HIDING FROM THE TRUTH ✔️

PROLOGUE

Gavin was sprawled out on Owen's bed, complaining endlessly as the blonde ignored him. Summer had passed and all his friends graduated while he sat in the audience, wallowing in self pity. To make matters worse—he didn't even pass the GED. That just made him more embarrassed. He didn't like looking stupid, even if that's exactly what he was.

"I'm going to be all alone this year," Gavin groaned. "Who am I supposed to eat lunch with? Where am I supposed to go during break? This is fucking bullshit."

"Mhm," Owen hummed, texting his boyfriend, Conan, who was on a family vacation. They hadn't seen each other in two weeks and were glued to their phones ever since.

"Are you even listening to me?" Gavin glared at his friend. "You're texting Conan again, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, completely oblivious to Gavin's irritation. The black haired boy reached over to snatch Owen's phone out of his hands. "Hey! Give that back!"

Gavin scoffed. "I'll give it back if you repeat back what I just said to you."

"Uhh... okay I have no idea," he admitted sheepishly. "Now give! Conan's telling me about his ski trip. Apparently Duncan slipped and broke his arm," he snickered.

"You're such a simp! I'm talking about something important here." Gavin held Owen's phone further back when the blonde reached for it.

He whined, "I'm sorry, I'll listen. Just let me text Conan first."

Gavin scrambled off the bed, dodging Owen who tried to tackle him. They wrestled on the floor and accidentally knocked Owen's lamp off his nightstand. It shattered against the floor but the two idiots were determined to win and kept wrestling around aimlessly anyway.

"Checkmate!" Gavin yelled, shoving the phone down his pants, knowing Owen wouldn't dare get it from there.

"Checkmate my ass!" Owen didn't hesitate to slip his hand down his friend's shorts to snatch his phone back.

"Ah! Owen!" Gavin shrieked, grabbing the blonde's wrist and trying to yank it out.

The door squeaked open, revealing Owen's little brother, Luke, who stood there with wide eyes that were trained on his sibling's hand buried in Gavin's pants. His jaw dropped as his face burned an inhumane shade of red. Gavin would've taken the moment to appreciate how cute the boy looked if they weren't in such a predicament.

Gavin had been attracted to Luke for an entire year now. He always saw the guy as a little brother until he hit puberty. That was the moment that the jock's view on the younger boy took a turn. It was almost impossible to resist how adorable Luke was. His wavy blonde hair, innocent brown eyes, and petite frame drove Gavin insane. But he didn't dare say a word or make a move—for several reasons.

One: Owen would flip his shit. He was a protective older brother and knew Gavin was a player. There was no chance of him taking the news well or getting his approval.

Two: he felt wrong because of the age gap.

Three: his family was homophobic. The thought of his Ma hating him for his sexuality cut a deep wound through his chest. Nothing would be worth that pain. He was a momma's boy and her approval meant everything to him. So if he had to suck it up and marry a pretty girl instead, then so be it.

Since he's bisexual, it wouldn't be horrible. He was equally attracted to girls as he was to boys. The only difference? He was insanely attracted to specifically Luke.

"It's not what it looks like!" Owen and Gavin shouted in unison, jumping away from each other.

Luke stuttered, "I- um- I heard something break." He avoided eye contact as he spoke, "I'll leave now-"

"Seriously, we weren't doing anything!" Owen ran in front of the door before his brother could leave. "He wouldn't give me back my phone and put it down his shorts!"

Luke's lightly colored brows scrunched together. "And you still tried to get it?"

"He's my bro, it's not like I've never touched his wang before," Owen retorted. "Hold on, I think I just made it worse."

"It's fine," Luke fiddled with his sleeves nervously, risking a glance at Gavin who's face was just as red. "You're allowed to be with who you please."

Owen pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I have a boyfriend. You know I wouldn't cheat on Conan, right?"

Luke hesitantly nodded, knowing his older brother wasn't that kind of guy. He peeked back over at Gavin. "So you two really weren't..."

"No!" they exclaimed at the same time again, retching as they held down their disgust just imagining such a thing.

The color in Luke's face returned back to normal, giggling at the immature boys who exaggerated their revulsion. Gavin paused his movements, heart clenching at how adorable the sound of his laughter was. He quickly choked down his desire.

It didn't matter how badly he wanted him. It would never happen and the sooner he accepted that, the sooner he'd be able to get over his silly little crush. It wouldn't last long anyway.

"Alright, alright. I believe you," Luke said with another smile that did all sorts of things to Gavin's self-control.

"Thank god." Owen shuttered as he accidentally visualized him and Gavin being intimate again, trying not to spill his guts all over his expensive carpet. "What are you doing up here anyway? Your room is on the third floor."

Luke's blush was back. He'd been eavesdropping on their conversation. He always lingered around whenever Gavin came over, it was just a routine habit by then.

"I was um, I was..." he trailed off as his entire body raged like wildfire from being put on the spot. Lying wasn't exactly his forte. "I forget."

Owen snorted. "Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

Luke laughed in response, the noise coming out forced. It wasn't the same sound that made Gavin's fingers itch to touch him and the older boy could tell.

Owen and Gavin were similar in the sense that they fit the "dumb jock" stereotype, but there was still a firm line between the two. They had different strengths and weaknesses. Owen was a determined guy that strived to prove his antagonists wrong, though he wasn't that great at picking up on social cues unless he had reason to. Owen was pretty oblivious. Gavin wasn't.

And, luckily, it didn't take a genius to tell that Luke was head over heels for him.