‘Is that Bahama Mama?’
I leaned back out the doorway to see James at the end of the hall walking toward me. And behind him, carrying two hockey nets, Brad Waldorf. Grant moved past me and stuck his head out to see what the commotion was.
‘And Garantula! I didn’t know you two were friends. Wait, you hang out without me?’
Grant laughed and ducked back into the studio. ‘Let me know if you end up taking a film class.’
I thanked him and shut the door behind me.
‘What are you guys doing here?’ I asked, making sure to address James and not Brad. There was no way Brad would ever let James know we had hooked up. Even though James would never be homophobic and in fact would immediately start planning our wedding. Actually, maybe that was the first reason Bradwouldn’ttell him.
James hiked a thumb over his shoulder. ‘Me and Waldorf Salad got hockey practice tonight. And did you know Ice Works doesn’t let us use their nets?’
‘I did not know that.’ I also had never given it even a millisecond of thought in my life.
‘Yeah, so I’m always the one who has to truck them to and fro, you know, since I got a truck and all.’
‘Picked up on that, yeah.’
James spun, pushed past one of the nets and wrapped his arms around Brad’s middle. Brad gave a groan as James squeezed him tight and planted a loud kiss on his cheek, which promptly glowed red.
‘And Bee-Rad was such a sweetheart to offer to help me carry them!’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I can see how much he’s helping since you aren’t carrying them at all.’
James pushed away from Brad and held his hands out to me. ‘Don’t want to mess up my manicure.’
I gazed at his bitten-to-the-quick fingernails, then at Brad, who just shook his head and readjusted the nets on his shoulders.
‘Well, break a leg … or don’t break a leg, I guess. Since it’s hockey and not a musical. Whatever you guys say to each other before you go on the ice that’s not offensive.’
James cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to the ceiling, ‘Score a hat trick, baby!’
I gasped. ‘There’s gonna be a magic show?’
Brad snorted and James spun around, his jaw dropping. ‘What the hell was that? What did you do? What was that sound you just made?’
‘Nothing.’ Brad straightened his face back to its usual stoic expression and nudged James. ‘Come on, these are getting heavy.’
I said goodbye and moved aside for them as they continued toward the double doors leading to the parking lot.
‘You never laugh atmyjokes, Bradley,’ James said.
‘That’s because you’re not funny.’
‘You bitch!’ James kicked the doors open and stormed out into the parking lot. Brad took the time to turn sideways – using the nets to hold the door open – to give me a goodbye nod and a smile.
That was … new? Brad was more the type who paid me attention when it was convenient for him – read: horny – and rarely acknowledged me otherwise. And definitely not in public. I knew part of the reason was that Brad just wasn’t ready to be out – which was fine. I wasn’t totally out to my mom, so I got that journey.
But I felt like another part of it was just that I wasn’t cool or interesting enough for Brad. Like he actually didn’t like me for anything other than what we did in secret. Which was also fine. Whatever. A wave, though? In public?
I waved back, but still waited for the doors to shut behind him before I followed.
When I saw Gabe’s name next to mine on the lineup sheet again three days later, my stomach did an excited flip. I must have made a face, too, because Ava – who still seemed to be distracted on our drive in, but wouldn’t tell me why – gave me The Look. The one that said she knew exactly what I was thinking.
The door behind me leading to the formal dining room swung open, and Doris appeared in the doorway.
Doris was seventy-eight, going on prehistoric. She was a white woman with gray eyes who wore too much blush on her thin cheeks and had a cloud of white hair like soft serve swirled atop her head and the voice of an angel in a blender.
