“And what about Garrlo?”
He visibly looks uncomfortable. “This is where it gets really immature.”
“Ooo, I can’t wait.” I gesture for him to go on. “Please, do tell.”
He looks so uncomfortable as he says, “Garrlo is the last name of a girl who flashed both of us back in high school at the same time. It was our first time seeing boobs in real life.” Halsey’s face flushes to a beet-red color as he looks away.
A loud, obnoxious, and wet snort pops out of me right before I cover my mouth.
“I told you, it was stupid.”
I shake my head, giggles falling past my lips as I think about two guys in college, looking back on their days growing up and coming up with a name that meant something to them.
Garrlo and an ode to her naked breasts. If only she knew.
“That’s one of the best things I’ve ever heard,” I say. “Donuts and boobs. I don’t think I could have asked for a better connection. These egg sandwiches were delivered to a teenage boy’s memory of donuts and boobs. I don’t think I’ll ever stop smiling about that.”
“Glad I could make you smile,” he says before taking a bite of his sandwich.
“You did, Halsey, and I appreciate it.”
“This is. . . not what I expected your place to look like,” Kenzie says as she looks around the apartment.
“Oh yeah, I’d probably never choose an apartment like this. Too much concrete for me. This is actually Halsey Holmes’s apartment.”
“Halsey, as in the guy who scored two goals last night?” Kenzie pushes up her glasses on her nose, looking cuter than ever in a pair of leggings with books on them and a white crop top shirt. I’ve always thought of her as eccentric. It’s one of the reasons we got along so well. I was obsessed with her polymer clay earring collection. We’d spend weekends not studying, coming up with new designs. I still have some. We went through a real pizza earring phase there for a second.
“Yes, that Halsey.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were friends.”
“Well . . . sort of.” We take a seat on the couch after I got us both drinks. Orange soda, thought I’d throw it back to our college days. “I didn’t know much about him other than he’s quiet, plays hockey, and likes to read, but my apartment flooded, and I was desperate for a place to stay. I think I had a momentary lapse of judgment when his place was offered to me, but you know me, I just go with the flow.”
“You do. I never would have been able to say yes to living with a stranger, let alone a man who was a stranger or one that attractive.”
I chuckle. “But look at you now, dating someone. Let me see a picture.”
Kenzie pulls up her phone and flashes me her screensaver. It’s a picture of her being kissed on the cheek by a very attractive man with dark hair and a solid jaw full of scruff.
“Oh my God, Kenzie. He’s hot.”
“He is, so not someone I thought I’d end up with, but here I am.”
“What do you mean by that?” I ask.
“I’m not blind. The man is way out of my league. Way too outgoing and loves every second of pushing me out of my comfort zone. Plus, he was a ladies’ man beforehand.”
“Stop. No one is out of your league. But the ladies’ man thing, that’s so not who I’d expect you to fall for.”
“Me neither, but I met him at my cousin’s wedding. It was kind of embarrassing at first because I was there alone, he was there alone, and my cousins asked if he would keep me company. I think we were both annoyed by the suggestion at first, but then we started talking, and I realized that he was not just very attractive but also very nice. So . . . I ghosted him.”
My head falls back as I laugh. “Stop, did you really?”
“Oh yeah, I wasn’t touching him with a ten-foot pole. I was not in a position to even consider going out with someone like him, but he wore me down, and we’ve been dating for a few months now.”
“Do you think he’s the one?”
She nods with a smile that reaches ear to ear. “Yeah. I know he wants to propose. His brother let it slip. I’m just wondering when it’s going to happen.”
