Tossing a small smile in his direction, I set the rest of my crust down on my plate. “I’m sure you all have heard that 93.3 is doing a Battle of the Bands for Trash Fest this year.” Rich sat up straight, and I felt Bunny tense a bit next to me. “Well, you probably also know that Captain’s is hosting it, so it’s also the sign-up location.”
“Wait what?” Chris asked when he walked back into the room with five beers expertly tangled between his fingers.
Dexter leaned forward, his forearms resting against his knees. I did my best not to focus on how they tensed when he adjusted to get comfortable. That wasn’t possible, though. The lean muscle rippled beneath the skin. When he spoke, his calming voice broke me out of my trance, and my eyes moved up to see his face. My line of sight was interrupted by Bunny, who was staring directly at me. He had taken his sunglasses off and looked at me in a way I would never be able to decode. It seemed like he wanted to kill me, fuck me, and cry at the same time, but his eyes were hollow. The emotion that was there was empty. I quickly glanced away, feeling an overwhelming urge to cry.
Dexter spoke, “That’s exactly what I was going to talk to everyone about and why I was so glad you were coming tonight, Mar. If the guys are okay with it, can you sign us up next time you work?”
“Fuck yeah, sign us up!” Rich exclaimed.
Chris frantically nodded in approval, chewing a bite of pizza and holding the remainder of the slice in the air.
Dexter turned to Bunny, placing his hand on his leg similar to how I had just a bit ago. “Bunny, your thoughts?”
Bunny looked down at Dexter’s hand, then slowly lifted his head to look straight at the other man. “Yeah. Whatever.” His response was clipped. This was getting weird now.
“Well, I was actually going to tell you that I already signed Solace up. But I could take you off if you don’t want to do it. Surprise!” The corners of my mouth lifted into a huge smile.
Bunny stood and walked in front of me toward the front door. “Don’t you dare take us off that list. Is there anything else?” He looked into the room, sunglasses back on.
Dexter got up from the couch and walked toward the door. “Um, I don’t think so. Where are you going? We drove here together.”
“I’ve got some things to take care of. I’ll walk. It’s not far.” Bunny reached for the door, but Dexter placed a hand on his shoulder. I looked at Chris and Rich with a questioning look on my face, but they looked just as confused as I did.
“Bunny, stop, where are you going?” Dexter’s voice was assertive, and Bunny shook Dexter off of him.
Through clenched teeth, Bunny mumbled, “I’m leaving.”
six
pills & panties
Bunny
Footsteps pounded behind me. I fucking knew he was going to follow me out. No matter what I did, Dexter was going to try and figure out what was going on with me. There was no way I could hide it. With him, it was always impossible, but I was sure as hell going to try.
“Bunny, get in the car and let’s go home.”
“Fuck off, dude,” I mumbled. He didn’t know that I took the last two pills I had as we walked up to the apartment. I needed to get to Nicki’s to restock, and so I could sleep.
Dexter’s hand was heavy on my shoulder; he spun me around, and I stumbled, falling forward onto him. He smelled like citrus cologne and cigarettes. A scent that I had associated with Dex since we were 15. I took a deep breath, then realized what I was doing and shoved him away from me. He caught me by the arms before I could get too far. “Just tell me where you’re going then, and I’ll drive you.”
Reaching up, I pushed his arms off me. “Please, just stop.” Turning away from my best friend, my feet carried me awayfrom and down the street. The apartment complex was only a few streets over from Nicki’s neighborhood, and the cool air was refreshing. Turning around, I saw that Dexter didn’t follow me. The dark street was empty as I wandered alone toward the rows of houses.
Dex was always the one I could turn to when things got hard, and nothing about how I felt right now was easy. Ever since that night, everything was fucked. Going to Dexter felt off. Something had shifted between us. When I thought about our casual hookups, they didn’t seem so casual anymore. Seeing Marlowe again tonight was physically painful.
Suddenly the pills I had taken weren’t enough to dull my senses anymore, and I started running until I turned the corner and saw my destination.
Cars lined the street in front of Nicki’s house. Smoke wafted out the door as soon as I opened it, and the scent of dank weed hit me like a brick wall.
“Bunny!” Nicki stood on the kitchen table and screeched my name. Walking over to her, everyone got out of my way. She jumped down from the table and wrapped me tightly with a hug. “Awe, Bunny.” She patted my cheek, and I pulled away instinctively. She leaned in close to me. Just close enough to not touch me. “Is it safe to assume I know why you’re here?”
Narrowing my eyes at her, I snapped, “Don’t be a bitch, Nicki.”
“Ooo, I like when you’re feisty, Bunny.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the back of the house.
Nicki guided me to her bedroom. She always did our deals in her bedroom, and there was one glaring reason why.
We entered the room, and she shut the door behind me. “I have your usual.” She opened the top drawer of her dresser, and a bag of pills sat on top of her perfectly folded lace underwear.Everything in the room was cast in a pink hue. Immediately, a headache formed at the base of my skull.
