Chapter 5 #2
Nate’s eyes go wide, as if he didn’t actually expect me to show him, but then his gaze travels up and down me, lingering on my legs.
Be normal. It’s just Nate.
My skin erupts in gooseflesh anyway.
“T-they’re nice.” He clears his throat and his eyes meet mine. “Are they comfy?”
I turn and look at the mirror and immediately want to hide again. They’re short, coming only to the top of my thigh. Even if they fit well, there’s way too much of me on display.
Now I see why Nate acted the way he did. “Come on, man. You could’ve warned me my ass was hanging out.”
“I-I didn’t notice.”
I turn with a glare. “Don’t lie.”
The tips of his ears are red. They’re definitely too short. “All right, all right. I did notice. But is it really a bad thing? This is a vacation, after all.”
Yeah, a vacation with my platonic best friend. It’s already making me feel like I could melt that he even saw me in these. There’s no way I’ll ever put them on again.
I won’t survive if I do.
“I’m gonna try on more.” I go back into the dressing room and take a breath when I’m alone. It’s tempting to go over his reaction in my head and dissect every clue like a schoolgirl with a crush.
But I don’t have a crush. It’s just Nate.
The best thing to do is let this go. I want this cruise to be as fun as possible. Making things out of nothing is not how I do that .
I throw the too-short pair into the no pile and then go through the other shorts I have. The next set is a pair of bike shorts that go to my mid-thigh, and I feel much better when I come out of the dressing room.
“Those are nice,” Nate says.
“And very comfortable. They’re good for exploring the jungle, right? Oh! And they have pockets.”
“What’s with women’s clothes and not having pockets?” Nate asks. “Do you think it’s a conspiracy to sell purses?”
“Definitely.”
“Disgusting. You should get those, though. Fight the anti-pocket man.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I say with a shake of my head, but the second I pull them off after retreating into my fitting room, I put them in the yes pile.
The next pair is a version of the khakis I have. They’re the ones I feel the most comfortable in. Nate warns me they might get destroyed, but I get them anyway.
I find one other pair of jean shorts that look decent and go to my mid-thigh before I’m sweaty and desperate to leave the store.
“Just the three?” he asks as he sees what I’m putting back. I wonder if he’ll comment on the shorter ones returning to the rack, but he doesn’t.
“Yeah. It should be enough. I also have my leggings and pants.”
He slowly nods. “Mind if we also go through the men’s section?”
“You wanna look at the button-up shirts, don’t you?” I spot the multicolored monstrosities from across the store.
“You know me so well.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re allowed one extravagant shirt per trip.”
He perks up. “So I can buy one on each trip.”
“No, one total. You already have?—”
“Too late. I heard I could buy one. I now can’t hear anything else.” He beelines it for the men’s section before I can even open my mouth.
I need to catch up with him, but I find myself pausing and taking a second look at what I’m not buying.Back in high school, I wouldn’t have thought twice about the length of what I was wearing, and I’m tempted to try to be that woman again.
But I shake my head. They’re not for me.
When I catch up with Nate, he’s holding a pink and yellow shirt that hurts my eyes. “Look at this! Does it complement my features?”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I mutter. “It distracts from your features.”
“Maybe that’s how I get all the ladies.” He shrugs. “But I do want you to be seen with me, so what about this one?” Nate surprisingly pulls out a blue and green one that’s tolerable.
“Deep down, you do have a sense of style. Even though you’re wearing sweatpants today.”
“I was waiting for you to comment on that. They were for the plane, berry.”
“And you’ll be wearing something normal tomorrow?”
“Now, I can’t promise that, but they’ll be normal pants.”
“I guess that’s as good as it’ll get.” I shrug and eye the checkout line. “Are we ready to go?”
“Yeah, I think so. I need to go grab a set of socks and then I’m good. You go ahead and get in line.”
“You forgot socks?”
“I’m ashamed.” He sighs and claps his hand to his cheek, which isn’t red in the slightest. “You can make fun of me later, but I need to fix this.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I laugh. “Have fun in the sock section.”
When I step into line, I let out a sigh of relief. Things are completely and entirely normal between us. This is what I need.
Nate doesn’t return until a few minutes later, and others have entered the line behind me. I wind up paying before him and I wait at the door until he’s done.
“Are you a man with socks now?” I ask.
“Definitely. Maybe I have too many socks.” He shrugs. “I can never be safe enough. What if I step in suspicious liquid every day on this trip?”
“That’s the same logic as bringing too much underwear because you might pee yourself multiple times a day.”
Nate eyes me. “And how many did you bring?”
“E-enough.”
“Make fun of me all you want. We have the same logic.”
“Oh, the horrors,” I mutter. “At least I didn’t forget socks.”
“At least I didn’t forget shorts.”
I’m considering throwing my bag at him when he calls another ride home and holds the door open for me. Once we get back to the hotel, I fold everything in my suitcase and add the new pairs of shorts.
“Hang on,” he says as I’m about to close up.
“If you tell me you’re out of room in your suitcase, then you’re fucked, because you’re not using?—”
“It’s not that. You just have one thing to add.”
“ I just have one thing to add? What could—” I turn, only to see something being thrown in my direction. I barely catch it.
Then I hold it out.
It’s the pair of shorts that I didn’t buy.
“What? You got these for me?”
“Yep.” He says it simply. “You liked them. There was no reason not to get them.”
“Nate, they’re too short.”
“They’re not. You looked great, and you deserve to have things you look great in.” He shrugs as if it’s nothing and turns away.
I stare between him and the shorts.
I always thought I could read Nate like the back of my hand.
Now I wonder if I’m missing things.