Page 13 of So Worth More
Since we couldn’t have the relationship that I really wanted with him, I was going to be the best friend that he ever had. Which sounded slightly crazy when I thought about it. Friendship with Will didn’t seem like a bad substitute for what we had before. I just had to forget about how he tasted, how his cock felt inside of me. The feel of his skin on mine and the sounds of his moans in my ear. To swap physical intimacy for hopefully something better.
* * *
I returned home hours later, exhausted but hopeful. At lunch, there had been a lot of lulls in the conversation like we weren’t sure what to talk about and it’d left me worried. When we got to the museum and Will paid for our entry, my heart had started to beat double time. It felt like a date and we both seemed to make an effort to steer it away from that territory by talking about stuff from work. That seemed to break the ice and after that it was easy.
We spent hours looking at the exhibits, particularly the Greek items they had on loan from Crete. Will told me that he’d been to the places where the urns and jewelry had been found. His father had taken the whole family on vacation to see where the extended family still lived. He’d met great aunts and uncles that he hadn’t known existed.
It was strange to hear Will talk about his family. I knew he had brothers, but he didn’t talk about them at all. His relationship with his dad had clearly been complicated. If he spoke about his father, it wasn’t with the same affection as when I spoke about my mom. When he spoke about his childhood, there was a mixture of warmth and frustration there that I didn’t understand.
Exhausted, I flopped down on the sofa before leaning to fish my phone out of my pants pocket to order dinner. As hungry as I was, there was no way I was cooking. I was too tired for that. Unlocking my phone, I noticed a text from Will.
Will: Had a great day. Thanks for coming with me.
Smiling at the message, I scrolled through the options before placing an order for delivery. Not wanting to look too eager, I waited a minute and then replied.
Andy: Thx for inviting me *smile emoji*
Andy: My pick next time?
I fully expected to wait for a reply, but one came back almost immediately.
Will: I thought I’d pick tomorrow and you can pick next weekend *wink emoji*
So that’s how it is then?I couldn’t help but laugh before texting back.
Andy: Sure, sounds good
Dropping my phone, I smiled to myself. It was only a couple of minutes later that my phone started to ring from where I’d left it on the sofa. I half expected it to be Will making plans for the next day. It was almost a disappointment when it was Abby instead.
“Hey you,” she said cheerfully when I answered. “How’ve you been?” We chatted for a while just catching up on things, and I tipped the delivery guy extra because I was still listening to Abby tell me about the director she had run afoul of at work. I didn’t want to look rude to the guy. Abby was still ranting about the director, though. Apparently their artistic vision didn’t match the initial drawings my sister had drawn up. Then there were issues getting the right fabric since the stuff they had was see-through in a bad way under the bright stage lights.
I loved how Abby told stories. Picturing the way her hands moved as she talked and all the expressions on her face made me miss her. It’d only been a little while really, but I needed to make time for her, too.
“So,” Winding down, she quickly changed the subject, “what’s happening with you? I haven’t heard much from you lately.”
Dammit,I didn’t really want to go into the whole friends with Will thing. I was sure that she’d think it was a terrible idea and really, really deep down, I knew that too. “Just living the quiet life, Abs. Work and the gym. Not much else, to be honest.” Straight away, I knew that wasn’t going to cut it. Twin sense would tell her I was evading or some crap. I’d never been able to hide a thing from her.
“Uh huh.”Shit. “Spill the tea, Andrew Barker.”Fuck, I was being full-named.
So I spilled the tea.
As expected, she thought it was a terrible idea and that I was going to get hurt when Will couldn’t, or wouldn’t, give me what I wanted. We hung up before it could end in an argument. To be fair, I got her point but it still pissed me off. I knew what I was getting into, what I was risking. At that moment I totally got Pete and I felt so bad for him. He didn’t have all the memories like I did, of all the times I’d been with Will. Of how well we fit like we were made for each other. He did have something better though, a solid friendship.
Thirteen -Andy
Sunday was a beautiful early fall day. The high temperatures of summer were giving way to the easy warmth that occasionally stuck around for most of October. I met Will for brunch, a term that he hated, I thought with a smile. I’d endured a whole lecture about brunch and putting together two meals like that from a very grumpy Will. It shouldn’t have been adorable, but it was.
It looked like he’d just crawled out of bed. There was a distinctly rumpled air to his appearance. He was useless without two coffees in him, he admitted, and sure enough once that second coffee hit his system, he chilled out dramatically. I left a bigger tip for the young waitress, sure that she’d caught at least some of his rant.
Will confessed that what he’d planned for us to do wasn’t an option, so we had to come up with another plan. We batted about ideas for today that had included a run after we had digested our food a little. I gave a shudder at the idea of running willingly. Yes, I went to the gym, but I preferred the bike or swimming for cardio, thanks. I only ran if I was being chased, but since it was his weekend to choose, I would’ve gone on a run, but I wouldn’t have been happy about it though. He took pity on me, presumably seeing my initial reaction, and took that off the table as a suggestion.
I honestly didn’t care what we did as long as I got to spend time with him, so we settled on walking through the massive outdoor market that had sprung up a couple of blocks away from Will’s apartment. I’d spotted an arcade further down the street and suggested we go in after. When I was younger, I loved going to the arcade with my friends.
“I’ve never been to an arcade,” Will said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
When what he said registered, I stopped in my tracks and gaped at him. “What? Why not?”
He shrugged. “Just wasn’t a thing we did. At home we had a games room, so my friends came to hang out at our house.”
