Page 74 of Highball Rush
I rolled the paint on the wall, stalling for time. Damn it, I didn’t want to talk about this. But I also wanted to know. I was flying blind, and I hated that more than I hated talking about shit. Even feelings.
“She’s good.” I set the roller on the edge of the tray and cleared my throat. “Things are, you know… not as pretend anymore.”
Everyone stopped painting and looked at me.
“Shut your fucking faces,” I snapped. “It’s not a big deal.”
Bowie grinned. “Well, holy shit. The final Bodine bites the dust.”
“It ain’t all that,” I said. “She’s only been back a few weeks and I don’t know how long she’s staying.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t just any girl,” he said. “Y’all were friends before, and it doesn’t seem like thirteen years did much to change that.”
I grunted my agreement.
Jameson climbed down the ladder. “It’s pretty cool, Gibs.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, but I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Weren’t you the one giving George relationship advice when he got in a fight with June that one time?” Jonah asked.
“That’s different.”
“Why?” Jonah asked, sounding amused.
“Because it wasn’t me.”
Jameson handed me a bottle of water, then passed a beer to everyone else. Apparently it was break time. They got comfortable—sitting on stools or the floor—and cracked open their beers while I took a sip of water. Jameson ripped open a package of cookies.
“I like her, okay?” I said, finally. “I like her a lot. I might even… shit. But how the hell do you know?”
“How do you know?” Bowie asked, repeating my question. “You can’t stop thinking about her.”
“You want to be with her all the time,” Jameson added. “And you’d do just about anything to keep her.”
Devlin sat on a stool and rested his elbows on his knees. “She makes you feel alive.”
“Yep,” Jonah said. “And her being happy makes you happy.”
I took another drink. “Okay, if all that’s true, then what?”
“Then you date her,” Devlin said. “Spend time with her and see where it goes.”
“Basically what you’re already doing,” Bowie said. “Have you had the talk?”
“What talk?”
“If you don’t know, you probably haven’t,” Bowie said. “The talk about where things stand. If you’re officially a couple.”
“Girls like to put a label on it,” Jameson said.
“Jameson’s very sensitive, so he needed a label on it before Leah Mae did,” Bowie said with a smirk.
Jameson glared at him. “Gee, Bow, how many decades did it take before you finally told Cass you were in love with her?”
“It was complicated,” Bowie said.
“Don’t listen to this guy,” Jameson said, gesturing at Bowie. “Take it from me, if you see an opportunity, you gotta take it.”
