The silence lingers.
I can’t fucking take it.
“Distract me.Please.” Finally, I look over at him. The tips of his ears are red, but at least he’s clothed. He’s leaned back, looking like he’s relaxed.Almost.His arms are crossed.
Tightly.
“Distract you?”
“Yeah. Tell me anything. How was the pool?”
I’m determined for things to feel normal, and when Nate looks at me warily, I wonder if they ever will be.
But he must have the same goal as me, because he huffs out a breath and shakes his head.
Just like that, my best friend is back.
“I ran into Aaron and chatted with him for a while.”
“Really? How are our ... friends?”
I’m not sure I would consider Trixie one, but she is nice enough. It’s not her fault she doesn’t know that my life blew up in the last week.
“There’s apparently a group of people getting drinks and foodtonight. They invited us.”
I blink. I still don’t understand how groups of people decide to hang out. I have my few people and that’s all I need.
“And what did you say?”
“I said that it’s not your kind of thing. I get the idea you don’t like Trixie all that much.”
“It’s not that I don’t like her. She just talked about her wedding.A lot.”
Nate nods. “I knew I should’ve stayed with you. Aaron wanted guy time, whatever that means, but next time?—”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know, but you don’t have to. Not when I’m here.”
The words are casual, though they feel anything but. The memory of seeing him with nothing on combines with the warm feeling at the way he cares about me, creating something I can’t name. But it’s familiar somehow.
“Thanks,” I whisper. “But she didn’t do anything wrong. And you seem to like Aaron.”
“He’s okay,” Nate replies. “Not as fun as you, though. I seriously would’ve gone to the spa with you, you know.”
“We would’ve been separated by gender anyway. And you like swimming.” I shrug. “You might as well enjoy it. Besides, it sounds like you found some plans.”
“Aaron wanted usbothto go.”
“I’m sure you’ll find some way to convince me.”
Nate smirks. “The bar has burgers. Good ones, apparently.”
“I can usually be swayed by a good burger.”
“Oh, I’m not done. Apparently, they’re playing games.” He leans in. “And there’s a winner.”
Now he has my attention. Neither Quinn nor Rob will ever play anything with Nate and me simply because we’re always in it to win. When we aren’t teamed up, it’s messy.
