Torin nods. “Okay.”
We stand there for a few more minutes before I let him go. Grabbing my keys out of my pocket, I detach my house key and hand it to him. “I’ll message you the security code and I swear, I’ll be there soon. Okay?”
Torin accepts my key and nods.
“You can lock up behind you. There’s a spare key hidden outside, but it’s dark and I don’t want you to have to try to find it in the dark when I know right where it is.”
He nods again. “Okay.”
Smiling, I squeeze his wrist. “I promise, I won’t be long.”
Torin nods once more.
I back out of the room and grab my things, waving as I leave him. I hate the way my stomach feels a little tipsy as I do. A little sour. I wish he were coming with me.
PJ’s is just down the road. The parking lot is crowded and once again, I realize I just don’t want to be here. But I think about what Winny said and I force myself out of the car. I don’t want my friends to worry about me. Maybe I’ll just tell them that I’ve been hanging out with Torin, and he gets really anxious around a lot of people so we haven’t been hanging out with others too.
But am I allowed to share that stuff? In case I’m not, I decide I won’t volunteer that information.
“Hey, Hugo!” the security man says with a wide smile. “Haven’t seen you in a while. You good, man?”
Okay, apparently my absence has been very obvious to everyone around me. I nod. “Yep. Just been hanging at home. You good, Mario? Family good?”
He beams at me. “Everything’s great, man. Good to see you. Your team is already inside.”
Mario steps back and I walk past him.
The bar is dark and loud with music and party lights and bodies everywhere. I find my friends right where I always do. Noah immediately leaves his stool when he sees me and grabs my hand. “No one will dance with me.”
I know his boyfriend doesn’t dance much. The only one who ever entertains it besides me is Toby, but when I look at the table, I find Toby and Atty’s heads together looking rather… mushy.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
He beams, waves at Lix over his shoulder, and pulls me along. Usually, I’m pulled away from him within a song or two by some girl, and Noah always lets me go. But tonight, when a girl tries to break in, I grip Noah tighter. His eyes flicker to mine before he gives the girl a sweet smile and yells, “Not tonight. This stud is mine.”
I dance with Noah until he wants to rest, stealing a selfie of us on the dance floor at one point because I’m not hating being out like I thought I might. When we head back to the table and squeeze into a seat beside Winny (who has the girl I presume is Dana on his other side—I don’t recognize her at all.), I send the pic of me and Noah dancing to Torin and a quick ‘wish you were here’ text along with it.
I contemplate texting the girl I haven’t spoken to much lately since I seem to be preoccupied with Torin, but it’s really late and I don’t want to wake her.
Egon pushes a drink toward me, offering me a big smile. “It’s light,” he says.
Sighing, I take a sip and look around. I cuddle a little closer to Winny when it looks like maybe there’s a girl heading in my direction. He leans back and wraps an arm around my shoulders, though his attention doesn’t leave Dana and their conversation.
I’ve never noticed how attuned we all are toward each other. Once again, it makes me feel bad that I’ve been such a shitty friend. I need to do better.
My phone pings and I flip the screen on. My heart jumps.
Torin Jonah
I’ll stop in for a minute. On my way.
Chapter Twelve
TORIN
I’m almost alwaysone of the last people at the arena. While it’s not necessarily required of me to stay until the last guest leaves, I generally hang around the lobby so kids and whoever else can get a last-minute picture with Surry the Seal if they want to.
When I interviewed for this job, one of the things I asked was how often I had to talk to someone as the mascot. The answer? Never. Surry is a seal, and they don’t talk. At least, that’s what I convinced them and they agreed. Mascots don’t have a voice. We learn to communicate via exaggerated body language and gestures.
