WIP - Second Choice - New

“Honestly. I’m getting pretty tired of it.” I murmured as I watched my boyfriend across the room, holding court as if he were the king of the campus. What sucked was he really was the life of the party, the one everyone adored, hit on and hung out with. The man everyone gravitated toward. That I snagged him as a lover wasn’t on anyone’s radar. No one knew that he and I slept together. I was not allowed to hang out with him. I was certainly not allowed to call him my friend and forget boyfriend. There was only one person who knew the truth.

I turned to look at Mitchum since he hadn’t commented on my mumbling, something that usually irritated him. The look on his face was enough to tell me he was beyond irritated.

“Why the hell do you allow him to treat you that way?” He asked for the hundredth time, keeping his voice pitched low.

I gave him a small smile. “Because I love him.” I whispered. The same answer I always gave. Mitchum knew how I felt about my boyfriend.

“But you just said you are getting tired of it.”  

I was surprised he’d heard me, but nodded as my eyes wandered back to the laughing, fun loving life of the party, my lover. Kyle was stunning, with his dark blond hair, blue eyes and killer body. A body was I was intimately familiar with. Kyle even had sexy hands, large with well trimmed nails and always clean. He was meticulous about his appearance. He knew he was gorgeous, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Kyle could be quite arrogant at times, but just as charming too. He was aggressive and did have a temper on him. But he’d never directed it at me. Maybe because I followed all his little rules so well.

Mitchum growled under his breath and I wondered again if there was more to Mitchum’s friendship than I was seeing. He’d never overtly come on to me, never really flirted either. I’d always been under the impression he was straight, though I’d never seen him with either a girl or a guy. He left me confused when he got so bent out of shape over Kyle and how he treated me. He almost acted, well, jealous, which made no sense at all. “What’s the problem Mitch?” I asked in the same low voice, not that Kyle would have even noticed us lurking in the corner. When Kyle was holding court, he was completely oblivious of Mitchum, and especially of me. I turned to stare at Mitchum, though I was pretty sure exactly what my friend’s answer was going to be. I wasn’t disappointed.

“The problem is you letting him treat you like a dirty little secret.” Mitchum hissed at me. “You deserve better than that.” He added his dark blue eyes intense.

I turned away from him. “Mitchum. I love the man. That’s why I put up with all Kyle’s little secret games. I’m hoping, some day, he will realize what he has and come out of the closet.” I explained, again, for what seemed like the zillionth time. I didn’t see it, but knew Mitchum rolled his eyes.

“Like that’s ever going to happen. Look at him.” Mitchum waved towards Kyle. “He has everything. Popular, good looking, smart, and an adoring lover on the side. He’s not going to change Brandy.” Mitchum said with disgust.

I heard this before, many times. But this time, it settled a tiny sliver of ice in my stomach. I frowned as I watched Kyle. “It’s Brandall.” I mumbled automatically as I stared at my lover. Was Mitchum right? Would Kyle always leave things the way there were? Never wanting to make our relationship more? Let it grow? Acknowledge it publically, ever? Acknowledge me?