14. Celebratory Milkshake Run
14
Celebratory Milkshake Run
As we filed out of the pool room, the crowd jostled us through the doors, and Esther grabbed my elbow to keep from losing me. Without really thinking about it, I reached back and took her hand, ensuring we made it into the gym hallway in one piece.
Kim and Caroline converged on Esther, complimenting her makeup and her hair, and she shot me a semi-worried glance, like she wasn’t sure what to do with their friendliness.
It was another twenty minutes before Ben exited the pool room with Ronnie and the other diver from our team who Esther had called Julian. The two divers pounded fists before Julian was attacked by a girl prattling excitedly in Spanish. Ronnie and Ben made their way toward us, leaving the kid to whom I guessed was his girlfriend from the way she attempted to meld their mouths into one.
“Well, that’s just uncalled for,” I said to no one in particular.
The moment Ben spotted me, he tossed his bag at Ronnie and pointed his finger menacingly. “You are so embarrassing!”
“Give me a B !” I bellowed, egging him on as he ran at me.
I squealed and tried to run away, but I didn’t even finish spelling his name before he caught me. His arms circled my waist, and I screeched in genuine shock as he threw me over his shoulder.
I struggled in his hold, laughing as he carried me like a sack of potatoes. “Oh my God, put me down!”
“That was mortifying,” he said, ignoring my command.
I pouted, beating his lower back lightly with my fists.“Don’t lie. You loved it.”
“You’re never allowed to come to my meets again, you hear me?”
“Oh yeah? Try and stop me.” With an evil cackle, I smacked his ass as hard as I could.
At the hit, he yelped and nearly dropped me. I grappled at his waist to keep from tumbling to the ground, but I froze when my fingers met skin. His shirt had slipped up, and my fingers were now digging into his bare hip above the band of his jeans. He had soft skin. It was very nice.
“Stop trying to cop a feel.” His own hand slid up my pant leg and ripped out a few strands of my leg hair.
Soft skin forgotten, I wailed at the sharp sting. “Ow! You dick.”
Chuckling deep in his chest, Ben bent over and set me back on my feet. I made a show of limping away as I rubbed at my abused leg.
“Save me!” I reached for the person closest to me, which happened to be Esther. “He’s going to rip out all my leg hair.”
She snorted. “Gross.”
“Celebratory milkshake run!” Kim announced, and I glared in utter betrayal as they all ignored Ben’s abuse.
“I have no friends,” I lamented, and Ben hooked an arm around my neck and steered me toward the exit doors.
“I’m your friend.”
Ignoring the warmth sparking in my chest at his words, I reached out and twisted his nipple viciously through his shirt. He whimpered like a baby and scampered away, rubbing at his chest.
“Dude, uncalled for.”
“I was avenging my leg hair,” I said, holding my head up higher. “Now we’re even.”
We fell into step beside each other, snickering quietly. He bumped my shoulder with his. I bumped him back. His hand brushed mine, and I fisted my hand to keep from twining our fingers together.
Because he was straight, and this wasn’t flirting.
Right?
“You were really good,” I said as we left the warmth of the school, the wintry air chilling me through the sweatshirt I’d donned. “You never told me you were that good.”
Ben blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t win.”
“You got second, which is crazy impressive.” I knocked his arm with my elbow. “For real, you were great.”
“Thanks.” He smiled, nudging my arm back. “I’m glad you came.”
“Even if I embarrassed you?”
He nodded, reaching out to trace the diver on my shirt until the zipper holding my hoodie closed stopped his progress. “Yeah, even though you embarrassed me. Too bad I didn’t earn this, though.”
I glanced down where his finger hovered over my sternum. Impulsively, I unzipped my hoodie and shivered as I removed it. “Hold this.”
He obeyed, and his cheeks colored with a fresh blush as I worked the tank top up and over my head. The November air froze my nipples, and I quickly exchanged the tank top for my hoodie, slipping my arms inside and zipping it closed.
“Shit, it’s cold.”
Ben stood stock still, my tank top hanging loose in his grasp.
“Earth to Ben?” I said, and he blinked, avoiding my gaze as he focused on the tank top.
“But I didn’t win,” he said.
“You did in my book,” I offered, and his dimple played peek-a-boo.
“Thanks.” He met my eyes fleetingly before looking away.
“Meet you at the drive-in?” I asked, and he nodded. “You good?”
Another nod.
“Okay.” Confused, and maybe a little embarrassed that I’d stripped in front of him, I backed toward my truck where Jordan waited. “See you at the drive-in.”
He turned and walked to his car without responding, and I watched him go, my mind working a mile a minute. Had I made him uncomfortable when I took off my shirt? He was a swimmer; he literally showered with other guys.
Other straight guys , my brain reminded me, and my mood soured.
Right.
Except Ben had never once shown an ounce of bigotry. And between the two of us, he was the one always touching me.
“Silas, are we going?” Jordan roused me from my thoughts, and I unlocked my truck and climbed inside.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, Jordan cranked down his window and pulled a pre-rolled joint from his coat pocket.
“Dude!” I snapped my fingers at him. “Uh-uh. If my Dad smells that, I’m dead.”
He gestured to the window. “I’ll blow the smoke outside.”
“No.”
“I’ll let you take a hit,” he sang, and I laughed.
“Tempting, but no.”
With a grumble, he put the joint away and pulled out his phone. “So you and Ben, huh?” he asked as he typed away on his screen.
“The fuck?” The truck swerved, and I straightened out as Jordan grabbed at the Oh Shit handle. “No. Not me and Ben.”
“Seriously?”
I gaped at him.
He shook his head. “Why? He’s super into you.”
A rather manic laugh scraped my throat. “Are you high?”
“I wanted to be!” he said pointing at his coat pocket. “Are you? Because you’d have to be stoned or stupid not to see it. And last time I checked, you’re not stupid.”
“He’s straight,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Because I just do.” I scowled, sending him a scathing glare as I idled at a red light. “And why is it any of your business?”
“Okay. Whatever, man. I’m just saying, the way he looks at you…” His hands pantomimed vaguely. “I don’t think straight guys look at other guys like that.”
“He doesn’t look at me like anything,” I said, refusing to let hope take root.
Jordan’s gaze weighed heavily on my profile as I drove, but he was smart enough to drop the subject with a doubtful, “Sure.”
The rest of the drive passed in silence as I ignored the dangerous want digging its claws into my chest. Ben was my friend, and even if he wasn’t straight—which he was, because he would’ve told me if he wasn’t—why would he ever like me? I was nobody.
The after party at the drive-in was a little awkward as the two groups, that wouldn’t normally coexist, merged. Ronnie and Jordan got on immediately, but Esther stayed glued to Ronnie’s side, not really entering into conversation unless it was to speak quietly with Ben. Harris and Kim were trapped in a tense debate about abortion, and Caroline paid more attention to her phone than to us.
I’d left the spot between me and Kim open for Ben, but when he’d arrived, he’d bypassed it for the seat across from me beside Esther. The seating arrangement shouldn’t have mattered, but the snub, unintentional or not, hurt. Which was so stupid. It was a free country, and he could sit wherever he wanted.
Apparently, that logic didn’t stop me from glaring at the empty seat beside me like I expected the wood to warp under the heat.
This was all Jordan’s fault, I eventually decided, and I started glaring at him instead. He didn’t notice.
“So, who’s going Black Friday shopping?” Caroline asked as she finally tucked her phone away.
“We’re going to the mall at midnight.” Ronnie nudged Esther. “I still don’t know how I’m the only one out of the three of us excited about this.”
“Probably because that sounds like a nightmare,” I offered, and Ben snorted into his hot-fudge shake.
We made eye contact for the first time in half an hour, and his face brightened with a tentative grin. “That’s what I said.”
Scowling at us both, Ronnie kicked my foot under the table. “Well, now you’re coming too.”
“What?” Ben and I exclaimed at the same time.
“You’re coming with us too,” he repeated. “We’ll pick you up.”
“No thanks. Crowds, shopping, annoying people.” I listed on my fingers as I shook my head. “Not my idea of a good time.”
Ben spoke up before Ronnie could. “You should come. Then I won’t be the third wheel.”
“I hate shopping.”
“It’ll be fun,” Esther said quietly, sending me a hesitant smile. “You should come.”
Between Esther’s timid smile and Ben’s pleading eyes, I caved embarrassingly fast. “Fine.”
Ben beamed in triumph, giving Esther a high five.
“Don’t worry, Si.” He nudged my foot with his under the table. “You’re going to love it.”
I didn’t believe him, but I was too distracted by his tennis shoe pressed against mine to say it out loud. His ankle grazed mine, our chilled skin warming from the contact. Like he didn’t even notice, he sipped at his shake and laughed at something Esther said.
But me? It was all I could notice, his skin a brand in the November night.
He didn’t move his foot. Then again, neither did I.