Page 77 of Meet You Half Way
“I can’t argue with that,” Ajay returned with a toss of his head of curls.
“All right, how about this,” Rob suggested. “You four play off against each other and then the winners can go up against me.”
“Deal,” Mateo agreed, squeezing my hand.
“Do we play couple versus couple or switch things up?” Rob continued, eyeing me and Ajay.
“I’m not that great at pool so I’ll happily stay with Mateo,” I returned. “He won’t judge me.”
“Same here,” Ajay grinned. “And Nick will hyperventilate if you keep using terms like switching things up.”
“Also true,” Nick nodded sagely.
“All right, no switching things up then. Let the gay tournament begin,” Rob announced loudly. Mateo laughed, a huge contrast to the way he had flinched the first time I’d been here and Rob mentioned anything remotely to do with his sexuality. We really had come a long way.
“Rainbow tournament,” Nick pointed out to which Rob sighed and rolled his eyes in a motion even Mateo would be proud of.
“Fine. How about the GB tournament,” he huffed.
“I can live with that,” Ajay responded.
“Are we all happy with our identities then?” Rob asked.
“Perfectly happy,” Mateo smiled, pecking a kiss on Rob’s cheek as he picked up a pool cue and moved to the head of the table to break. I had to admit I loved teaming up with Mateo and I could see Ajay and Nick were enjoying the game too. We all pretended to take it far more seriously than we really were, talking strategy between shots and using the opportunity to get handsy with our partners much to Rob’s chagrin.
Nick and Ajay ended up beating us though we all played pretty well and we managed to make it right down to the eight ball. I thought Mateo might be upset about losing but he seemed perfectly content to sit on the sofa with my arm around him and drink a vodka soda so I figured he didn’t mind too much. Then Rob promptly cleaned up the table and demanded a rematch which we all obliged.
“This might be the last time we’re all here for a game of pool,” Rob mentioned as though the thought had just dawned on him.
Mateo and Nick shared a glance with each other before the same thought must have dawned on them too.
“It’s like an end of an era,” Nick added.
“It’s not like I’ll be gone forever,” Mateo replied. “Jamie and I will be back at some point.”
“Yeah except who knows where Nick will be by then. We might never have another game of pool again in our lives,” Rob said, horror on his face.
“Nah, man. We’ll make sure of it,” Mateo assured his best friend. “Whenever we’re back home we’ll always make sure we make time for a game of pool. Even if it is so you can hand us our asses.”
Rob huffed out a laugh. “Even if you’re so famous by then you won’t remember our names?”
“I can promise you that will never happen. The name forgetting at least,” Mateo replied with a grin.
“I can’t wait to see what you do over there, M,” Rob said. “Just know we’ll be back here rooting for you.”
“Yep. What he said,” Nick added.
I brushed Mateo’s hand, feeling the emotions run through him at his friends’ words.
“Thanks, guys,” Mateo gulped. “I’ll miss you both but this is definitely not the last game of pool we’ll be playing. Okay?”
“Deal,” Nick said, looking at Rob until he nodded and the three of them shook hands, a look passing between the three friends that acknowledged their years together. Ajay watched on with a soft smile on his face and he grinned at me when he caught my eye.
Rob let out a deep sigh. “Maybe I should give it another shot with Kat. I’m feeling all sorts of weird jealousy being the last one left on the shelf. My love life really sucks.”
“Hey, you’re worth it, Rob,” I told him, running my arm over his shoulders and giving him a squeeze. “Never forget you’re worth it.”
“Thanks, man,” Rob replied, squeezing me back.
