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“Kent,” Kate whispered into my ear. “Kent, I think we should get you home.”
“I don’t need to go home. Gray and I are catching up.”
“Trust me, you’re embarrassing yourself. Let’s get you home.”
“Do you know what’s really embarrassing?”
“This. Right now. This is,” she hissed into my ear.
“Watching me get kicked out of my house and not even having the decency to say goodbye. Lettinghimtake me that night and not doing a goddamn thing when I begged for help. That’s embarrassing.”
Kate dragged me away from the bar as Gray stared at me with bulging eyes.
“Bye,” I shouted, not caring that every eye in the bar was on me and my salsa-coated crotch. Breaking free from the grip Kate had on my wrist, I pointed at my waving hand. “Bye! Bye, Gray! That’s what normal people say when their best friend gets kicked out with sixty dollars to their name, you fucking coward.” I spun around and walked toward the door, slamming it open. I walked toward the car and reached into my pocket, only to realize I had no keys. I had no intention of driving. I wasn’t a monster. I knew I was wasted. I just wanted to crawl into the back seat, tuck myself into the fetal position, and cry myself to sleep.
“Yeah, you’re not driving anywhere,” Kate said.
“Of course, I’m not. I’m drunk.” The ground spun around my feet as I leaned against the car, pressing my forehead into the cool metal. “Fuck. I just wanted tonight to go well. There was a plan and everything.” She put her hand on my shoulder, her fingers kneading into my back. “And the waitress poured salsa on my dick, and my job interview went as bad as it could have gone. Then I insulted your husband, and now you want to take me home and fuck me until I die ‘cause I’m supposed to be your submissive bitch. But I’m not submissive, Kate. I’m a top. Well, I’m versatile, but still. It’s too much. It’s all just too much. I didn’t sign up for any of this.”
“You want to do what now?” Jeff’s voice sounded like it was full of fury, and for a moment, I thought he might punch me. Given my behavior in the bar, I couldn’t say that I blamed him. Still, a fist to the face would have been a terrible end to an already tragic evening, so I choked out another sob.
“Please don’t beat me up, Jedd.” I fell back against the car and drooped down to the pavement, letting out another drunken sob.
“It’s Jeff, actually.”
“Oh hush, you know what he meant.”
“I think it’s safe to say I have no idea what heevermeans. And what’s this job interview he keeps talking about?” Jeff asked.
“I just wanted it to be a good night. I haven’t had a good night in so long, Kate. You know?”
“I don’t,” she said, taking a seat beside me. “I haven’t spoken to you in twenty years.” She slipped her hand into mine. I worried Jeff might attack me for touching his wife, but when I looked up, he was walking toward their car, throwing his hands in the air. “But I know that you’re going through some shit right now.”
Leaning over, I rested my head on her shoulder and closed my eyes. “I haven’t had a friend in a really long time, you know?”
“Sure, Kent. I know.”
“So I guess that kind of makes you my best friend.” I lifted my hand in the air, extending my pinkie. “You want to be my best friend?”
She looped her pinkie around mine and tugged. “You’re a drunken mess, but yeah. Sure. I’ll be your best friend.”
“Cool. I’m glad. Can I tell you a secret? Best friend to best friend. I loved him a long time ago. When me and you were together. I think I kind of used you as a cover. I’m sorry about that, Kate. You didn’t deserve it.”
She leaned closer, knocking her shoulder against mine. “I knew you were gay, dumb-dumb.”
I turned, trying to ask what had given me away, but in my drunken stupor, I just ended up belching in her face.
“Why didn’t you say something?” I said.
She shrugged. “I liked you, Kent. You were always just a really nice kid. I liked listening to you talk about your unhealthy obsession with the Spice Girls and rambling on about Gray. Everyone else at school was so into the church. You weren’t. It was weird, especially with your dad being the pastor, but it was nice to have a normal friend.”
Her declaration would have been sweet enough, but it made no sense. “You jerked me off at the lake, though.”
She shrugged. “I was a repressed teenager. You had a penis. Shit happened. It is what it is.”
I chuckled. “I’m really glad I came tonight. Glad we got to hang out.”
“Yeah. Me too, Kent.”
