Jayla walks into the bathroom, letting out the steam and bringing a blast of cool air in with her. She flushes the toilet, scorching me under the water.

“Jayla!” I shriek.

“Sorry.” She yawns. “Forgot.”

I flick off the water and reach my hand out for a towel, which she tosses at me, and then she goes back to brushing her teeth. “Was it worth it?” she mumbles around her toothbrush.

I wrap the towel around myself and then grab a second one for my hair. “Was what worth it?”

“You and Office Batman.”

“Maybe,” I say, trying and failing to keep the grin off my face. Her forehead crinkles as I dart past her to get dressed.

“Oh my god.” She spins around. “Another boy?” she teases. “That’s two in a row, Jubi.”

“I’m allowed to like boys,” I remind her, tugging on my leggings.

“Technically, no one should be allowed to like boys,” she says, grabbing her own clothes off a hanger and dropping them onto the bed. “But you do you.”

“Stop it,” I snort.

“Jubi, I love you and always will, but boys are gross. Don’t come crying to me when he’s all sweaty and smelly and just wants to talk about bacon and hot girls and Axe body spray.”

“Okay, but that’s like half of our conversations now.” I laugh.

“We do not talk about Axe body spray,” she says, looking scandalized.

“But the rest—”

“It’s different.” She smirks.

And it is. Sorta. I mean, not the bacon thing. I’m pretty sure straights and queers have the same proclivity toward bacon. Probably. I can’t say for sure, though. Neither of us are straight, technically. Jayla has a strict no-boys-allowed policy, and I’m . . . flexible on the topic. I haven’t really put a label on it. I’ve only had one real boyfriend and I’ve never actually dated a girl, but I’ve had some pretty serious crushes, plus that one brief and glorious make-out session with Kai, Nikki’s ridiculously hot nonbinary cousin. There are just certain things that make me turn my head, regardless of who they’re attached to. Like, I’m endlessly fascinated by dimples and good hugs and people who can surprise me—which Bats did last night, repeatedly.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to run into him today. But still, something nags at me that I can’t quite put my finger on. I know Jayla was just joking about the two-boys-in-a-row thing, but a part of me is still wondering, Is that okay? I know I like more than just boys, but does it count if I haven’t seriously dated anyone but?

CHAPTER SIX

Ridley