"At least for now," she continued. "Soon you’ll have to actually deal with it."
He scowled and took back his original train of thought: she was as bad as the rest of them.
"Stop kicking yourself about the date," Tanner said with a splash.
Mach peeled open his eyes to find his best friend climbing atop an inflatable, adult-size Taco Bell Hot Sauce packet. The getting situated part wasn’t going so well, but Tanner didn’t have as much practice as Mach in this area, so that was to be expected.
"Give him a break, he’s not used to rejection," Sam said. "It hurts."
There was that rejection word again.
Sam had settled in on one of the lounge chairs on the pool deck. Since she and Tanner coupled up, she had practically moved in. Mach figured it wouldn’t be long before they made it official with rings, a wedding, and kids. The house where they lived was fucking huge, so Mach didn’t mind another roommate.
Sam was good for Tanner. And she loved him, so even if Mach had had issues with the situation—and he didn’t—he wouldn’t have said a peep.
"How long until he’s better?" Hans asked in that matter-of-fact way of his.
"Healing happens in its own time," Becca replied. "Public rejection from a woman he’s interested in is hard. Especially when he’s not used to it."
Mach squeezed open an eye, squinting against the bright sun. That’s the third time they’d used that word in only minutes.
"I did not get rejected," he assured.
"Okay," Becca said, but the way she said it sounded like she was only giving lip service.
"How long until he admits he got rejected?" Sam asked.
Hans snort laughed at that. Sounded more like he choked, but whatever.
"Stop saying that word," Mach said, losing the joy of the float. "We ended the date on fine terms." He dropped his hand over the side of the pizza into the cool water with enough force to make a splash.
"It was fine?" Hans asked. "Which is why you’ve been pouting ever since?"
"It’s not his fault." Tanner was the one Mach could count on. "He’s not used to pretty girls telling him no."
Apparently, Mach couldn’t count on him this time.
He growled. "Can’t a dude catch a break without everyone reminding him of his screw ups?"
"Not around here," Tanner said, finally done with his water acrobatics and settled on his sauce packet, floating to the other side of the pool.
"Hey, Mach?" Sam asked.
He harrumphed in reply.
"I think everyone is actually worried about you," she said, serious in a way that made him pause. "We all joke, but you’re not yourself since…well…you know."
An uncomfortable blanket of silence fell over the pool area.
Hans cleared his throat as though trying to clear the awkwardness single-handedly.
"Why doesn’t everyone go inside, and we can all stick our noses into Sam’s business instead?" Becca suggested.
"That sounds fun," Sam replied. "I’m in."
There was a scraping of the metal chair against the concrete as the loungers were rearranged, back to their usual positions.
"You two are on your own," Hans said, gruff as usual. "We’re gonna go eat some cheese sticks and talk about Sam."
