Chapter 3 Nick #2
Unlike the way Avy had asked me about my love life at dinner, Ty’s not trying to make a joke about it or get the juicy details about my latest conquest. Ty and I have a bond that was forged the day he joined Mr. Knowles’ second grade class halfway through the school year.
I’d been the new kid a few months earlier thanks to my parents’ divorce and could tell how scared and unsure he was, so I volunteered to show him around and then introduced him to Roman and Dan at lunch.
Ty was our catalyst, our storyteller and master of games, always coming up with what we should play during recess.
It rarely involved playground equipment or a ball, so other kids gravitated to us.
By the end of the year, our group had grown to include Min, Avy, and Sasha, making us what we are now.
Sometimes, Ty got shit from teachers because he was always scribbling something instead of paying attention, but when he won a national writing award at the end of freshman year, he became the golden boy.
Not that any of us begrudged him. Ty’s talent is incredible, and he’s always been there when any of us need him.
I hope Cam knows how lucky he is to have Ty in his life.
“I mean, I know it’s not any of my business,” Ty says because he must see my ‘oh shit’ face in response to his dry spell question. “You don’t have to answer that question if you don’t want to.”
“It’s fine,” I say with a shrug. “Honestly, I haven’t been looking lately.” Staring at the wall across from our table and the artwork by a local artist hopefully priced at seven hundred and fifty dollars a painting, I try to summon the courage to say the thing that’s really on my mind.
“Is this because of that last chick? What was her name? The one that went after your car with a tire iron.”
I shudder and shake my head. “That was Lauren.” She’s the ex who ended up in jail for destroying my car.
“And no, I don’t think this is because of her.
” Although…no, it wasn’t because of her per se…
but something niggles at me about that particular relationship.
I just can’t put my finger on what’s got me feeling like the word I’m looking for isn’t coming to mind, but I do know the most current issue is not because of her.
“Then what’s going on?”
Leaning in, I motion Ty closer. “Can you keep something between us?” I ask.
“Of course. You know you don’t even have to ask.”
“Thanks. But seriously, this doesn’t go anywhere else.”
“Jesus, Nick, now I’m worried. Are you sick or something?”
“Not at all. Healthy as a horse. Except…” I take a deep breath, then lower my voice to make sure no one can overhear me. Ty leans in a bit more. “I had a guy a couple of weeks ago. Really hot. Totally into it. Only…” My gaze darts around the coffee shop then lands back on Ty’s face.
“Only…” he prompts.
“…I couldn’t get it up.” My face burns with shame, and I desperately want to grab the words back, but they’re out there now. To Ty’s credit, he doesn’t laugh, he doesn’t tell me it happens to all guys at some point, and he doesn’t look at me with pity in his expression. Thank fuck.
Ty nods, but I can tell he’s struggling to figure out what to say to me, so I let him off the hook with a shrug and a lopsided smile.
“Had to happen sometime, right?” I say. “Odds were against me with as much as I use it, you know?” Fuck.
Now I’m making stupid jokes to try and get Ty to say something.
“Ye…ah,” Ty responds slowly. “But I can tell it’s really messed with your head.”
“It has. Both of them, actually.”
Ty sputters, then we both laugh and the tense moment passes.
“You’re sure you’re all right?” Ty asks. “I mean, physically. There could be a medical issue.”
“I’m fine,” I say, but when I see Ty gearing up to tell me to be a responsible adult, I cut him off. “I promise, if the problem persists, I’ll go see my doctor. At the moment, the only thing that’s damaged is my pride.”
“Maybe,” Ty says thoughtfully. “Or maybe you’re tired of meaningless hookups and relationships that don’t go anywhere.”I wrinkle my nose at him. “Not everyone wants a ring and a white picket fence, Mr. Happily Ever After.”
From the way Tyler blushes, I have to wonder if the rings are coming sooner than any of us thought. Christmas is less than a month away. Maybe I should have a word with Min about her stupid engagement pool.
With only a little more cajoling, we move on to discussing the issues Ty’s having with his website now that he’s adding an online store with Undercover Ops merch.
It’s only as I’m walking home that Ty’s question about my most recent ex resurfaces along with that curious niggling feeling, and then the pieces fall into place.
I met Lauren right after my regular partner at the time got engaged, but I didn’t go out with her until after Ty and Cam got together.
There’d been a stupid bet right before Valentine’s Day about whether, now that I was single, I could get a date before Ty got a date with Cam.
I lost. Which meant I’d been the recipient of a great deal of teasing and joking that my reign as the hookup king was coming to an end.
I don’t think Lauren was a response to that, but you never know how things like this can affect you even if you’re not aware of it.
Lauren, of course, turned out to be a disaster.
Full props to Cam for folding himself right into our friend group from the moment he met us.
Lauren had flat out refused and then tried to keep me from seeing them.
She became incredibly controlling, and—truth—her anger scared me, but I saw the warning signs and broke things off.
Then, she trashed my car, and I called the police.
It’s totally understandable that I’ve kept to hookups since then.
Except, my dry spell, such as it was, started before her.
There’d been a guy I’d been into the night our group met Cam for the first time, but I’d been so distracted watching Ty with Cam that he’d lost interest and left.
Then there was Lauren, with whom I jumped into exclusivity without taking the time to really get to know her.
Failure-to-launch guy had been my first attempt at hooking up since Lauren left my life in a blaze of glory and handcuffs.
“Maybe you’re tired of meaningless hookups and relationships that don’t go anywhere.”
Ty’s words come back to me, but I shake my head at them.
I like sex. It’s that simple. And I like sex no matter how I can get it.
Hookups, friends with benefits, boyfriends or girlfriends, partners, whatever.
I mean, I’m only twenty-five, I should have plenty of years left to fuck around before I really get serious about settling down.
But then I think about the look on Ty’s face when Cam sent him a silly text as we were wrapping up our meeting, and my heart gives a twinge.
“Ooof! Sorry.” I’ve been so distracted by what’s going on in my head, I’ve run into a guy standing in front of my building.
Despite the fact that he’s very good looking, and I catch the flare of attraction in his gaze, my attention is drawn to the flyers he’s holding in his hands and fuck me if the face on those flyers isn’t the guy I couldn’t get it up for.