This time my laugh sounded much more sincere. "I know exactly how smart you are, Mr. Fifteen-Hundred-on-my-S.A.T's." He scowled at me again but I ignored it. "Anyway, if you just wanna come over and hang out with me or go see movies together, I'm cool with no labels."
Brody straightened from his hunched position and abruptly seemed much closer. "And if I wanted something else?"
Time for honesty. "Then that's a whole different conversation because you're not just some guy I met. You're Brody Murphy, my brother's best friend, my mother's honorary second son, and someone I've always cared for deeply. It's a lot trickier."
"Can't we just be Brody and Cameron and leave everyone else out of it?"
"For a while, sure. But if we leave it too long, it'll only get more complicated."
"Will you give me a little time? Just you and me?"
I hesitated because my first response was that I would give him whatever he wanted. Instead, I answered, "I can do that."
He nodded. "Good. Let's start now."
Brody picked up his plate of pizza, grabbed mine and handed it to me, then settled back into my couch. He kicked off his shoes and reached over to pop up the built-in footrest of the recliner attached to the couch. "So, what are we going to watch?"
I lowered my legs so I sat cross-legged rather than curled up into the fetal position and grabbed the remote. "I was thinking of a Marvel movie marathon since the next film just came out and I want to go watch it in a couple of weeks once the crowds die down."
"Sounds good," Brody said before he took a huge bite of pizza.
I scrolled through my movies, picked the firstIronman, and clicked on it. As the opening credits came on the screen, I scooched back into the cushions and got comfy with my plate in my lap.
After a few minutes, Brody said, "Eat, Cam."
I turned my head and found him watching me with an unreadable expression on his face. Rather than argue, which I would usually do, I turned back toward the screen and took a bite. I wasn't sure what to expect from Brody after we talked, but this wasn't exactly it. We were doing something we'd done a million times before when we were growing up. It was nice but definitely not romantic.
Maybe he had a different idea of Brody and Cam than I did.
But it still felt good.
