask Cass, but as we settle around the tables, my knee brushes against his by accident, and I slide my feet under the chair, until I’m almost kneeling.
Why did he have to come out? It’s making everything so weird!
It strikes me that the fear of making me uncomfortable was exactly what kept him from being honest, so I bite the inner side of my cheek to punish myself, because if they gave the Worst Friend award, I’d be this year’s winner.