Page 40 of First Kiss with a Mothman

Thirteen

MORT

What. The actual. Monsterclusterfuck.

My fists clench, and my back tenses up. I breathe rapidly, and my wings freeze up under my hoodie. I swear I’m seeing red as I stand at the counter of Mummy Mocha. If I were holding my drink, the cup would crumple up as my body involuntarily reacts to what I’m seeing.

Seth. The campus fuckboy barista douche is kissing Arie. Here, in front of the whole world to see.

“Mine,” I growl under my breath. This mummy dude thinks he can kiss any gay guy he wants, but Arie is under my protection. He belongs to me! I’m the one who listens to him play violin, chats with him, and does laundry with him. I kissed him at sunrise first!

“Excuse me, sir?” The girl at the counter pulls me out of my daydreams of punching Seth in the jaw.

“Huh?”

“Could you take your coffee and step to the side?” The girl points behind me, and, indeed, multiple students are standing there waiting to order. My rage and I are blocking the queue.

“R-r-right.” I nod and take my drink. I need to think rationally and walk away. Arie is a young, single man who can kiss whomever he wants. For crying out loud, I’m the one who told him to.

Tell that to my heart, and my feet making me turn around and stride back to the far side of Mummy Mocha. I try to level my breathing as Seth sits back down. They’re done lip-locking for now, and Arie doesn’t know I saw them.

“H-h-hey, Arie.” Since when do I stammer?

“Who is that?” Arie asks in an innocent tone.

“It’s me, Mort.” Seth snickers, like I said something funny, and I try not to glare at him. “Seth.”

“Mort Rain. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Seth’s words make Arie snicker. I don’t get what’s so funny. Or perhaps he enjoyed the kiss so much he’s on cloud nine. Are they an item now or something? I can kiss better than Seth can!

“I just w-w-wanted t-to see what Arie was up to. Since we’re such good friends. He’s arguably my closest friend outside the fraternity. Even among the fraternity.”

“Well, I bumped into Arie outside. It turns out we have a lot in common,” Seth says with a shit-eating grin. Maybe he did all this to make me furious with jealousy, but Arie deserves better than that.

“Like what?” I say in a growly tone.

“We both like boys,” Arie says with a smile.

“So do I,” I reply quickly. I puff up my chest and allow my wings to relax and vibrate. “A lot of guys in and out of Alpha Claw Omega are gay or bi. In fact, this whole damn school is a magnet for gay monsters.”

“Don’t I know it,” Seth remarks. He sits back and relaxes, and I bristle. I’m not sure what would be worse: if Seth messed around with Arie, kissing him without intent, or if the two of them dated.

“I’m hoping to meet more,” Arie says. He shrugs as he glances up at me. “As friends. We could talk about queer issues.”

My only issue is him being queer with someone else. “Right,” I say with a hefty amount of skepticism. I nod and attempt to be chill and indifferent again. “Are you two, like, dating or whatever?”

“What makes you ask that?” After a long pause, Arie continues, “Oh, that kiss just now? You saw that? I was just trying out other guys. A fun, friendly, lip peck.”

“And I don’t date,” Seth adds.

“Good,” I all but bark. Arie scrunches his eyebrows, and I clear my throat. “I mean…it’s good because…you have lots to do here at Mummy Mocha.”

Seth studies me, then nods. “Right. I ought to get back to work anyway. Running a coffee empire takes effort.”

“Cool. Thanks for the drink, Seth,” Arie chirps.

“Do you need me to walk you home?” Seth asks.

“I can do it.” The words rush out of me before Arie can lift a finger.