“What about him?” Spencer responded with a coy smile.
“I saw him out at the Sidetracks beer garden earlier. He said he gave you his number. Asked me if I thought you’d call.”
“Like an actual phone call?”
Ryan tilted his head, not in the mood for technicalities. “Text. Dickpic. Whatever, man.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“I said I am not my brother-from-another-mother’s keeper. But give it a few days.”
Spencer could tell Ryan enjoyed playing wingman, mostly for the opportunity to embarrass him and get under his skin.
“Thanks. Justin was nice. I’m weighing my options.”
“You threw his number in the trash.”
Damn.The one downside of having a close friend was that they knew you way too well and weren’t afraid to call you out on your shit.
“No I didn’t. You’re welcome to search my garbage can.”
“I’m guessing you waited until you were a few blocks away so he’d never see, and then you tossed it in a random garbage can on the street.”
He was good. Spencer hoped it was dark enough so Ryan couldn’t see the answer written all over his face.
“Where’s Julio?” Spencer asked in a desperate plea to change the subject.
“We broke up this afternoon.”
“In the six hours since I last saw you?”
“Life moves pretty fast.” Ryan rubbed a hand through his sandy-colored hair. He was like a big teddy bear. He had a few inches on Spencer, with a broad build that was a mix of muscle and chub. He went through boyfriends the way Spencer went through clean laundry, but he wasn’t a player. He was merely a fool in love, many times over.
“So, why’d you throw his number in the trash?” Ryan asked, taking the conversation right back to where Spencer didn’t want it to go.
“Because I couldn’t find a recycling bin.” Spencer waited for the smile and laugh from his friend, but it didn’t come this time.
“I wish I had guys sliding their numbers into my hand. What was wrong with him?”
“Nothing.”
“You are so intent on playing lone wolf.” Ryan shook his head. Round and round they went on this.
“Not all people want to be in relationships and get all mushy.”
“Mushy?” Ryan acted like he’d never heard that word before, and maybe he hadn’t, but it was one Spencer thought of whenever they had this conversation.
“Mushy. A person is rational and level-headed...until they quote-unquote fall in love, and then they start doing cutesy bullshit with each other and acting completely unlike themselves. They let their lives revolve around one person.”
“I feel like this is directed at me.” Ryan crossed his arms.
“Partially.” Ryan was King Mushy. Each new boyfriend he had was like a new vortex he got sucked into. One guy convinced him to eat Paleo, another guy had him talking in baby voices; quite a few guys left Ryan in a puddle of his own tears. “What about Hunter? He lived and breathed volleyball, and then he started dating some guy who wanted them to have Friday night date nights, so he quit the league.” Spencer raised his eyebrows, underlining his point. “I like my life, Ry. I don’t want to change it because of some guy.”
Ryan opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was stumped. Spencer smiled at the victory.
“There’s plenty of other things to do besides be in a relationship,” Ryan said.
“There’s an app for that,” Spencer quickly rebutted. He preferred those random hookups where they both knew upfront this was a one-time deal. Guys like Justin would say they were up for no strings attached and then develop enough strings to run a marionette show.
