“Celeste,” Blake said, throwing the door of his locker open.“Do you literallyeverstop bitching?”
Celeste had the nerve to think about it before shrugging.“No.”
Marin snorted.
Blake grabbed his spare uniform and tossed it to Marin.
“Here, it’ll probably be a bit too big for you, but it’s better than nothing.”
Marin thanked him and pulled on the ridiculously large tee shirt depicting Walter the Wacky Water Wizard riding the Coast-2-Coaster.He struggled a bit with the red swim trunks but managed to get them on before Blake had to intervene.In the oversized lifeguard uniform, he looked like an awkward Christian boy going to his first pool party.
“Okay,” Blake sighed in relief.“Now I just have to figure out how to get you home.”
“You didn’t drive here?”Celeste asked.
“I have a bike,” Blake told him.He looked at Marin.“I don’t suppose you know how to ride pillion?”
“What’s a bike?”Marin asked.
From behind Blake, Celeste groaned.
6
Marin sat in the back of Celeste’s Camry parked outside of Blake’s apartment—contentedly watching a Banksy documentary on Celeste’s phone—while Blake tried to make some sense of his life.He rested against his bike as he addressed Celeste, having followed behind the sedan.
“And you’re absolutely sure that if I fail he’ll really… he’lldie?”Blake asked, worrying his thumb and forefinger together.
“For the fiftieth time:yes!” Celeste huffed at him.“Asking me again and again isn’t going to change the situation.What else do you want me to do?”
“Take some responsibility, at least!”Blake snapped.“If you hadn’t tricked me into kissing him, his life wouldn’t be at stake.”
“He’s got a point you know,” Marin chimed in over the documentary’s narration.
“Besides, if we’re going to pull this off we’ll need as much manpower as possible,” Blake told Celeste.
“Ugh.I guess you have a point.”Celeste sighed, puffing a lock of blonde hair out of their face.“Fine.From now on you’ll have me at your beck and call, free of charge.”
“Yeah, don’t think you’re getting another goddamn cent out of me.”Blake glowered at Celeste who gasped, pressing their fingertips to their chest in offense.
“Wow, really?”they shook their head.“I get you a new boyfriend and this is how you thank me?”
Blake flushed and ignored the comment.“Look.We might as well start sorting this out now.Go park your car and we can reconvene inside.”
Celeste made a great show of continuing to huff and puff, but acquiesced to Blake’s directions without further argument.“Might as well get this one out of the car first; you’ll have less of a distance to carry him.”
Blake nodded and ducked into the back of the Camry, his tone soft as he addressed Marin: “Hey, I’m gonna carry you up to my apartment, are you ready to go?”
Marin shook his head.“No, I want to find out what happened after the painting got shredded.”
Blake nodded.“Fair enough.I’ll pull it up for you on Netflix when we get up there.”
Marin hesitated, squinting at Blake and then glancing back at the gasping and gawking auction goers on the phone.After a moment, he nodded his assent.
“Okay,” he said, extending his arms out towards Blake.
Blake slid him out of the side of the Camry, picking him up in a bridal carry once more.
“I’m in apartment 2F,” he told Celeste, rounding the front of the car.Celeste shook their head and climbed into the driver’s seat.“Thanks for driving him.”
