Page 116 of Hypothetical Heart
“Yeah, that’s cool,” I reply.
“What?” Winnie asks, looking between Genevieve and me. “Why are the two of you giving each other that look?”
“Huh?” Genevieve asks.
“What look?” I say at the same time.
She rolls her eyes, hopping down from the barstool she has been sitting in, and makes her way around the island toward me. “I think it’s a good thing!”
Eloise gives Genevieve and me a look of pure fear as if she knows where Winnie is going with this. Except, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop the conversation from continuing.
“Now that Briar’s your girlfriend, she should be invited all the time,” Winnie says, and the room goes silent.
“What?”Jameson and Luke both gawk.
“Oh,” Winnie winces, realizing what she just did. “Oh my God.”
My girlfriend and Eloise have matching faces of horror while Genevieve tucks her lips in, and I stand completely stunned.
“Briar’s your girlfriend?” Luke asks Eloise.
I stick my tongue in my cheek, trying to stop my mouth from falling wide open. “I want no part of this conversation.” I turn away, taking a few steps to the other side of the kitchen.
“I’m so sorry, Eloise.” Winnie’s sincerity is palpable, the same as her guilt.
Eloise accepts her apology, and I hear the sound of Winnie’s heels clicking closer and closer.
Her arms go around my shoulders, pulling my headdown to her level. “Did I really just do that?” she whispers in my ear.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, kissing her temple. “You didn’t know.”
I lift her so she’s sitting on the countertop in front of me, almost at eye level.
“Winnie, really, I’m not mad. It was going to come out eventually,” Eloise tells her, seeing how upset she is.
“I didn’t realize it was a secret,” Luke gripes.
“It wasn’t!” Eloise groans, running her hands through her hair. “Or at least it wasn’t supposed to be. I didn’t–you know what? Forget it.”
“It’s fine, Wheezy, really.” Luke wraps an arm around her, messing up her hair playfully. “I’m happy for you.”
We all let out a sigh of relief, knowing this isn’t going to cause any type of fight. It’s always a good feeling.
So is being able to act so normal around Winnie, not worrying about showing too much affection as friends, or revealing my feelings accidentally.
Genevieve and Jameson are both holding measuring spoons, bickering about which ingredient goes in first. Eloise walks behind them, plucking the spoon from Genevieve’s hand and dumping it in for her. “There. Problem solved.”
We finish making dinner pretty quickly, getting all of the vegetables, potatoes, and chicken cut up and seasoned before putting it on the stove. After that, we migrate to the living room.
I open the back door that spans almost the entirety of the back wall, letting in the cold November breeze.
Briar has also arrived since we put dinner in the oven, plopping herself between Eloise and Genevieve. She contributes to conversations every once in a while but staysquiet for the most part, leaning into Eloise periodically.
“Our first semester is over in a few weeks,” Winnie says, looking around the room like she’s trying to commit this moment to memory.
I think we all are.
“It does not feel like it’s been six months since we graduated,” Eloise adds, falling back into the corner of the sectional.
