He Says He's Just A Friend

Chapter 70 - Everybody Knows

- Clay -

I let Emmett drive us to the game in my car. With his blessing, I spent the ride over posting all the pictures I had saved of us. Three months' worth. I'd been too afraid to put them up before. Even the ones from before we started dating. I worried someone would see through me and know the truth. It was quite obvious in the way I looked at him how much I loved him. I started with the photos from our date that Mrs. Noble took. I added the photo I took of us downtown in front of the mural. The one of us after our first hike. The one from Sunday at the botanical garden I took after that bitchy woman looked at us like we shouldn't be there.

I felt a rush every time I shared a moment from our relationship that I thought would have to remain hidden. I didn't stop until I ran out of photos. I even changed my lockscreen from a generic geometric pattern to a photo I took of Emmett asleep in my lap at the park.

Another notification popped up, alerting me that I had fifteen new followers and forty-three new likes. "Ever since that one guy shared my video in his story, I got like double the followers."

"Yeah, they've been following me, too. It's crazy."

"I still have no idea what he's famous for, or why he's verified. Other than having like nine hundred thousand followers. I mean he's really hot, so I guess maybe he's a model or an influencer."

"Did you see his boyfriend?"

"Um, yeah." I smiled at Emmett. I liked that we could discuss things like this without jealousy or snide remarks. "I wish I had his abs."

"Please, boy. Don't even. You're gorgeous."

"Am I?" I leaned across the center console.

"So very." Emmett met me halfway, brushing his fingers through my hair. He gave me a tender kiss.

"You're totally very yourself, baby."

Emmett gave an embarrassed laugh, turning his eyes away from mine. Sometimes I didn't think he believed me when I said things like that. It seemed unfathomable to me he could believe himself to be anything less than spectacular.

"We should go in." I said, pulling back to my side of the car.

"I'm ready when you are."

We met up at the front of the car. I looked out across the sea of cars to the football field. A glow surrounded the stadium from all the huge overhead lights, making it a beacon in the dark, moonless night. Almost the entire school came to these things, not to mention their parents and siblings. Even former students who no longer had a connection to the school showed up on game night. My nerves were working, prickling the hair on the back of my neck, making my palms sweaty despite the chill in the air.

I looked at Emmett, watching me. "Are you okay with me holding your hand?"

Emmett slipped his hand into mine, interlocking our fingers. "I'm okay with anything you feel comfortable with."

"I just want to be like everyone else and not have to think about what I'm comfortable with. I mean, when I was with Summer, I never gave a second thought to holding her hand or putting my arm around her. Sometimes I'd even kiss her cheek. But I guess that was more of a show, for everyone else's benefit. I did it because that's what my friends did with their girlfriends. It was an act of mimicry, not genuine desire to do it."

"So no making out then?"

"Honestly, I always feel weird when I see couples kissing. People do it in the halls at school all the time. I've never been a fan of it. Not in public. It's way too intimate. Like a peck is fine. But do you really need to shove your tongue down someone's throat in front of so many people?"