Page 32 of Friendshipped
“It’s true,” he says nonchalantly like we sit around giving one another compliments every day of our lives.
I walk toward the couch holding up my strappy heels.
“I’ll put my shoes on and we’re good to go.”
Trevor watches me, but he remains fixed by the front door with his hands in his pockets.
“Are you okay?” I ask. “You seem off.”
“I’m good,” he says, shifting his weight. “Did you have a good Sunday?”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, thinking back to the potato salad and Hank’s message. “I got a ping on my account.”
“Oh.”
Again, his usual invisible thought bubble seems hidden in a mist. I can’t get a read on what he’s really thinking.
“I don’t know if I’m going to do this,” I tell him.
“Date through an app?”
“Yeah,” I say, buckling the strap to my shoe and standing. “Well, let’s go.”
Trevor holds the door for me and waits for me to walk out past him. Mountain freshness fills my senses and settles whatever nerves I had. The unbidden thought comes through my mind: I wish this were real. I look at Trevor. He has an uncertain look on his face.
I feel my stomach flutter.
Could I actually be nervous? With Trevor?
It’s the Felicia effect. She made this whole night into some weird thing by saying it’s a faux date.
“Felicia called our night out a faux date,” I tell Trevor as he opens my car door. “Actually, her exact words werehotfaux date.”
I settle into my seat. Trevor leans in toward me a little through the open door. I sit enveloped in his scent, taking in the lines of his face. He’s so gorgeous, I almost lose my train of thought.
“It’s a hot date because of your dress,” he says with a wink. Then, before any weird thought has an opportunity to take root in my head, he jokes, “And because it’s the middle of June in the Midwest. We’re smokin’ or sizzlin’ or just plain sweatin’.”
I laugh and he shuts the door to run around to his side of the car. The rest of the night flows far more easily. I’m glad I said something. We just had to cut through the Felicia-induced weirdness, and we’re back to being Trevor and Lexi, or Trexi, or Lexevor … my favorite thing to be in the world.
11
Trevor
Afaux date with Lexi last weekend was the most delicious kind of torture known to man. She looked insanely beautiful and completely unaware of herself, which only ramped up her appeal. When Felicia called to tell me I was supposed to be a date decoy so Lexi could practice going out with men again, I almost cancelled.
Ultimately, Lexi and I got past the initial awkwardness and had an amazing night at an elegant Italian place called Il Cibo è Amore. In English the name meansfood is love. The interior of the restaurant was all dark wood and small tables covered in white cloths with casks of olive oil and shakers of herbs clustered with tea lights on each tabletop.
I treated Lexi like a real date, while I constantly issued commands to my heart, dog whisperer style:sit, down, stay. It was a night I’ll never forget, even though in the end we walked up to our respective doors, looked over at one another and said goodnight before entering each half of our house separately and alone. I imagined sweeping her into a kiss that would have had her knees buckling if circumstances were different—maybe even walking her inside to see where things led.
This weekend is a whole other ball game. Lexi has her first date from that app with a guy named Hank. On a Sunday evening. Who goes on a first date on a Sunday evening?
I pace my living room and wait for his car to drive up. I should be doing something—anything—besides watching my girl walk off with another man. She’s not mine, I know, but in this moment my heart can’t reason and every cell in my body screamsmine.
An engine turns off and a guy steps out of the driver’s side of a black Corvette. He’s a big man, muscular. I’m trying to peek out the curtains of my front room without being seen, so unfortunately, I can’t get a solid look at him. He looks tan, with ruddy hair. Maybe it’s the sunset, but—is that an orangish glow to his face? I lose sight of him as he approaches Lexi’s door.
I hear his knock and realize my fists have clenched at my sides. I turn and walk to the television, determined to distract myself from what’s about to clearly be the longest night of my life.
I can’t help myself as I walk back toward my window when I hear Lexi’s door shut. She and the ginger giant are walking back to his sports car. He puts his hand on her back and I turn away. Enough’s enough. I have to get a grip.
