Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 10

about me, Sam? I embarrassed myself in front of a sweet, hot guy. I might have had a chance with him if you'd just introduced us as normal people do."
    "My way was better." Oddly enough, I expected that kind of response. Why I put up with it for so long, I had no fucking clue. I wanted to tell him off, but more importantly, I wanted to sort shit out with Wolfgang. That would be a lot harder if I punched Sam in his smug smile too soon.
    "You have to call him, Sam. Tell him that it was your fault… that I didn't know what you did."
    "No way. You think I want to lose a good friend?"
    I almost sat up then. I almost leaped out of bed and knocked his head against the wall. I almost stood and screamed at him, waving my fists like a madman. Sam had always been self-absorbed, but I could usually break through that veneer when his practical jokes went awry. This time, I couldn't, and this time I saw how many excuses I'd made for him throughout our friendship.
    "You are losing a good friend," I said. It came out cold and hard, and I meant every word. I remained on my back to better resist all the angry thoughts about venting physically. "You embarrassed the fuck out of me, and for what? So you and Wolfgang can laugh about it later? He doesn't seem the type."
    "He's not." That I understood Wolfgang enough to know he wasn't that kind of guy hurt more than it should. I just barely met him so I shouldn't care. But I did. He was the kind of guy I needed in my life—someone I got, and got along with—but Sam had fucked me over before I could even try. The worst part was that Sam didn't even understand why I was mad. Instead, he wore that obnoxious look of indignation he got when he could tell I wouldn't budge but hadn't grasped what he fucked up yet. "You're not gonna move out because I tried to hook you up with a hot guy."
    I glared at him for several seconds.
    "Well, are you?"
    "If you had actually hooked me up, we wouldn't be fighting right now."
    "You're fighting. I'm just trying to understand what crawled up your ass."
    "Fuck, Sam." I shook my head. We'd had some stupid fights through the years. This one took the cake. He couldn't get it through his thick head that this was his fuck up. Before I could tell him that I was seriously considering moving out in that moment, he interjected.
    "You swear a lot," Sam said.
    And Wolfgang doesn't like that, I thought. That one reminder about my language deflated my anger and returned me to moping mode. While waiting for Sam I'd realized that what I'd thought was professional charm had been the real Wolfgang—a personality I'd felt so relaxed with, content just to talk and hang out, even if I'd hoped we'd fuck by the end of the evening. We could've had something if I'd known what the hell was happening in the first place. Or, at least tried. I know we didn't have much time, but I wanted more. I saw the possibilities in Wolfgang and me. Sam had meant well sending him over, but his execution sucked smelly, crusty balls.
    "He doesn't like the swearing," I said more to myself than Sam.
    "You do like him," Sam said. I looked up at him. Was it sinking in? I nodded. "I wish I could help you, but I've seen Wolf with guys he's sick of. He's stone cold, Jason. You don't want to put yourself through that. Call it a learning experience and move on."
    "No, I can't accept that. Sure, I made a bad assumption, but given what little I knew..." I shook my head. I was fairly certain Wolfgang would forgive me if he knew all the facts. Maybe we'd even laugh over it. "You have to fix this. Tell him what happened. Tell him that you didn't tell me who he was."
    Sam laughed. "I didn't fuck up."
    I ground my teeth down and balled up my fists. "You did fuck up! And I am sick and tired of being the butt of your fucked up sense of humor. Fuck!"
    Sam squeezed my shoulder. I batted his arm away. It had to have hurt, but the only sign he understood my anger was a half-step backwards before he said, "I'm sorry, bud. I don't see that mooning look in your eyes often, but I'm not going to force him to talk to you."
    I shook. Even with the welling anger clouding my thoughts, I heard a quiet corner of my mind marvel that trembling with rage actually did happen to people. I barked a laugh. The sound scared me, so even to Sam's ears I had to sound off-kilter. I never thought I could get so angry, but I'd never spent an hour tied to my bed with nothing to do but think about how badly my supposed best friend just screwed me