“Yeah. How many have you slept with?”
“God, I’m going to hell.”
I laugh. “Shut up. Are you fricking serious? How many?”
He shakes his head. “I’m not drunk enough for this conversation.”
“You’re not allowed to be drunk at my house,” I make clear. “I’m not judging.”
“I lost count.” He begins to think as he puts up his fingers. He reaches five and keeps going. Oh my god, more than ten? I can’t help the judgment now. He’s almost to twenty.
“How do you remember all of their names?”
He chuckles. “High school, summer parties, and game days.”
“You’re a man whore! It’s no wonder your friend calls you dildo. That’s what you are to all these girls. Are you serious? Sixteen?” My brain is trying to process that. “You must be a professional at this point.”
“I told you,” he explains. “It’s the hockey. All the girls want a taste, and when I’m drunk, I don’t say no.”
“Well, if I ever need tips, I know exactly who to talk to.” I stare into space. I wasn’t expecting such a high body count. I mean, it’s a lot. “You would give me tips if I asked?”
Dylan’s lips press together. “That’s what best friends are for.”
I smile. “This is perfect. I’ve needed a friend like you for a long time.” I sit on the couch and hang over the back of it becausehe’s still sitting at the dining table. “Dylan… do you believe in coincidences?”
He shrugs. “Never really thought about it.”
I smile, taking a moment to think. “I don’t.” I nod, thinking about how Dylan walked into the gym that day, and something about him felt familiar. “I think there’s a reason for everything. When you think about the timing, the places, the people, it’s all working for your favor, don’t you think?”
He listens attentively from the dining table chair.
I continue, “Some people come into your life, and it’s like… life-altering. I don’t know. People carry vibes, whether from past problems or current ones. Their decisions lead them to certain places, and suddenly, you’re in the room with someone you’ve never met before, but you feel like you’ve known them forever. And even on social media, the vibes don’t lie when you’re on there. As much as people want to save face, you know, it’s apparent the second you hear them talk, when they formulate their words, their perspective. There are no coincidences in life.”
Dylan’s staring through me, deep in thought. I think I’ve lost him, and then he walks over to the couch and sits next to me.
“You’re really deep, you know that?”
I sit normally and tuck my feet under me. “I just think life is beautiful, and it’s such a shame how everyone gets so wrapped in their own heads, and somewhere along the way, the beauty disappears.”
“It sounds like you believe in magic,” he says.
I shrug, playing with the thread on my leggings. “People think I’m too much––”
“Forget about them. They probably don’t like how in tune you are. People like to save face, as you said, so when someone as vibrant and aware as you comes along, they don’t know how to act because you’ll call them out on everything. You’ll point itout, and trust me, a lot of people don’t like that. It’s not ayouproblem though.”
A smile spreads across my face. It feels good to be seen. “Am I freaking you out with all this talk?”
He shakes his head. “You’re just appreciating life and how it plays out. It’s a gift, really. Everything about you makes sense to me now.”
“It does?” I question.
“You have followers because your outlook on life is inspiring. Your awareness means you take really good care of yourself, and your routines mean you stick to it. I don’t think I’ve met anyone like you before. And the platform you have, I mean, people clearly care about you and what you have to say.”
“Or they just care how I look in a bikini,” I counter. “People love vanity.”
“I’m going to call you out on something,” he says. “You’re always talking about people telling you things, and they’re almost all negative. For someone as insightful as you, it seems like you’ve really let others talk you down.”
I stare at the ground. “So, you know how I told you that I was raised with five boy cousins?”
