Page 29 of The Goat in the Bedroom
Flynn rolled his eyes and looked like he wanted to smack me upside the head. “Is this what I was like before I let Tempest into my heart? Good god. Or maybe the last thing Artie needs is to make a life-changing decision without knowing how you feel about her.”
Before I could respond to that terrifying suggestion, my phone buzzed with a text.
SEAN
Hope you guys are settling in well. Ren and I are planning a proper LA night out this weekend. You in?
Saved by the perfect distraction bell. I stared at the message, remembering what Liam and George had told us about their cruise besties Sean and Ren who'd help us navigate LA's queer scene.
Definitely. Mind if we invite a couple friends? Parker and Freddie are new to LA too.
The more the merrier. Saturday night, Abbey Cat in West Hollywood. 9 p.m.
Flynn read the messages over my shoulder. “Good. You need to get out and explore the city. Make some friends. Kiss your roommate. See where it goes.”
I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was thinking about how excited Artie would be that we'd go out like she'd been telling me we needed to do. “Liam and George mentioned Sean... wait, what? Fuck you. Good try.”
And now I was thinking about kissing Artie. Fuck me.
We both turned our mics back on and headed into the locker room. Sloane was right there, staring at us like she'd heard everything. Or was mad that she hadn't. Crap.
I was probably supposed to invite the camera crew to the night out. Next time. I'd invite them to the next thing.
When I got home that evening, I found Artie in the kitchen making what appeared to be enough stir-fry to feed a small army. She looked up when I walked in, and the smile she gave me made my very core go tight and warm.
“Rough practice?” she asked, taking in my grass-stained appearance.
“You could say that.”
“Well, I made comfort food. And I may have gotten slightly carried away with the portion sizes.”
“This is definitely why I asked you to move in with me,” I said, accepting the plate she handed me. “Your ability to anticipate my emotional needs through food.”
“That and my sparkling personality.”
“Sparkling like a rainbow unicorn fart.”
We settled at the kitchen island, and I watched her talk about her day, practice highlights, team dynamics, a funny story about one of her teammates trying to teach the others how to balance a rugby ball on their noses. She was animated and happy, completely settled into her LA life.
Which made the thought of her leaving even worse. This ability she had to uproot her whole life and then fit in anywhere so easily was astonishing and I hated myself for wishing it wasn't so.
Maybe if I showed her how great life here could be, she wouldn't leave me.
“Remember when Liam and George said they had friends out here to show us around?”
She shoved a giant bite of veggies and noodles into her mouth and nodded.
“Sean texted me today about going out Saturday night. You in, right?”
“Absolutely.” She gave a little double handed raise the roof dance move. “I could use a night that doesn't involve protein shakes and ice baths.”
“We could invite Parker and Freddie too. You know, bring the whole Colorado rainbow mafia with us.”
“Perfect. I haven't seen Parker since graduation, and Freddie texted me yesterday about wanting to explore the queer scene here.”
The casual way she said it, like this was just friends hanging out, like there wasn't any undercurrent of anything more complicated, reminded me that whatever I was feeling, she was completely oblivious to it. And that she didn't have the same feelings even a little bit.
I wasn't going to fuck up our friendship.
