32. CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 32
ARI
T he smell of detergent and cologne, mixed with just a touch of man stink, invades my nostrils as I draw in a breath. My face is buried in Ethan’s pillow, my body face-down in his big bed. I lift my head slightly and stretch all my limbs, feeling the joints separate and crack, before dropping my face back down as memories of last night and this morning come flooding back.
This isn’t my first wake-up of the morning. Ethan woke me earlier to tell me he was going for a run and then into the basement for a workout.
That was actually the third time he woke me up. Well, the third time intentionally. He woke me twice in the night—once peppering kisses all over my face and roaming his hands all over my body, and another time by nuzzling my neck and lifting a leg, sliding into me on my side.
He was insatiable all night. Pleading, desperate, starved. Like he was afraid I was a mirage.
He also woke me up one time while mumbling and jerking in his sleep. When I felt him thrashing around at my side, I rolled over and ran a hand over his sweaty forehead, kissed his temple, and shushed in his ear, and that soothed him enough to return to deep slumber.
A door closes loudly in the main part of the house while I sit up, slinging my legs over the side of the bed before pushing myself into a standing position. I shuffle my feet toward the door, looking down at myself and seeing the T-shirt of Ethan’s that I’m wearing goes to my mid-thigh and covers me enough, then fling open the door and almost run into Fonz.
“Cheese and rice!” His hand flies up to his chest. “You scared the shit out of me.” Then he gets a good look at me. “Wait, no, now you’re scaring the shit out of me. Have you looked in a mirror?”
“What?” I pat my hair and feel the bed head matted up on the back of my skull and the tendrils sticking out at the sides.
Fonz grins, and that turns into a full blown smile. “Glad you guys found your way back to each other.”
I smile back at him. “Me too.”
Unlike me, Fonz is freshly showered and wearing sweats and a hoodie. He points toward the end of the hallway. “So, I guess you still being here explains the whole Poltergeist situation going on out there.”
I tilt my head at him, and he waves me forward.
When we get to the end of the hallway, where the dining room branches off to the right and the living room branches off to the left, I see there are chairs strewn all over. Every few feet there is one situated, with its back facing this direction. “I mean, it’s kinda cute,” Fonz says from beside me.
I huff out a breath as he continues to explain what I already know. “He wanted to make sure that if you got out of bed on your own, you could make it to either the kitchen”—he points toward the entryway to the right—“or the living room”—he points toward the couch in the room to the left. “And he wanted you to be able to stop and rest, if need be.” He waves his hand around at all the chairs.
I put a hand over my mouth to cover my giggle. It is so friggin’ cute.
“Come on.” Fonz offers his elbow to me. “I bought donuts.”
We make our way to the couch where I plop down in the center and Fonz sits on my left. Before I can even get settled we hear Ethan’s footsteps bounding up the stairs.
“Holy shit, it sounds like a herd of elephants.”
“I never get used to it,” Fonz immediately replies.
Ethan comes around the corner, sweaty and out of breath. His eyes find mine immediately and his face lights up. He’s wearing a pair of gym shorts and a tank top with big armholes that show off his entire sides. Swaggering over to me, he leans down and cups my face with one hand, gives me a peck on the lips, and says, “Morning, Red,” before kissing the top of my head and falling onto the cushion beside me.
“Awe, you two are so cute I could just vomit,” Fonz chides.
“Nip it.” Ethan leans forward and scoops the Tim Horton’s box off the coffee table and flips the top open. He grabs a Boston cream donut and hands it to me, picks up an old fashioned one and gives that to Fonz, then takes a peanut one for himself and drops the box back on the table.
All three of us settle back and kick our feet up onto the coffee table.
“So,” Fonz says around a swallow, “I take it the party went well?”
I nod. “It was so fun. Knox and Lizzie have a beautiful property.” I suck some pudding out of the center of my treat. “And they had the outdoor decked out with heaters and lights and music. It was really magical.”
Ethan leans over and, with his thumb, swipes a glob of pudding off the corner of my lip before plunging that thumb into his own mouth.
Fonz hangs his head and laughs. “Yeah, looks like all that magic certainly cast a spell.”
“Dude,” Ethan pipes up as he reaches for the box of donuts again and pulls out a glazed one. “I am in too good a mood to let anything you say piss me off right now.”
Fonz clears his throat. “Well, good. Because there was something I wanted to talk to both of you about.”
That gets my attention, and I turn my head toward him as I pop the last bite of donut in my mouth and lick chocolate fudge off my fingers.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to each of you about this for a while but then, well, shit kept coming up. And then you guys were like, finally orbiting each other again and I didn’t want to distract you with my situation. But now that you guys seem like you’re good, I just … Well, here’s the thing … I’ve known for a little while, but I’m certain now that, without a doubt … Here’s the thing … I’m gay.”
There’s silence for a moment. Ethan and I look at each other, and then look at Fonz, and in unison respond, “We know.”
Fonz looks between the two of us, shaking his head. “No, you see, I don’t think you heard me.” He points at himself. “I’m gay.”
We both nod, and Ethan reaches for another donut. “Seriously?” I ask him, in utter disbelief that he can eat three donuts in one sitting and look the way he does.
“What? I’m a growing boy. I need sustenance.”
“Uh, OK, so when I say gay,” Fonz brings our attention back to him, “I mean that I date men. I enjoy the romantic and intimate company of men. You know …” He makes an “X” with his two pointer fingers, like he’s crossing swords.
I put a hand on his thigh. “Fonz, we kinda figured as much for quite some time.”
He looks horrified. “What? Is it that obvious? Do I emit some sort of gay vibes?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that, well, we know you, Fonz. We know you.”
“Yeah,” Ethan chimes in, dusting glaze off his hands. “All these years you have never shown interest in a chick or chatted me up about one. You’ve never dated, although you are often busy and going out at night. You never put the moves on Ari.” He curls his arm around my shoulders and shrugs his own. “You think I would let her walk around here in just a T-shirt and underwear if I wasn’t pretty sure she’s not what you were looking for?” Fonz looks confused, so Ethan continues. “Let’s just say it started as a possibility, in our minds, and then there were things that just kind of cemented the idea.”
“Like what?”
“Like you have always had so many girls that were friends, and none of them ever turned into anything else,” I say. “And lately—”
“Lately you’ve been glued to your freaking phone and grinning like a love-sick puppy dog,” Ethan interrupts.
Fonz blushes.
“Dude,” Ethan leans over me to get a better look at Fonz. “We’re just happy you’re happy. You help everyone out. You help your dad with the family business. You drive Ari to her therapy and other appointments. You moved in here when I didn’t want to be alone.”
“About that.” Fonz’s face falls a little. “If you aren’t comfortable with me living here anymore, I understand. I know it might be, um, weird for you.”
Ethan pulls his arm out from around me and sits forward. “OK, now you’re pissing me off. Fonz, look at me.” Our friend obliges. “You think so little of me? You think I wouldn’t want you to live here? Jesus, dude! I’m legit offended.”
Fonz’s face pales and he swallows. His eyes glisten. “I just didn’t want you guys to see me differently.”
“Never,” I say at the time Ethan growls, “Hell no! Fonz, you’re my best friend.”
“Actually,” Fonz corrects, “Ari is your best friend. I’m your other best friend.”
“Nuh-uh,” Ethan wags a finger in the air. “Ari is my girlfriend, which means you are straight-up my best friend.”
I whip my head to look at Ethan when I hear him use the “G” word. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
“Semantics.” He waves a hand at me. “Just deal with it.”
I swivel my head back to Fonz and widen my eyes at him. He just shrugs before blowing out a breath. “OK, so … We’re good, then?”
I lean in and throw my arms around his neck. “Way better than good. We love you, Fonz.”
“No.” Ethan gets up and walks around the coffee table and toward Fonz as I pull away from him. “We love the ever-loving shit out of you.”
He lunges at Fonz, who tries to pull away but is no match for Ethan’s brute strength, and Ethan tackles him on the couch, putting him in a headlock and kissing his forehead and cheeks.
“Oh, come on, man!” Fonz shrieks. “Just because I like dudes doesn’t mean I like you. You’re all sweaty and stinky right now!”
I curl over in laughter as two of my most favorite people in the world have a moment. I watch as Ethan crawls off and Fonz wipes away spit from his face, and something crosses my mind. “Wait, does Sophie know?”
Fonz’s hands fly up as if he’s declaring his innocence. “OK, she asked me point-blank like the third time we ever met.”
“What?! All this time she’s known?”
“Don’t be mad at her. You know Soph—she would never tell someone else’s secret.”
I shake my head. “I’m not mad. The opposite, actually. I’m glad you had someone to confide in. And you’re right, she’s a good friend. I should have figured she would just come right out and ask you.”
Ethan stretches back against the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table once more and slinging an arm around my back. “So, are you and Matt a thing , or just messing around?”
“What?” Fonz shrieks. “How do you know?”
“Wait?” I sit up. “The bartender?”
“I told you.” Ethan says from beside me. “Pay up, Red.” I turn toward him and glare.
“You placed bets?” Fonz asks from my other side.
I swivel my head back in his direction and shrug sympathetically. “Ethan said he knew you two were into each other and I said he was reading too much into it, and then we put twenty bucks on it.”
Fonz stands. “You guys are terrible friends.”
Ethan turns on me and pokes his finger into my ribs. “Did you not hear me, woman? I said it’s time to pay up.”
“Clearly I don’t have my wallet.”
“I take other forms of payment.” He sneaks a hand up my neck and pulls my face toward his.
“Please, no boning on the couch!” Fonz yells as he leaves the living room and heads down the hallway. “I’d still like to be able to watch TV out there without thinking of your sex juices on it.”
Ignoring him, Ethan kisses me sweetly, then rubs his thumb over my lips where his just were. “You do need a break. I was a bit greedy last night, wasn’t I?”
“You think?” I widen my eyes at him in mock horror, and he looks almost bashful.
“Sorry.” He winces. “How do you feel this morning?”
“I feel …” I look off into the distance as I try to think about my answer. Then I bring my eyes back to his. “Happy. I feel happy.”
Ethan’s head pulls back the tiniest bit and he smashes his lips together, but I can see the sides trying to curl up. “You do?” I force my own lips together to try to stop from smiling as I nod. “And just to be clear, that’s because of me, right?”
“No, it’s because of your giant penis.”
Ethan laughs as he shuffles around until he’s resting his head on my lap, facing me. I scrape my fingernails over his buzzed hair and scalp, and his eyes roll. Tipping my head back and closing my eyes, I almost drift off when I hear keys and footsteps. “Oh, you guys are just gross now.” Fonz declares before he heads out of the house. “This is going to get old real fast.”
The door slams with force.
Oh, I certainly hope not.