“Yeah. In an hour. I’m going to shower and borrow some clothes.” He has the dazed look he gets whenever something happens that he wasn’t expecting, but he’s smiling, so this is good for him, and that makes me happy for him.
“I’ll pick an outfit for you. Do you want to take my car?” He has his own, but mine is nicer, and he’ll want to put his best face forward.
He thinks about it for a moment, brushing his blond curls off his face, then shakes his head. “No. Drop me off. I’d like to see how the night goes with the guy.”
“Take the condoms from the nightstand and the lube.” I hope Phineas and Gael are compatible, and it never hurts to be prepared.
“Are they the ones I bought? I really liked those.”
They’re his favorite, actually.
I shake my head. “We used the last of yours up last time with Jessica, I replaced them so the box is brand new.”
Jessica was his last girlfriend, though it only lasted a few months between them.
“Thanks for that. Eat the rest of these,” he says, shoving the bag of yogurt pretzels at me.
The bag says they’re ginger and hibiscus flavored. No wonder they taste weird, but he’s always had weird tastes.
A Few Months Ago
Sin
The doorbell brings me out of the Korean text I’ve been working through for an assignment. When I answer it, I’m surprised to find Gael’s girlfriend here without Gael. He’s at a party for his work, and she agreed to go with him.
“Hey, Sin,” Jessica looks up at me nervously.
“Gael’s not here. Why aren’t you at the party with him?”
I already know the answer. This has become an increasingly frequent problem whenever Gael shares with me. What the fuck is wrong with these women?
“Um, can I come in?” She looks timid, but I know what she’s like in bed and timid doesn’t describe her in the least. This woman insisted that Gael and I Eiffel Tower her two Fridays ago, and when we weren’t aggressive enough about it, she rocked her body between us until she damn near passed out, choking on my cock.
I step to the side and allow her to walk past me, shutting the door behind her. “What’s going on?” I ask, leaning against the door instead of following her further into the house.
She flutters her hands nervously. “I like you,” she says, blushing. “More than I like Gael. Will you go out with me?”
And there’s the problem. Almost all of his girlfriends in the last few years have ended up telling me this. I hate it to my marrow. I would never steal his girlfriend—wouldn't even consider it! I don’t understand why they keep doing this, and I refuse to even consider their offers, because…
I never want to be the one to cause Gael pain.
Gael is my person, and how anyone could have fucked us both, spent time with the two of us in the same room, and not understand that there is no reality in which I would ever choose them over him is a complete mystery to me. Only an utter fool would think I would ever betray Gael for them
“Did you break up with Gael?” I ask, thinking I’m going to have to go hunt him down now, because if she did, he will definitely try to get drunk, and he took my car today.
“Of course. I called him on my way over here.”
Stupid.“I don’t like anyone who hurts Gael. You can leave now.”
We didn’t get past the entryway, so I reopen the door for her.
“But, I thought you liked me too! Didn’t we have great chemistry?” The tears in her eyes don’t move me—I’m too angry with her for failing to take Gael’s feelings into consideration and for thinking for a single second that I would ever choose her over him.
“Gael always shares his favorite things with me. I would never betray him for you. If you really liked me, you wouldn’t have hurt Gael. Leave. I’ve got to go find him.”
Jessica runs out of my house and out of our lives for good. I call Gael, but I get no answer, so I schedule a ride with the app I use when Gael and I go out drinking and wait.
When my ride gets there, she takes me to the bar where the party is happening, and I find my best friend sitting on the bench outside, smoking a cigarette he bummed from someone. I sit down next to him and put my arm around his shoulders.
