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“Harmony’s cool. We hung out for a little bit.” He shrugged as he looked over my shoulder at my screen. “I like this shot.”
I closed my laptop and shot daggers through my eyes. “What gives, Parker? We’re supposed to be on tour, with the band, and you’re hooking up with random girls?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we didn’t hook up.” He slid into the booth on the other side. “We hung out at the beach.”
“Where the fuck is there a beach around here?”
“It’s a couple hours away, off the highway.” He smiled, shrugging again. “It was kinda nice, to get away and do something different. To be around someone who appreciated me for a change.”
In his typical Andrew fashion, he hadn’t said that he was talking about our relationship, but I knew. “If you got something to say to me, Andrew, spit it out.”
“I just wanna know what business is it of yours? Why do you care who I spend my free time with?”
“I don’t care.” I sniffed. “It’s just irresponsible to go gallivanting with some road ho when you have a job to do here.”
“Road ho? That’s low, even for you.” I narrowed my eyes. “And anyway, I did my job,” he shot. “The Leroys got more clicks on social media posts than they ever have before, and the place was packed today. But judging from the photo you stopped on, you haven’t done your job completely. Maybe worry about that.”
“Did the band even know you were leaving? Did you at least tell them that?”
“Yeah, Yasmine gave me the go-ahead. With her blessing, unlike some people. Again, I don’t know what my free time has to do with you.” Andrew stood up. “Matter of fact, I think we’re done here.”
“Guess so,” I shot back. “See you later.”
“Oh, that you will. Considering we’re on tour together.”
I grit my teeth.
“I don’t understand why you’re with her.”
We had stopped in the mall at this nicknacks store. Andrew needed a gag gift for his dorm building White Elephant gift swap, and I was along for the ride. As I grumbled about his latest “girlfriend,” he turned to me with a snow globe in his hands, eyebrows raised.
I blushed and lowered my voice a notch. “You don’t even seem to like her.”
“She’s great.” He put the snow globe down to trace the flowers on a necklace. He picked it up, turned it over his long, gentle fingers. I watched his thumb dip into each ridge of the flower petals, circling. My breath got trapped in my chest as I watched. I imagined those long, gentle fingers dipping into me in the same way and had to squeeze my legs against the budding desire in me.
“She’s open, and honest, and she likes me,” he continues. “We have an understanding—we’re both sophomores in college and just trying to have fun. It’s easy.”
“Easy shouldn’t be a qualification for a relationship. Relationships take work.”
“And?”
“Easy is a shallow reason to want to be with someone. There’s no depth to it.”
“Funny, coming from you.”
It was my turn to raise my eyebrows at him. He returned my look with a frown of his own.
“Ace, come on. Most of your relationships are only about doing what is traditional. You date because you know it’s what you’re expected to do. You’re just going through the motions but your heart’s not in it. You haven’t truly made a connection with any one guy since Dante got sick. How is that any less shallow than being with someone because it’s fun? Maybe I want to be with someone who’s easy to be around. It’d be a welcome change.”
His words hit my chest like hot tar. Though Andrew often said things without saying them, his message was clearly about our friendship. I reviewed our last several interactions in my mind and grimaced. I couldn’t remember giving him a single compliment or word of gratitude for being my rock through everything.
“Minnie.” I tried again. “Andrew. You’re right. I’ve been unkind lately, especially in light of Dante being sick.” I cleared my throat once, twice, fighting the impending tears that always seemed at the ready these days. Andrew, watchful as ever, looked at me with soft eyes. “Anyway, you don’t deserve that. I’m blessed to call you my friend, and I appreciate you being a part of my life. What can I do to make it up to you?”
“You can buy me a sandwich.” Though he grumbled, he pressed his lips between his teeth to keep from smiling. I tried to ignore the beeping from my watch as Andrew wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I buried my nose deep into the soft muscle, comforted by the body that was almost as familiar as my own. The woodsmoke smell that characterized Andrew invaded all of my senses until there was nothing left but him. My heart pounded frantically at such close contact and my watch, snitch that it is, beeped again. Take a breath.
“Forgiven?” I asked.
“Always,” he said.
