CHAPTER 6: PING-PONG, ANYONE?
WREN
Poppy, Lacey, Gray, and I can’t stop laughing as we walk off the dance floor toward the bar to refill our drinks.
“Y’all need another?” I ask Donovan and Enzo.
“We’re good,” Enzo calls back as he and his husband walk to meet the guys at the table.
“Tanner was sweet to remember what you liked to drink,” Poppy says as we find an empty place along the bar.
“I don’t know if sweet is the word I’d use,” I say, wincing a little at the thought of him bringing me my favorite cocktail.
“I think he’s trying,” Gray says.
“To get in my pants?”
“I thought you weren’t his type,” she claps back.
“What does that mean?” Lacey asks.
“Nothing. I don’t trust that his gesture doesn’t have an ulterior motive.”
“I think he’s just being your friend,” Poppy clarifies.
“Maybe, but I just don’t get it. It’s like a woman wrote Logan, Jacks, Donovan, and Enzo. Then there’s Tanner. And, well I don’t know, but he’s nothing like them. The flirting is out of control. I mean he fucking winked at me. I can’t.”
“So, I guess this would be a bad time to remind you he still needs a roommate,” Lacey says.
“Yes!” I shout, playfully shoving her shoulder. “I know y’all don’t get it because you have these super sweet boyfriends who literally worship the ground you walk on, but I’ve dated a Tanner before, and it’s not worth the trouble.”
“I don’t have one of those,” Gray laughs.
“Well at this rate, you’re probably next,” I say.
“With all my issues, I doubt that,” Gray says, her face falling a little.
“That’s not true,” I reply.
“We weren’t talking about me,” she says, trying to change the subject. “We were talking about how you were thinking about dating Tanner.”
“I was not.” A giggle bubbles out of me at the thought.
“You did bring up dating him,” Lacey laughs.
“She’s right,” Poppy says.
“Y’all are the worst. I was just trying to say that he’s nothing like your boyfriends, and that in my experience with dating a guy like him, I learned my lesson.”
“But no one is suggesting you date him,” Poppy reminds me.
“I know that, but I don’t think he would understand that. I’m not going to force myself to live with the world’s biggest flirt. I keep telling y’all I’ll find something, and I will. Stop worrying.”
“But we’re your friends,” Lacey says. “We’re supposed to worry about you, and in two and a half months, your apartment will be a pile of rubble.”
“It’s so sad,” I lament. “Did I tell y’all that I ran into my old landlords at the grocery store, and they said the new company kept them completely in the dark about demoing the building. They were devastated to find out that we’re all getting kicked out because of it.”
“It’s so slimy,” Gray says.
