Page 88 of The Friend Scheme
“Yeah, for sure.”
“Do you?” I ask.
“I’m the same. It’s home.”
He stops walking in front of a pathway to the beach.
“Want to go for a swim?” he asks.
“I’m guessing you do?”
He nods.
“You know it’s weird that you do this, right?” I say.
“What’s weird?”
“That you like swimming at night.”
“Oh. Yeah, I’m aware.”
“Then why do you do it?”
He looks out at the water, and shrugs. He sort of shrinks into himself a little. I’m surprised. I didn’t think he was self-conscious about anything.
“I don’t know. I know why I want to go swimming with you, though.”
“Why?”
“I want to see you take your shirt off.”
I suppress a laugh.
“I’m serious!” he says. “What’s funny about that?”
“Nothing, I guess. I just…”
“What?”
“This is just so new for me. You’re a guy, and I’m scared of saying the wrong thing, I guess. I know I’m not good at flirting. You’re so good at it, and I’m…”
“Just be yourself, man. You have no idea of how much of a killer you could be if you were confident. You’ve got everything you need.”
Huh. I do like the thought of that.
“Okay, let me give this a shot,” I say.
“Flirt away,” he says.
“Um. I really like your… ears.”
I wanted to say something other than his chest or his biceps. I felt like that’d be too obvious.
He laughs. “What?”
“Yeah. I like your ears. They’re cute. Is that weird?”
“No, it’s not. You’re so cute, you don’t even know.”
