want to start?” Maximoff asks his sister.
“No,” she says flatly.
Tom lifts the hammer. “I’ll go first.”
Kinney looks relieved.
I pass my Rocky Road pint to Jack. He offers a half-hearted, no thanks, smile. Usually Highland will eat my snacks.
“So…” Tom scratches his head with the toy. “I still haven’t found the perfect drummer to replace my old one. And the guy that got away is now playing for a mega-popular band that’s blowing up—and that could’ve been me.” He sighs out, and his eyes land on Maximoff. Tom looks like he’s a second from exploding by whatever else he’s holding in. “And I confess that I might’ve had a small, tiny…like so small you can’t even really see it. Is it there? I don’t think so. Yeah, that kind of crush on Farrow—waaaay before you two ever banged.” His face turns into a wince. “Ahhhh, that didn’t feel as good as I’d hoped.”
Farrow is sucking in a breath that sounds like a cringe.
I’d be laughing my ass off if I wasn’t worried about my boyfriend. Jack, though, looks more shocked at this revelation. I knew about Tom’s crush.
Farrow knew.
And I’m pretty sure he already told his husband too.
“It’s okay,” Maximoff says, not caught off guard or jarred.
“Is it?” Tom has sunken forward, forehead on the table.
“Yeah, it was a long time ago.”
Tom pops up, eyes on the ceiling. “My heart has definitively stopped beating.”
“Man, lots of people had crushes on me.” Farrow shrugs, and it’s just so easy. I can’t not take the swing.
“I didn’t,” I say into a grin. “Not even for a half-a-second.”
“That’s because you have questionable taste, Oliveira.” He holds out a hand to Jack. “Present company excluded.”
“Appreciated,” Jack says into a strong swig of root beer. Like he wishes that were actually liquid courage.
Tom starts to ease back. I wonder how long that has been weighing on him.
“Who’s next?” Kinney asks.
Maximoff takes his turn. “I confess that in the twelfth grade, this guy on my swim team told me that being a slut must be hereditary, since I like to get it in the ass just like my mom. I guess he assumed I had already bottomed because I’m bi.”
Wow, I’m shocked he shared that with anyone but Farrow.
Kinney looks overwhelmed. “You never told me that.”
“Kin,” he says. “You were eight.”
“Oh. Right.”
He nudges her shoulder. “I’m telling you now.”
She nods a lot, thankful he opened up. My idea is working like a charm so far.
So I go ahead and speak. “I didn’t have any LGBT friends in high school, so I looked up a lot online. My dad walked in on me searching the web for How to Douche for Idiots. Literally the title.”
Farrow laughs, which lets the younger ones like Tom and Kinney feel free to laugh. I’m glad. It’s a hilarious story as an adult, but damn was I mortified to hell as a teenager.
Jack smiles at me, but it fades too fast. And he rests a cement-block hand on my thigh. Trying to be cool, but I’m too perceptive to trick.
With the quick raise of two fingers, Farrow is next. “The idea of being a part of a clique is not my favorite thing. And being honest, this has always seemed like a clique.” He tilts his head. “Technically, it still is. But I don’t mind this little club. It’s not half-bad.”
I slow-clap. “That was weak sauce.”
“Because you can’t stomach hot sauce without shitting yourself.”
I start to laugh, then mockingly cover Jack’s ears. “Not in front of meu raio de sol.”
Everyone laughs again, but Jack’s fades into a sadder smile on me, like he’s apologizing already.
What’s wrong?
I drop my hands, about to excuse ourselves, but Kinney scoots forward.
Her turn. “Nothing I do to Tye Smith will help what I feel because all I wish is that I said or did something more in the moment.”
“You think I always know what to say?” Maximoff tells his sister.
“You were in shock,” Farrow chimes in.
Tom nods. “I’ve never seen a vagina in my life, and I still know I’m gay. What he did was wrong.”
“Elephant in the room,” I cut in, “he could be dropping his pants and pressuring other girls to touch his dick. What he did should meet some sort of school punishment, at the least.”
She pokes a spoon in chocolate chip cookie dough. “I’m thinking about it.” Her eyes flit to the last person who needs to share.
Everyone focuses on Jack.
He exhales a bigger breath, staring more at the Rainbow Brigade button. “I was