Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

a casual, joking air, Sam had come off a lot harsher than he'd intended. He regretted the words as soon as they were out.
    "What?" Devin stopped in the middle of the sidewalk for a few seconds before he took several extra large steps to keep up with Sam. "That your official diagnosis? What brought that on?"
    "Nothing." Sam glanced down either side of Drayton Street before crossing into the park. "Just that I can see why you don't want to be set up with someone, especially me." Sam reached the edge of the practice field and dropped his gym bag to the ground. Seconds later, Dev did the same.
    "What do you mean?"
    "Are you sure you want to hear this?" Sam asked. As if anyone would want a full psychological breakdown of their shortcomings. Sam had trouble keeping his opinions to himself most of the time, and most of his friends had learned to not ask him for advice unless they wanted a professional-grade opinion, which wasn't often.
    Apparently, Devin was up for the doctor-patient conversation today. After his nod, Sam continued. "Think about it. I wasn't kidding yesterday when I said you want what you can't have," Sam said. "You are charming, to a lot of people. You have no problem going out and meeting men, talking to them, buying them drinks, whatever gets them to be interested in you. If you don't want to be alone in bed, you don't have to be. And you say you don't hate the idea of being in a relationship, but the person you want is someone you know you'll never have," he said, gesturing to where Mike stood talking with a teammate.
    "You like Michael too."
    Sammy nodded. "Yes, I'm attracted to him. He's hot. And he's a good guy. But I have no illusions about where that's going. I guess it's different because you've known each other since you were kids, and you've kissed once, but it's obvious to everyone else who knows him that he'll never want to be with a man. You've been friends for years. And you lived alone for a few months before you got me to move in. If it was going to happen for you, wouldn't it have happened by now?"
    "Not if he's not ready."
    "Right. If kissing you when you were thirteen and being at your side pretty much every moment since didn't make him ready, what will?" Sam found he couldn't look Devin in the eye during his little speech. It was difficult enough telling Devin the unvarnished truth when the whole situation was none of his business, friend and housemate or not. He was the last person who wanted to discourage someone from pursuing a dream, even if it was pointless. He supposed that wasn't practical for a future therapist, but he rarely allowed himself the indulgence of analyzing his friends and advising them the way he would if they were his patients. He wouldn't like it if it were done to him and he could tell from the stiff set of Devin's jaw, he wasn't thrilled with what he was hearing. Still, Sam had to get it all out there. This might be the last chance he'd have to tell Dev exactly how he and Mike saw the situation.
    "My point is, you're great at connecting to people, when you want to," Sam continued. "You're the life of the party and there's a lot about you someone could appreciate, if you gave the right someone the chance. But you constantly surround yourself with people who don't want what you say you want because you're holding out for a fantasy. And Mike loves you like a brother so he's not going to outright reject you. He would never hurt your feelings that way. But he sees the way you look at him and trying to set you up is his way of saying it's not going to happen." Sam finally let himself look back up at Dev. The other man's gaze was on Michael, the best friend who would never reciprocate his feelings.
    "I get that you're not into me, but you should know when Mike realizes it's not going to work with us, he'll try to set you up with someone else. He wants you to be happy and he knows he's not the guy to make that happen."
    A long silence passed before Devin asked. "How do you know that's what he thinks? He's never said anything like that to me."
    "Mike and I talk. That's why he said you should get to know me better. He has and for some reason he thinks we'd be good together," Sam said. He hadn't realized it until his speech was over, but Michael's concern about Devin's love life had been a frequent topic of late. Mike was serious about getting him settled down with someone, if only because he didn't want Devin to be alone when he got more serious about his girlfriend. For