Suddenly, my palms are sweaty. “About what?”
Slapping her forehead, she mutters, “Christ, you’re hopeless.”
My mouth opens. Closes.
Now she’s giggling. “Oh, you’ve got it so bad.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
Her eyes crinkle with hilarity. I cross my arms over my chest. She pries them apart, smiling at me with this knowing look I’m growing to hate. Like she’s in on a joke I don’t understand.
“Remy, sweetheart, it’s adorable to see you so flustered.”
I want to punch her.
“I’m not flustered, I just don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”
She releases my wrists and pats my cheek. “Silly boy, so in denial he can’t admit he’s got a crush.”
Acrush?
I'm dizzy.
I stumble back, shaking my head. “Win’s my friend.”
Her hands return to her hips. “And you're telling me that you'veneverthought about him in that way?”
My insides squirm. I can't outright deny it, because Ihave. A few times. Confusing moments flit through my brain like a short film. Win beneath me, eyeliner smeared with laughing tears, looking so beautiful it altered my brain chemistry. The drunken desire to be close to him on the couch, secretly savoring the musky, masculine scent of him. Unable to stop myself from touching his hand and asking him to stay. Then waking up half-drunk and hard in the middle of the night with his warm, sleeping body clutched in my arms. I've chalked these dangerous, intrusive feelings up to hormones or needing to get myself off— surely I'm not the only horny teenager overwhelmed by strange urges and impulses.
I squint at her.
“He's… a guy.”
She levels a deadpan glare. “No, really? I had no idea. Thanks for enlightening me.”
“You know what I mean.”
She takes my hand and walks backward in front of me, dragging me along like I’ve forgotten how to move my legs.
I kind of have.
“Can I pose a hypothetical situation to you?”
“You’re going to anyway.”
Lifting her chin, she grins. “Imagine you start a new school year and make friends with this incredible person who just gets you in a way no one has before.”
I indulge her with a raised brow. She continues, “Imagine you two become inseparable, to the point that this person is suddenly your entire world. And it's amazing. But you find yourself noticing…differentthings about them. Little things, likehow pretty their eyes are or how good they smell. And you start to wonder what their lips might taste like...”
My steps falter.
“Andrea—”
She cuts me off. “The thing is, this person is a guy too. And you're terrified that if you act on what you’re feeling and he doesn't feel the same, it’ll destroy your friendship. Unless...” She levels a pointed look at me. “Hedoesfeel the same and this thing between you two becomes… more.”
The objections on my tongue turn to ash.
Andrea drops my hand, gesturing to the right. I’ve been so consumed by her rambling that I haven't paid attention to my surroundings.
