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“If you want my opinion, he’s going to dump her,” Leo says calmly. “I’m sure she learned about the tequila shot.”
The guys start to stifle a laugh and I frown.
“A shot, really?” asks my brother. “This girl has ears everywhere.”
“You’re a dick, you know that?” I say.
Harriet arrives in the living room following Nolan. His hair drenched, he has put on gray joggers and a white T-shirt that goes up slightly on one of his hips. As if he dressed quickly when he got out of the shower. My eyes stumble for a second on the protruding skin then slide on their own towards his joggers.
I imagine he still hasnothingunderneath.
My cheeks burn, I swallow.
“You are busting my balls, Harriet.”
Nolan’s deep voice is low, annoyed. He doesn’t even pay attention to us and walks quickly towards the door.
“Do you think it’s normal that I learn the information from one of my friends?”
“It’s a shot, damn it! A shot for a stupid game!”
I catch the guys holding back their laughter and I bite my lip.
“You know very well what it does to me to learn that,” she says in a slightly softer voice.
Finally realizing that they are not alone in this apartment, they exchange a few words in low voices.
“Nolan, I care about you. I know I’m jealous and sometimes I overreact, but I don’t like learning things like that after the fact. It makes me look like an idiot.”
Nolan turns his head towards us, my gaze meets his and he inhales for a moment. He grabs his girlfriend’s hand without taking his eyes off me and gently pulls her towards the exit. He closes the front door behind them, preventing us from hearing the rest of their discussion.
“If you want my opinion, he’s not going to leave her,” continues my brother. “He’s beginning to get attached to her and even if she has a strong character, he likes it!”
“You think he likes crazy girls?” asks Leo.
“Yes, because they titillate him,” says my brother.
“Everyone likes to be titillated,” answers Leo.
Leo raises his eyebrows in a suggestive pose, and I throw the cushion in his face.
“Thank you for putting that image in my head, you are disgusting,” I say.
“I’m a man, Scar.”
“Who reacts to the term titillate. How long has it been since you had sex, exactly?” I ask.
My brother bursts out laughing, and he high fives me like I’ve just made the funniest joke in the world. Leo smiles and gives me the middle finger. Nolan slams the door and I jump. We all turn to him. He doesn’t look at us as he runs a hand through hishair and slumps into one of the still available seats in the living room.
“I just dumped Harriet,” he says dully. “And before you ask anything, I don’ want to talk about it.”
He keeps his eyes glued to the TV screen, looking pained. I bite my lip and link my fingers together to keep my hands from messing with my hair. He is sad, it shows in the wrinkle on his forehead and the pout on his mouth. I want to hug him and to comfort him, as I was able to do with my brother, sometimes. But I do nothing. I don’t have the right to do that. I can’t do that. Leo gets on his feet, leaves the living room to go into the kitchen and comes back a few seconds later with four beers.
“I’m sorry, man.”
He puts a hand on the back of his friend’s neck, which he gently presses and hands him a bottle. Nolan grabs it, nodding his head, smiling a little tightly, and deep inside me my heart sinks. He doesn’t give me a single look. If I secretly hoped that one day he would leave Harriet for me, the harsh reality that he didn’t is staring me in the face.
The kiss we shared was a mistake.
