Page 23 of Something Good
“I don’t think that’s true. He was pretty damn insistent about being the one to take you home last night. I tried telling him no, but he wasn’t having it.”
“Yeah?”
“He was a dick about it, and no matter how many times I refused to give him the keys, he wouldn’t back down. Boy was determined.”
Warmth spread through my chest at his words. I had a goddamned crush on my former best friend, who acted like he hated me but might, maybe, have a little thing for me too.
Where did that leave us? What did I want to do about it? He was like a bruise I couldn’t quit poking at. It hurt every damn time, but it never stopped me from doing it again. Just as I knew I should leave the whole thing behind me, I also knew I was going to keep poking that damn bruise. Fuck the consequences.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, my drunk ass puked in his driveway, so at least you didn’t have to deal with that.”
He chuckled. “Did you puke on him or just his driveway?”
“Are you hoping for one over the other?”
He held his first finger and thumb close together. “Maybe just a little bit.”
I shook my head, laughing. “I’m not totally certain, but I think it was just his driveway. Though he did make me leave my shoes outside all night.”
“No shit?”
“For real.” I tossed back the rest of my lukewarm coffee. “How did you end up getting home?”
“Got a ride with Zach Jacobs.”
“I don’t remember who that is. Have I met him?”
“I’m not sure if you have. His family moved to town last fall, so he wouldn’t have been here when you lived here before.” He shrugged and stared intently at his cup, which I was pretty sure was empty like mine. “We’ve never really hung out, but we got to talking, and he gave me a ride.”
I thought I spotted a blush creeping up his cheeks, but that could have been from the heat. Speaking of which, I felt atrickle of sweat run down my spine at the same time that I was overtaken by a deep yawn.
“Man, I think I’m gonna head home. I’m fucking exhausted.”
“Yeah, all right. I don’t work tomorrow. You wanna hang?”
“Yeah, I’m off. Does that mean we’re good, then?”
“Yeah, man. We’re good.”
Relief swept through me at the knowledge that I hadn’t fucked up my friendship with him. I wanted to say thank you. For looking out for me last night. For accepting me and my sexuality today. But it felt like a little much, so I left it.
“Text me tomorrow?”
“I gotchu.”
11
SAMMY
I shiveredas I watched the sun turn from gold to orange to red as it sank below the tree line. The long angle of the rays cast the forest in an amber glow, softening the edges of leaves, moss, and bark, giving the woods an ethereal feel. The golden hour was my favorite time in the forest. I could almost believe that maybe life wouldn’t kick me in the ass, that maybe hope was a real thing, even for a guy like me.
Almost. Maybe.
What a bunch of bullshit. None of that was for me. It never had been. Never would be.
I couldn’t believe that after all these years of scraping by, of trying to stay one step ahead of my mom’s schemes, of looking out for Jimmy and trying to figure out how to get him out of this shit hole, my life had come to this.
We were about to be homeless.
