Page 12 of Waiting Game

He laughed, dropping his shoulders, “for what?”

“To get married,” I made kissy faces and batted my eyelashes in his direction.

He grinned, not taking the bait, “of course I am.”

I rolled my eyes again.

Antoni was my best friend, and I was happy to see him happy - but it was hard to annoy him nowadays. He wasn’t as tense anymore, wasn’t as stressed.

He was finally comfortable with his decision, with his role in our world.

And I was envious.

“So,” he raised an eyebrow at me, “where are we headed first?”

“Lilith’s,” I smirked.

It was met with a hard punch to the shoulder.

Lilith’s was the strip club that Antoni’s soon-to-be wife, Rome, ran. All of the dancers there were her closest friends and we both knew that she would single-handedly rip each of our throats out if we were to show up there for his bachelor party.

“I’m kidding,” I groaned, “you uptight asshole.”

“Hey,” he laughed, “if anyone’s been uptight the past few days it’s been you.”

I looked out the window, avoiding the comment.

“I know it’s because Val’s coming home,” he pushed.

“Oh do you?” I rolled my eyes.

It was.

It was a mixture of anticipation, excitement, and dread. I didn’t know what to expect, and it was hard to keep my hopes in check.

I didn’t like that Antoni had figured everything out about us.

Well, almost everything.

There was still a lot that he didn’t know.

He knew that there was something there,but anyone who was ever around us would be able to figure that out. With the chemistry that we had, it would be impossible to miss. We always thought that we were so sly, so clever for going unknown and keeping the secret. But now I knew just how obvious it must have been to everyone else.

Now that I had witnessed a similar thing between Antoni and Rome.

The way that they revolved around each other, they were never far apart for long.

Val and I used to be like that too.

That was until she packed up and moved to the other side of the country.

It was better when it was our secret. When no one else knew.

Now, I could see the way that Antoni would tip-toe around conversations that involved her. He worked so hard to keep it a secret when he went and visited her last year, as if my feelings needed to be protected like a child’s.

“We’ll find someone to keep your mind off of her tonight,” he elbowed me in the ribs, trying to lighten the conversation again.

“Sounds good,” I smiled, but I knew it wouldn’t work.

---