Page 48 of The Weight Of It All
“Why not?”
“Have you seen him?”
“Actually no, I haven’t. Looks don’t matter, Henry.”
“They do when you look like him. Guys hit on him all the time. Like today! God, I thought that sales guy was gonna drop to his knees in the change rooms.”
“And what did Reed do?”
“He said he wasn’t his type, so he pretended we were boyfriends so the other guy would leave him alone.”
Anika raised an eyebrow at me.
“But it wasn’t like that.”
“And what did he do when he met Colin and James?”
“He pretended we were boyfriends so they’d think…” Anika pursed her lips, raising both eyebrows this time. “It wasn’t like that.”
I took out my phone and scrolled through Facebook until I found the gym’s page and then showed her photos of Reed.
Anika’s eyes widened. “Holy shit.”
“See what I mean! He looks like Chris Hemsworth! Just better. God, even the buffed up guys at the gym hit on him all the time. And I’m pretty sure some of them are straight.”
“And what does he do about it?”
“Nothing. He said they’re not his type.”
“He has a few not-types. What actuallyishis type?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should ask him.”
I shook my head. “It’s too soon. I don’t want him to be some rebound guy because he’s better than that.”
“Because you like him more than you’re admitting.”
I drained my wine in one mouthful and glared at her. “Shut up. You’re bad for my liver.”
“So, you think you’re not ready emotionally? Or is it something else?”
I’d been friends with Anika long enough to know there was no avoiding something if she wanted to get to the bottom of it. It’s what made her great at her job and really fucking annoying as a best friend. “Both. I don’t know. I’m not ready. I need to be me for a while.”
“And?”
“And you’ve seen him?” I waved my hand at my phone. “He’s so out of my league. It’s not possible outside of those cheesy Hollywood movies.”
Anika gasped. “You love those movies!”
“Not when it’s reality. And the very likely reality is that Reed had a bet to see if he could make the fat gay boy cry like inCan’t Hardly Wait.” I felt bad for even saying that.
Anika gawped at me. “Do you think that’s what he’s doing?”
“No. I don’t. He wouldn’t do that.”
“Then give him some credit. Though the scene at the end is excellent. You’d make the best prom queen.”
