Chapter 1 #2
There was a collective dreamy sigh at that, but Taylor shattered it when he shook his head. “I’m too impatient, and it’s only September.”
Bennet crossed it off the list, then looked at me. “Do you happen to have a sworn enemy, Finn?”
I shook my head. “Sorry.”
Bennet exhaled and crossed another item off the list. He murmured some of the other items as he drew his pen over them. “Best friend is a straight guy with no signs of a sexual awakening. Love triangles always lead someone to disappointment. Ah, how’s polyamory?”
I frowned. I hadn’t thought about it.
“Nah,” Jason said. “It’s hard enough to zero in on one person as it is.”
Bennet bit his lip, then dragged the pen across the item. He turned to Harrison. “I’m going to need more books.”
“I’ve got many under my bed,” Harrison assured him. When Taylor and Jason looked at him questioningly, he shrugged. “They’re fun and have a guaranteed happy ending.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s what keeps you reading,” Taylor said. “Or why they’re hidden under the bed.”
They shared a wicked grin only they understood.
“So, nothing,” I concluded.
“No, no,” Jason replied. “We divided the labor between us. Taylor will be the chief executive mischief-maker. Harrison is in charge of staging, direction, and scripts.”
“And Jason is our morality supervisor,” Taylor explained.
That checked out.
I turned to Greg, who was sitting in an armchair furthest from the mess of the corkboard. “Didn’t you say this was a terrible idea?”
“I did,” Greg said. “I’m here as a witness so I can say I told you so.”
Yeah, that checked out, too.
“I’m sorry.” I turned to Jason. “Did you say staging, direction, and scripts?”
Harrison cut in. “Of course. You’ll have to play the part. You can’t improv your way to the happily ever after.”
“Are you sure? I think that’s how it’s usually done,” I said.
“Yes, but we’re making this the best, the biggest romance ever made,” Harrison said like my brain was lagging.
“Here,” he said. He whistled once, precisely, and Peanut trotted over to us.
He had his leash attached to his collar with a triangle kerchief resting against his bright fur, and he was carrying the other end of the leash in his mouth. “Sit, boy,” Harrison said.
Peanut cocked his head instead.
“He doesn’t do what he’s told,” Jason said with pride, then looked at me. “Take the leash, boy.”
I did it before I realized why they all roared with laughter.
“There’s nothing more romantic than a guy walking a dog,” Harrison explained. “But you have to do it with confidence. It helps to have a scene partner you know well, like Peanut.”
“Let’s step outside,” Taylor proposed.
Peanut heard the last word and bolted for the door, yanking my arm right out of my shoulder, and I rushed after him.
The whole gang followed out and watched as Peanut took me for a run in the yard. The leaves had only started changing color, so he didn’t have the big pile to jump into, and the run was the next best thing.
“See, that’s all wrong,” Harrison said. “You should run like you mean it.”
I caught up with Peanut, and then tried to jog lightly with him.
For one moment, I felt like it wasn’t too bad, but Peanut saw a squirrel race across the yard and up a tree, and the entire world slipped from under my feet when he arched around and tangled his leash around my ankles, then zapped for the tree where the squirrel hid out of his reach.
The ground knocked the air out of me, and stars swirled around my head as I sat up.
Jason hurried over and helped me up. “Let’s maybe put a pin in that.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said, rubbing my head. My shaggy, light brown curls flew in every direction, and a few locks were damp from touching the wet grass.
Bennet got busy with a chewing toy so that Peanut would forget about his nemesis, the squirrel, and the rest of us sat down on the porch in front of the BEL house.
“I’m starting to think this isn’t going to work,” I said.
“We’re having tons of fun,” Taylor assured me.
I shot him a deadpan look that made him crack a smile.
“And we’re only getting started. We have a preliminary list of singles to set you up with. We just have to nail the exact tropes.”
“The exact what?” I asked.
“Tropes,” Harrison said, as if hearing the word again would make it any clearer. “You know, like a cute nerd tutoring a hot jock.”
“Hey, that’s the story of my life,” Jason said.
“Or dating on a dare,” Taylor said, offering Harrison a fist bump.
Harrison bumped it and winked at Taylor. It made my heart speed up because I wanted someone to be like that with me. I wanted to be like that with someone I cared about. “The tropes are where the romance lives,” Harrison said. “Or where it’s born, at least.”
“This isn’t a romance movie,” I said.
“It could be,” Harrison said with a bright smile and dreamy eyes. “You just have to feel it.”
I sighed. Whatever. It was still better than the alternatives.
I was incapable of having more than two or three dates before the interest fizzled out.
It didn’t matter that I was a fairly good student with a bright future and a well-off family to support me.
It didn’t matter that I was good-looking, that I worked out for an aesthetic physique.
Sure, it got me laid, and it got me a second date, but not the loving looks these guys were giving each other.
“My love life is in your hands, Wise Ones.”
“Good, laddie,” Taylor said in a ridiculously over-the-top Scottish accent that only had Harrison laughing.
Bennet was the first to leave, with Jason tagging along for a night of Dungeons and Dragons. Dud and the Shiny Knight had monsters to fight, apparently.
After they’d left, Harrison took Taylor’s hand in his, turned his palm over, and moved his fingertips along the long, twining lines.
Taylor was talking to Greg, but his hand was relaxed in Harrison’s.
They left after a few more minutes of this, heading to Harrison’s place to water the plants.
Or so they said. I doubted the plants needed watering, but I didn’t want to hear the details.
When it was just Peanut, Greg, and me, I leaned against the baluster by the porch stairs. “How badly do you think I fucked up agreeing to this?” I asked.
Greg sucked his teeth. “Don’t think it’s that bad, actually.”
I raised my eyebrows in response.
“I wouldn’t let them cook up plans for me for a suitcase filled with gold, but that’s because I don’t want to date anyone.
But that’s me.” He lifted his gaze to the darkening sky.
The setting sun painted the western edge orange and purple, and the rest of it was dimming with every passing minute.
He held his breath, let his gaze grow distant and lost, then turned it to me with new focus. “But you want it, don’t you, Finn?”
I didn’t say anything right away. I pressed my lips a little tighter and looked down between us. “Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?”
“Is it? It’s not a universal thing.” Greg got up, hands in his pockets, Peanut by his side. “It’s only true if you want it to be true.”
I thought about it for a moment or two. “It’s not like I’m desperate to be in a relationship.
But…” I hesitated, shrugging to buy myself a few seconds to think.
“Fuck it. I’d like to date someone. Have someone who falls in love with me just as much as I fall for them.
I’m sick of pretending like it’s the same either way.
It’s not. I want all the sappy, sugary love I see in them. ”
Greg came near me and put a hand on my shoulder for a few heartbeats. “I know that, buddy. But better get ready for a few false starts. If I know our friends, they’re going to fuck this up royally.”
I laughed and shook my head. A few fuck-ups were guaranteed, but it was the best chance I had.
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