Chapter Thirty-Three
“You’re a rat,” I said plainly. “My best friend is a rat.”
Tess groaned and dragged her hands down her face, her phone in its holder as we shared a video call while she sat in traffic.
“I’m sorrrrrrry. I wanted to get drunk, okay?
I never get to drink and I just wanted to be irresponsible for one night and then I saw Brody and you know I can’t be trusted after two drinks. ”
“You do have a two-drink limit,” I confirmed.
I stood in my room, folding my laundry, as she chattered.
“But he showed up to win you back,” she said suggestively. “That’s pretty hot.”
“He wants me to work for him again. There was no mention of rekindling whatever dumpster-fire situationship we had.” I shuffled through my pile of T-shirts as I set aside clothes to pack for New Orleans.
My favorite sleep shirt that I had admittedly stolen from Brody years ago was missing and I was about to burn down my whole closet to find it.
“Whatever. Brody is jealous. I guarantee when he realized you were living with Eli, he turned into a fucking primate.”
I shook my head and continued to fold. “So why did you want to get drunk? It’s not like you to get sloppy at a work event.”
“Well, the renovation was delayed again and Max asked if he could take weekday evenings off from dad duty, because he’s getting a little stir-crazy with the limited space and the kids getting antsy.
And I get it. He’s the full-time parent.
He needs time to himself too.” Her words were a little frayed at the edges like she was frazzled.
“But the loophole is work events. So I wanted to blow off some steam and I had an invite to this premiere. I believe this is what they call two birds, one stone.”
“Yeah, what’s the phrase for when your best friend betrays your top-secret location?”
She jabbed her finger at me through the screen of the phone with her eyes on the road as her car began to roll forward. “You never explicitly said it was a secret.”
“Fair, fair, fair.”
We talked for a while longer until she got to her meeting.
My brain circled around the heavy petting session I’d shared with Eli.
But I didn’t know how to make Tess understand that it was just a onetime thing and that we were both acting out for different reasons.
I guess it was a two-time thing if you included Masturbation 101.
(Another thing I hadn’t figured out how to explain to Tess.) Either way, I kept it all to myself for now.
As we hung up, there was a knock on my bedroom door.
“Come in,” I called.
“Hey.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Eli hovering at the threshold.
He wore gray sweatpants and a T-shirt from a local elementary school that I supposed Brigid once attended.
It had been almost a week since the day Brody showed up and Eli had gone to great lengths to be nonchalant about it all.
We were constantly apologizing to each other for the smallest, most inconsequential things.
Maybe some time away and distance would help us both settle.
It didn’t help that I went to bed every night thinking of him and woke up horny and pissed off.
“I think I might have lost some stuff in the laundry,” I said. “Let me know if you see anything?”
“Of course.” He eyed the open suitcase on the floor, his voice guarded. “You going somewhere?”
“Um, yeah. Not for another two weeks. I’m just a nervous packer. Don’t worry, though. I’m boarding Marlon.”
He gripped the top of the doorframe, like he might do a pull-up. The edge of his T-shirt drifted up, showing a sliver of skin. “I could have watched him.”
“No, no. I’m not dumping my high-maintenance dog on my roommate so I can jet off to New Orleans.”
“New Orleans should be a good time. Are you going alone?”
He wanted to know if I was traveling with someone else, and I tried my best to suffocate the thrill that gave me. It wasn’t his business, except I liked being his business even though I knew that I shouldn’t. The amount of conflict warring inside of me was worthy of daytime television.
“I’m going with Ruby to a convention she was invited to. Pray for me and whatever TSA employees might cross our path.”
He barked out a laugh. “Well, hey, I was supposed to take Brigid to a movie tonight, but she canceled on me to go watch some boy play video games in his basement.”
“Brigid!” I said. “She’s better than that.”
He grinned. “So, you in?”
I hesitated for a moment before shaking my head. “No. Actually, I have some, um, writing to get done, so I’m going to run up to the office for some quiet time.”
“You can have the apartment. I promise it will be quiet.”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m going to use my computer in the office, and this way if I get nothing done, I’m the only one to blame.”
He nodded and then tapped the top of the doorframe once before turning down the hallway toward his room. “I’m glad to see you writing,” he called.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I haven’t actually written anything yet,” I called back.
EXT. BOARDWALK—DUSK
They walk close but don’t hold hands.
POPPY (V.O.)
If he kissed me, it would break the spell. And I really liked being under his spell.
March 12, 2011
Vera S.
Is it still a love story if he doesn’t love her back?