Chapter 37
DANNY
“Hey,man. So cool that you happened to be in the neighborhood. Come on in.”
I follow Cruz through the front door of his condo and take a slow, quiet breath to calm myself. It doesn’t work. I’m still sweating bullets even though it’s cold and rainy out. My heart is still thrashing in my chest.
“You want a beer?” he hollers from his kitchen.
“Sure. Thanks.”
I walk into the all-white space. “Whoa. This is nice.” I take in the slate countertops and marble floor. The trio of glass light fixtures hanging over the dining table look like they were sculpted in an art studio.
“Ha, thanks. I finally got around to redoing the kitchen. I guess you haven’t been over since the contractor finished it.” He hands me a beer and together we drink at his kitchen island. I take in the easy expression on Cruz’s face, how happy he is to see me.
“I haven’t heard from you since we last got drinks,” he says. “That was weeks ago. You must be busy again.”
I tug at my neck and force out a laugh that sounds more like I’m choking. “Yeah, um, work is still kicking my ass.”
“That’s a good thing though, right? Means you’re raking in the money.” He tips his bottle like he’s toasting me.
“Sort of. Hey, listen.” I wince and quickly scrub a hand over my face. “I should mention that I’ve been seeing Eden kind of a lot lately.”
“Oh yeah? On campus, right?” Cruz turns and steps toward his pantry. He grabs a bag of pretzels and rips it open. “Sorry, I’m starving. You want some?”
“Uh, sure. Thanks.” I shove a handful of pretzels in my mouth, savoring the precious extra few seconds that it buys me before I have to confess to my best friend that I’ve secretly been dating his little sister.
I chew and chew, taking in how Cruz seems more built than the last time I saw him. He takes a fistful of pretzels out of the bag, and I can’t help but focus on how massive his hand looks. He downs the pretzels and closes his fist around a second handful. My eyes go wide. Cruz is just under six feet tall so I’ve got a few inches on him, but his build is more solid than mine. If I tell him about Eden and me and he gets pissed, there’s a fifty-fifty chance he’s gonna punch me, and it’s gonna kill.
I force myself to swallow the salty lump of food in my mouth. When I do, I cough.
Cruz winces. “You okay?”
I nod and hack a bit more before draining the rest of my beer. “Fine.”
He grabs me another bottle. I tell him thanks before taking a long pull. I breathe in, chest heaving as my nerves go haywire.
“So I, uh…well, lately, I’ve been…” Damn it, I’m sweaty. I pull off my sweater, leaving me in just my undershirt. I tug at the collar.
“You sure you’re okay, man?”
“Yeah. Actually, No.” I press my eyes shut and shake my head.
“Eden and I have been seeing each other,” I finally blurt.
To my utter surprise, Cruz’s easy expression doesn’t budge. “Yeah, I know. Because you run into each other a lot on campus, right?”
Oh. He misunderstood what I said.
I nod anyway. “Right, but see, the other day we were together and…” I clear my throat. “And she mentioned your parents’ anniversary party this weekend and how stressful it’s been preparing for it.”
Cruz rolls his eyes. “She’s totally right. God, it’s gonna suck. My mom’s going all out to make sure it’s as fancy as hell. It’s a cocktail hour, then a plated dinner with live music and speeches.” He makes an annoyed sound. “You know I have to wear a tux? So ridiculous.”
“Uh, yeah. Eden mentioned that.” I clear my throat and take a second to collect myself. I straighten up and look Cruz in the eye. “She wants me to go with her to your parents’ anniversary party, Cruz. She wants us to go together.”
I pause to catch my breath. God, I sound so somber, like I’m announcing that someone just died.
Cruz frowns for a second like he’s confused.
“She wants us to go together as a c?—”
Cruz’s eyes go wide and I quickly cut myself off so I can brace myself for the punch I’m about to receive. But it never comes. Cruz is smiling for some reason.
He claps my arm. “Oh man, that’s a great idea! Yeah, you should definitely come!”
“I should?”
“Yeah! It’ll way more fun if you’re there. I mean, it’s still gonna be stuffy and obnoxious, but if you come, we’ll be able to hang out and drink together, shoot the shit.” He shoves my shoulder. “Sorry man, I don’t know why I didn’t think to invite you sooner.”
Cruz has the heart to look guilty in this moment. Shit.
I start to speak, but he stops me.
“No, seriously, it’ll be great. My parents love you, and they haven’t seen you in forever. They’ll be thrilled. You gotta come.”
“Uh…um…”
“This was such a good idea for Eden to invite you.” He claps me on the back. “You’re gonna save the day, dude. My parents will love the surprise of seeing you there and we’ll get to hang out. Win-win.”
He checks his phone. “Ah damn, my business partner just messaged me. I gotta run back to the office.” He whips open the refrigerator door. “Don’t feel like you have to take off. Stay and have another beer. Watch the game.” He points to the flatscreen in his living room on the opposite side of the open concept space. “And feel free to finish the leftovers in my fridge. They’re gonna go bad soon anyway.”
I stand there, speechless, unsure of what to do or say. I’ve royally, royally fucked this up. Because of my impressive cowardice Cruz now thinks I’m attending the party to be a good friend. And now I have to tell Eden that I was so scared of pissing off her brother that I chickened out on telling him about us.
Fuck, I really dropped the ball.
“Um, okay. Thanks, man,” I manage to say as Cruz heads for the front door.
He leaves and I’m left standing in my best friend’s house, feeling like a spineless piece of crap.