Page 65 of The Fake
In the kitchen, I rummage through the junk spot. In the tallest cabinet above the refrigerator. We used to buy chips and cookies and stash them there for late nights, and I’m happy to see it still contains my favorites.
I pull down a bag of Tostitos as he fills two glasses with ice water from the fridge.
Sitting on the counter with my chips and him leaning back against the counter with a glass… it all feels so natural. Since we both have roommates, our time together never feels like this… like it’s just the two of us. And sure, Camila is just down the hall, but right now… right now, it’s just us.
I don’t know what we are or what tonight means to him, and I’m trying not to go there. This… tonight… means everything. I know even as I’m in the moment that it’s going to be a day I never forget.
22
Nathan
“No way,I don’t believe you,” Chloe says. “How long?”
“Above my shoulders. I could get it in a little man bun and everything. God, the guys gave me shit for it.”
“I can’t picture it.” She narrows her gaze. We’re sitting on the bed totally naked talking. Speaking of the guys giving me shit… I’m pretty sure they’d kick me off man island if they knew we’d been doing nothing but talking for the past few hours. Totally naked. My dick stayed hard for the first two, but the poor guy has given up the fight.
“I’ve got some pictures from when it was long.” I walk over to grab my phone out of the front left pocket of my shorts. Her eyes sweep over my body from head to toe and… there he goes… my dick stands back at attention.
Sitting on the bed together with our legs crossed, knees touching, I pull up my photos and scroll back to last spring. I stop on one of me and Gabby and hand it to her.
“Wow.” She looks from the picture to me and back again. “You’ve got a whole thing going on here… and I amherefor it. Why did you cut it?” She holds the phone up. “Do you mind?”
I nod my permission, and she flips through the pictures while I try to figure out how to answer her. I did it so my best friend would date me isn’t exactly the truth, but it isn’t a total lie either. Gabby had all but told our friends she didn’t like my hair, and Gabby represented everything I thought I wanted—sweet, beautiful, and fun.
“It was indirectly Gabby’s idea,” I say. “She made a comment about liking short hair. I miss the long, but I don’t have to steal hair ties from chicks anymore, so there’s that.”
Chloe’s eyes snap to me. “Did you have a thing with Gabby?”
“No.” I shake my head. The sting of rejection is still there. “I did like her for a while, or maybe I just liked the idea of her.” I shrug. “She didn’t feel the same way.”
I wince at my honesty and how it sounds when I say it out loud.
“Her loss.” She puts the phone on the bed and crawls into my lap. I’ve never been so happy to have been rejected. I don’t have feelings for Gabby anymore, not like that, but if Chloe wants to take pity on me and try and prove how happy she is that things didn’t work out with my best friend… well, I’m not about to stop her.
* * *
The next morning, I stand back while Chloe and Camila hug and tear up saying their goodbyes. I look at my phone while they talk, trying to let them have their time. I glance up as Camila looks over Chloe’s shoulder. She smiles and waves me over.
“I’m so glad you came. Thanks for looking out for my girl. You’ve got my number now if I need to come down and cut a bitch.”
“Easy, killer.” Chloe laughs and hugs her again. “But thank you. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Chlo.”
The ride back starts out cheerful. Loud, very bad singing, on my part, to songs on the radio. Chloe knows exactly zero song lyrics despite claiming to know them all. I don’t care, though. Off-key, wrong words, her voice makes my chest feel like it’s cracked wide open.
About seventy miles out, the singing stops and Chloe goes to staring out the window. Pressing and talking about feelings isn’t really my bag, but I know I have to say something.
“Missing California already?”
“Yeah and thinking about how crazy our schedules are going to be now with your games starting soon.”
For the next seven months, basketball runs my life. I look forward to it and dread it equally every year. Sounds like she does, too, but it seems like she’s in more than alife’s about to get crazyfunk.
“Worried about seeing your roommates again?”
“No, not really. I mean, we still have a long way to go, but I’m not worried they tossed my stuff out into the hallway while I was gone. They’re probably not waiting by the door anxious for my arrival either.” She shrugs. “Cam thinks I should come clean with them. Tell them that you and I aren’t really together. Except…” Hands resting in her lap, she twists the rose gold ring on her thumb. “Now I don’t know what we are.”
