“Don’t you dare run away from me!”
Once we were back inside, I started cleaning up our mess from dinner. Putting the leftover Chinese in the fridge. Knowing that even though I put my name on it, my sister or her boyfriend would most definitely eat it if I didn’t get to it first.
“Marlowe!” Naomi was laughing when she yelled my name. “Come on, you can’t do that. I’m your best friend. You know I’m not judging you.”
“It’s not that, trust me. I know you’re not.” Slamming the refrigerator shut, I looked up at my friend. “If I talk about it, it makes it all real. And I just don’t know how to feel about it all. But I do know I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know what to do.”
Grabbing my hand, Naomi pulled me to the couch, and we sat down together. Dojo jumped up to sit down behind me. “Mar, if you need to talk about it to get it off your chest, you know I’m here for you.”
“Thank you. I guess I’m just scared that talking about it would make me realize how I really feel, and I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”
“Oh babe, I’m pretty sure it’s already real whether you talk about it with me or not.” Naomi gave me a tight-lipped smile.
Falling over onto the back of the couch, I sighed, “You’re right. Ugh, why are you always right?”
Dojo had fallen asleep on the couch behind me. He and I spent most nights locked up in my bedroom, so I’m sure he felt like a little prince having free range of the house. His light snores rumbled quietly as I considered how to tell my best friend about that night.
“Okay.” Naomi situated herself on the couch, grabbing a pillow to hug like she was settling in for a long story. “It’s not that crazy of a story really. I don’t know,” a deep breath I didn’t know I was holding released from my nose, and Naomi raised her eyebrows. “Nicki was throwing herself at Bunny all night, and he asked me to help keep her away from him. We were like play flirting all night. At one point we ended up sitting with Dexter, you know the two of them are always together. Well, the three of us got really drunk. Girl, I swear, between the three of us we drank a bottle of Jäger and had, I don’t even know how many beers. Well, Nicki left Bunny alone all night, but I ended up staying there. They both insisted because I was drunk. I didn’targue because I knew there was no way I’d be able to get home. Bunny gave me some clothes to sleep in, and after I changed, I can’t really explain what happened. It was like everything that we were pretending to do all night wasn’t pretending anymore. As soon as I went back out into the living room. Bunny kissed me, then Dexter kissed Bunny. It all felt so normal. Nothing was awkward. It just happened.”
Naomi stared at me with a blank expression. Then her mouth formed a huge smile.
“Ew, stop looking at me like that.” Using my foot, I shoved her away from me.
Dojo let out a small bark when Naomi burst out laughing. “I’m so sorry, but this is the best thing I’ve heard in so long. Two boyfriends who are also boyfriends. That’s almost perfect.”
“Oh my god, stop it! It was one time, and we’ve barely talked since. I don’t even know how to bring it up to them. If I even should. Things are back to normal with Dexter, it seems, but Bunny is acting so fucking weird, kinda mean actually. I don’t want to make things even worse. What if I ruined everything?”
Naomi placed her hand on my leg. “Relax, Mar, really. Don’t stress yourself out. We can always talk about it, but if you feel like you want to bring it up to them, you should. Do it when it feels right though. Who knows, maybe one of them will bring it up first. That might even make things easier.”
Knowing she was right, I shifted more comfortably on the couch. Pulling a blanket over our laps. Dojo shifted to lie on the other end of the couch. Flipping through the channels, a new true crime show had just started, so I stopped there, and we settled together to watch it.
“Hey Mar,” Naomi said after we sat there a little while. “Do the guys know about the stuff with your sister’s boyfriend?”
“Who? Solace? No. Why would they know?”
She took a sip of her wine and glanced at me over the cup. “They care about you, as I do. I just don’t think they’d be okay with it. Especially Bunny and Dexter.” She raised her eyebrows.
“Come on, Naomi. They care about me, yeah, but we’re just friends. Did you not just hear everything I told you? Nothing has really changed between us.” My hands spread out in front of me like a platter. The platter that held the millions of things I didn’t want to face if I actually admitted how I was feeling about Dexter and Bunny.
“Oh, I heard you.”
ten
dojo
Dexter
The smaller amps and speakers were stacked in the pool shed from the last party. We moved them back and forth from the garage when we practiced because it was cheaper than buying a new set just to play music.
As soon as all of the cords were plugged in and the space was clear, a small bark sounded from the front of the house.
“Dojo!” Marlowe yelled.
Seconds later, the Boston Terrier came sprinting around the side of the house and into the garage. “Hi, Dojo!” The dog jumped up at me as soon as I squatted to greet him.
“Dojo, no! Down. Dexter, please. Don’t let him jump on you,” Marlowe whined, stomping into the garage. She held Dojo’s leash loosely in her hand. “I swear this dog knows when we’re coming here. I opened the door, and he just ran back here.”
“Well, that’s because he knows who his favorite person is. Right, Dojo?” As we continued to play, Dojo started barking at me. Marlowe rolled her eyes and sat down on the old, worn-out couch, lighting a cigarette. The garage was full of oldmismatched furniture that had made its way out here from the house. Outdated things that my Aunt Sylvie had replaced over the years before she moved out. We had sold most of it but decided using the decent stuff in here was a better idea for now.
