“Listen, Petrie, I’m not going to be your little bi-curious experiment so get that out of your mind right now.”

He laughed at that. “I’m not bi-curious. I am bisexual, though. I figured that out a long time ago. I’m attracted to whomever, regardless of gender. I’ve already been with both, trust me, Thomas, you aren’t an experiment.”

“Bullshit.”

“Why would I lie?”

The waitress interrupted to bring the nachos to the table. The platter of them was huge, bulging with chips, beans, ground meat, tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream. Noah had asked for the jalapenos to be left off.

“For the same reason you were a dick to me in high school. To get some sick enjoyment out of picking on those you think are less than you.”

“Thomas, I don’t remember you in high school. So I certainly don’t remember bullying you or picking on you.”

Thomas sighed and picked up a chip covered with cheese and sour cream. “Not directly. But you never stopped it and you laughed when anyone else around us did it.”

“I’m sorry,” Noah said. “That was uncool of me. I wasn’t very mature and I admit that. I never intended to hurt you or anyone. Okay?”

Thomas toyed with another chip he had taken. Now as adults years away from high school, it seemed sort of petty to hold a grudge.

No one had ever hurt Thomas that badly. Not that he thought bullying anyone was a good thing. But there were many who’d had it worse than him.

“I guess.” He shrugged. “Whatever.”

“That time was a struggle for me, too. I liked girls.”

“Obviously.”

Noah gave him an exasperated look. “And guys. It was hard for me to reconcile that for a while. Finally, I said fuck it. I like who I like. But it took some time.”

“Did you ever tell your cheerleader girlfriend?”

He frowned. “Allison? Why?”

Thomas chewed the chip he’d popped into his mouth and swallowed before answering, “I know girls get weirded out when they earn their boyfriends wanna bone another guy.”

“Well, I didn’t tell her. We broke up right out of high school. But the girls who have known didn’t seem to care.”

“You live a charmed life, Noah.”

He snorted at that. “Hardly. But cut all that crap, Thomas. The point of all this is I’m attracted to you.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Just like that, you think I’m gonna roll over and let you get into my pants.”

“You don’t have to roll, bending over would work fine.” Noah grinned mischievously.

Thomas was tempted to roll his eyes again, but too much eye-rolling and he’d get a headache. “As tempting as the offer is ... not, I think I’ll pass.”

“I know the attraction is mutual,” Noah said in a low voice. “Are you going to deny otherwise?”

“Even if it was, and I’m not saying that it is, I’m not that easy. I don’t just go out to a diner, have a few nachos and, as you eloquently put it, bend over. “

Noah sighed. “You do have a flair for the dramatic. Does it have to be complicated?”

“Complicated is my middle name.”