Rather than stay or speak and make things even more awkward, I headed to the bathroom with Grey. I imagined that I could feel Kellan’s and Josh’s eyes on me the entire walk there, and I hated to think that this would be the reason they gave me not to see Grey again. The night had been flawless until now.
We entered the restroom together, and Grey immediately posted up at one of the urinals, looking back at me expectantly.
Not tonight.I went straight for a stall, locking it behind me. We were the only two in the restroom, and I was just buzzed enough to worry that I would make a mistake. What mistake that could be, I didn’t know, but I was terrified of proving Kellan and Josh right.
We can be friends,I thought.We can be friends. We can be friends.Over and over, I repeated those four words, hoping they would get lodged in my psyche.
I took longer than necessary to give Grey enough time to finish up and go back out with everyone else. But when I left the stall, I found Grey standing at the sink, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair hung by the sides of his face in curtains, waiting to be tucked behind his ears.
“Is everything okay?” I stepped up next to him to wash my hands.
Grey chuckled and looked at me in the mirror. “Everything is clearly fine,” he said in a tone that verified everything wasnotfine.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Just relationship stuff,” Grey said. “Carina didn’t want to come tonight, and she says I’ve been ignoring her.”
“But you haven’t,” I said, confused. “You’ve only talked to her and Kellan all night.”
Grey shrugged. “Reality isn’t always the reality in relationships.”
Whatever the fuck that meant. Still, I felt as though I should comfort him. I dried my hands before reaching out to touch his shoulder—gently. Like a friend would. “It’s okay. Maybe she’s upset right now, but she’ll get over it.”
“I just want to hang out with people without my girlfriend having to ‘get over’ things all the time. It’s exhausting.”
ThatI didn’t have an answer for, and anything I could say felt too much like me manipulating the situation to get what I wanted from Grey. So I settled with playing it safe. “Maybe just talk to her. That’s how relationships are supposed to work, right? I mean, look at us. We were feeling weird about life, and now everything is fine.”
“Right.” Grey’s voice was sour. “Everything is fine.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” I couldn’t keep the frustration from seeping into my voice.This is what he wanted, isn’t it? Thisis why he cornered me in the cafe and convinced me to agree to this ill-advised arrangement, right?
“Nothing.” Grey shook his head. “Everythingisfine.” He grabbed me by the shoulders. “Thanks again for inviting us.” He turned and left the restroom.
I gave him a few seconds’ head start before leaving as well. By the time I got outside, he had left with Carina and Dae. That was fine. I didn’t want to process our conversation in front of everyone anyway. I approached Josh and Kellan, who were waiting by the shoe drop-off.
“Everything good?” Kellan asked.
I beamed. “Actually, everything is great. Still don’t think we can be friends?”
“I hate to admit it,” Josh said as I began untying my bowling shoes. “But you just might be able to pull it off.”
A warmth spread in my chest. I hadn’t let myself think about the future beyond this night. I’d been so worried that things would explode on me. But now that it had gone so well, I allowed the idea of Grey and me as friends to really take root. Yeah, he’d been weird in the bathroom, but that was his thing and had nothing to do with me.
“Told you so.” I laughed.
“Whatever,” Kellan said. “How come you didn’t tell us his friend was hot?”
“Uh, what?” I set my shoes on the counter. “You think Dae is—”
“Well, Josh seemed pretty into him,” Kellan said.
“Shutup.” Josh’s ears turned pink. “We just talked about school.”
“Riiight.” Kellan crossed his arms over his chest, a mischievous gleam in his eye as he peered at Josh.
“Wait,” I said, the realization dawning on me. “Are you into guys?”
Josh’s ears went from pink to red. “I’m not into many people, okay,” he said. “But sometimes, guys and girls can pique my interest equally.”
