Page 40 of Totally Played
“Yeah, it was nice. He doesn’t talk much, though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, why, did he talk a lot with you?”
I try to shrug it off like it’s no big deal. “Yeah, a bit, but we were on a bro-date, not a date-date, so it’s different.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. He might just need time to open up.” He takes out his phone. “Okay, I just asked him to a club after dinner with the parents tomorrow.”
Ash’s reply comes through only a few seconds later.
“Great, he’s in. Now I’ll get to see how that incredible body of his moves on the dance floor. Want to come?”
I don’t. I can think of nothing I want less than going to a club with the guy I’ve been dreaming of and my brother and watching them grind on the dance floor.
“Sure, sounds like fun,” I lie, and I hate it. Tony is my ride or die, and I’m sitting here lying to him. I should just tell him. Explain what’s going on in my head. Maybe he’ll be able to help me figure it out. He tried to open the door to the sexuality conversation when I asked him how he knew he was bi, but I shut it down, blowing it off as just a random thought that I had never asked him before. He let it go easy enough, but maybe I should talk to him about my feelings for Ash? “So you think there could be… something more between you two?”
He shrugs. “He’s hot and sweet, two things I love in a guy, but…”
“But what?” I ask, hope rising in me that he sees all of the ways they are not right for each other.
“It’s nothing. You’re always telling me not to dwell on the little things and give people a chance, so I’m going to do that.”
“I said that?”
He nudges my side. “Yeah, like every time I complain about a guy I met on the app not being perfect. I think you’re right. I have to stop looking for perfection and start giving these dates a real shot.”
“Yeah,” I say, but inside I’m screaming, ‘Sure, listen to me now, why don’t you?’
***
Since he woke up, he’s been scrolling through the app at all the new dates he’s been offered.
“Seriously, being in the fives is awesome,” he says as his phone chimes. “Another date request. Oh, she’s cute. Yes, please,” he says, tapping the screen.
“Didn’t you just agree to go out with Ash again?”
“Yeah, but we’re not exclusive or anything. Like I said last night, I have to give these dates a chance.”
“And by dates, you meant multiple?” A heat rises in my chest, but I squash it down. I don’t know what he and Ash agreed to, if they agreed to anything. It’s not my place to judge.
“Look, we travel a lot, and we’re young, in our prime dating years. Besides, look how cute she is,” Calvin says, turning the phone to face me.
“You just double-booked,” I say, and he frowns and checks his phone again.
“Fuck, the date with Carly is at nine tonight. Don’t suppose you want to be me again?” He holds the phone up to show me another picture of Carly.
“Nope, sorry, my days of doppelganging your dates are over.”
“I don’t think you’re using that word the right way.”
“Sure, I am. Doppelganger is like a double, and you want me to pretend to be you, so that would be doppelganging.”
“It sounds more like some weird group sex thing.”
“I’m not doing that either.”
***
