Frankie snorts and gives me a fake stern look before pointing at his eyes and then pointing back at me. I give him a salute, and he shakes his head.

“That is not how you salute, my dude.” He chuckles as he walks away.

Peak and I sit back down, and I slide a mug toward her. The air feels lighter, the mood happier, and she smiles when she takes a sip.

“Hey, so,” I say, hesitating when she looks up at me. “Um, he’s cool.”

“Yeah, you guys would probably hit it off.”

“He’s not really my type,” I say, and I don’t mean it the way it comes out, but she tips her head toward me.

“Are guys sometimes your type?” she asks, like that’s a normal question. Like it’s fine.

I take a deep breath, deciding how best to answer. I’ve had this conversation enough times to know that admitting I’m bi doesn’t always go well. Girls especially seem to be freaked out by it. Usually I just lie and try to pretend I’m straight or gay depending on the circumstances. It’s less drama, even if it makes my stomach hurt and my chest feel like it’s caving in all the time.

But. No more lying. Not to her.

She leans in closer. “You don’t have to answer. But you don’t have to not answer either.”

I stare down at my cocoa. “I guess certain people are just my type?” I say it like it’s a question, even though it’s not.

“Same,” she says.

“I figured from what you said that first day at the shop.”

“Then why did you freak out when I asked about you?”

I spin my mug around in my hands. “I don’t know. Bad past experiences, I guess.”

“I almost don’t want to ask, but—”

And my stomach drops, because here come the inevitable twenty questions: have you dated a guy, yes, did you bang him, yes, did he bang you, no, but he could have, are you sure this isn’t a pit stop to gay town, also yes, are you sure you like girls, yes, have you dated a girl, yes, did you bang her, no, but I wanted to.

“—you don’t already have someone, do you?”

Wait, huh? I snap my eyes up. “What?”

“We aren’t going through all this drama just to find out you have somebody waiting for you back in Seattle, right? I don’t want to just be an extended con crush.”

The relief washes over me, and I laugh. I can’t help it. “No, there is no one and nothing for me in Seattle anymore.”

“What’s so funny?”

“I thought you were going to ask me something else.”

“Like what?”

“Girls don’t always take it well when they find out I’m bi.”

“Well, this girl doesn’t care.”