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“Besides the fact we’re all dating Callie?” I counter with a bemused smirk.
“Yeah, I don’t get that,” he admits, resting his head on his fist with his elbow on his knee. “Why go for a girl who has a bunch of other boyfriends when you can date someone who only wants you? From what you said, I get not wanting to date Bree, but there are plenty of other people.”
“Because I love Callie,” I answer simply, a warm glow filling my chest as I think about her.
He tilts his head to the side and looks at me strangely. “You really do, don’t you?”
“Yes, and she loves me back.” I stretch out my legs and cross my arms over my chest. “It’s not that crazy of a concept.”
“No, it’s not that. You’re great. She’s lucky to have you,” he insists, but his words are diminished by his awkward shifting and lack of eye contact. “I just thought you were getting close to her to get back with…” His words trail off as he peeks up at me and my growing frown. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. You don’t remember. You’re into this girl. Congrats.”
“Get back with whom?” I ask, even though there’s knowledge coiling in my belly—evidence of the truth sitting in a box under my bed.
“Look, you said it yourself. You’re not the same guy,” Dave backpedals, sitting up and holding his hands up like he’s warding me off, even though I haven’t moved. “I’m guessing that’s why he didn’t say anything.”
“Who’s he?” I ask again, needing him to say his name… needing to be sure.
“Campbell,” he answers in defeat. “You used to have a thing with him before Bree. Supposedly, it was casual.”
It feels like the world bows beneath me, and I’m free-falling. Nolan lied to my face. He pretended he and James were merely lab partners when they were so much more. Under a heavy breath, I mutter, “Supposedly?”
“I got the impression that you were more into him than he was into you.” Dave crawls over until he’s sitting next to me and rubs the back of my neck as I close my eyes. “Breathe, dude. That was a different life, right?”
“Right,” I wheeze as my mind tries to find some justification for Nolan not telling me. Maybe… Maybe it isn’t what I think it is. Maybe they didn’t really do anything, and James thought it was more than it was. “When you mean they—we were casual, what exactly do you mean? Did we just hang out a lot or something?” I open my eyes long enough to catch Dave’s pained grimace and know I’m not going to like his answer.
“If by ‘or something’, you mean you lost your V-card with him and continued to be friends with benefits for like a month, then yeah, it was ‘or something.’” He releases a shuddering sigh like his breath is fighting to break free under a heavy weight in his chest. “There’s something else you should probably know.”
“There’s more?” I squawk, turning to look at him with rising panic fluttering inside me.
“It’s not a big deal or anything,” he assures me, but his tight expression seems to argue the opposite.
“If it isn’t a big deal, then why do you look like that?” I ask while crossing my arms over my chest, because I don’t know what to do with my hands.
Dave pulls back, dropping both hands into his lap, and tries to school his features. His mask isn’t as good as Kaleb’s, and I’ve been able to see right through that one since we were kids. “Look like what?”
“Like you’re bracing for me to freak the fuck out.”
This earns me a raised brow and a meaningful look.
“Okay, freak out more.”
“It really isn’t a big deal, but we also did some stuff together before you got with Bree.” He swallows heavily, and then quietly adds, “I’m gay.”
Groaning, I slide down until I’m lying flat on my back on the bed with my feet on the floor. “And by stuff, you mean…”
“Hand job that turned into a blow job,” he answers with an awkward shrug. “You were feeling down and anxious about your relationship with Campbell. I wanted to make you feel better.”
Twisting my head up and back so I can make eye contact, I flash a raised brow of my own. “You wanted to make him—me feel better, so you blew him—me?”
Dave rubs his hands along his thighs and goes back to looking at my dresser. “It made sense at the time, and it was just that one time.”
My anxiety is replaced with curiosity. “If it wasn’t going anywhere serious with Nolan, then why didn’t you two start going out? How did Bree even get into the mix?”
“Too much history,” he answers, his expression shifting the way it does when people recall bittersweet memories. “We didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship, and you weren’t sure if you wanted to be out. I’m not out out, but it also isn’t a secret. I haven’t dated anyone, so it’s never really mattered.”
Holding my hands up in the air, I tick off names on my fingers. “Nolan. You. Bree. Anyone else?”
He shakes his head. “You dated Amber for a little while before Campbell, but I don’t think anything happened beyond heavy making out.”
