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There’s a slightly awkward air as we all move into our tiny living room. Andreas takes the armchair, so I join Colby on the sofa. It’s small but just big enough to accommodate the two of us comfortably.
The trouble is, despite all the time we’ve spent together recently, it suddenly feels like we’re interviewing Andreas for a job. Not that I’ve ever done that, but the way we’re facing each other and the tension we’re all carrying makes it strange.
“Drinks!” I blurt out. “Shall I—I mean—Andreas, what would you like?”
He smiles warmly at me, and some of the tension fades away. “Lemonade would be great,” he says.
“Me, too,” Colby squeaks.
That’s fine, but I’m fixing myself a damned mimosa.
I hurry back from the kitchen to find the other two stiltedly discussing the traffic on Andreas’s drive over. I hate this. We’ve all been having such a wonderful time together, but something about this evening has made it go all off-kilter.
What am I expecting to happen here? That he’s going to ‘break up’ with us? None of us are dating, and I was half expecting this to be a short-term thing anyway while he tried on his sugar Daddy legs for size. I shouldn’t be anxious if this is goodbye.
But I am.
Once everyone has their drinks and I’m settled back on the couch, I decide to stop dancing around the issue. “Is everything okay?” I ask Andreas bluntly. “You’re acting weird.”
“Jay!” Colby gasps, but I keep my eyes on Andreas.
He looks sheepish but he also grins and shakes his head. “Yeah, you’re right. I wanted to talk to you boys about something, but I’m aware it’s a big thing that’ll be kind of out of the blue.” He sighs and rubs his hands together. “Okay, it might help if I tell you a bit about my friends back in London.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You haven’t mentioned any of them before,” I comment.
“That’s because I haven’t spoken to most of them in over a decade,” he retorts sadly. “Well, you know. There are always Facebook posts and happy birthdays and all that. But we haven’t beenfriendsin a long time.”
I glance at Colby. We share a look before Colby—who’s closer—reaches out and rests his hand on Andreas’s knee. “I’m sorry.”
He nods. “Me, too,” he says with a rueful chuckle. He takes a minute to look at the Jurassic Galaxy figures, apparently collecting his thoughts. “They were all people I knew from school and uni, with a few people’s other halves folded into the mix. It was a great bunch. But…things change when you’re all sharing four-bedroom houses and barely making it through to the next payday…then one of you becomes an overnight millionaire.”
I blink. Obviously, he told us the Snippet story early on to explain why he was more than able to spoil us the way he does. But I never thought about what his life was like before.
“Oh, wow,” Colby says, glancing at me.
He’s probably wondering what that situation would do to us, which is silly. Because if I got rich, I’d just share it all with him anyway. But that’s not the same as having a big friendship group, and I know it.
“It was fun to start with,” Andreas says wistfully. “Ilovedbeing able to pay for dinner or holiday accommodation or whatever. But then…it was as if they came to expect it. Like I was just their lucky pot of gold. I was never allowed to be sad or stressed because I was rich. I always had to host because I had my own place, and it was the nicest, but they never asked how Iwasanymore. Theycertainly never stayed around to clean up after the parties that were happening every single weekend.” He puffs his cheeks out and looks back at us. “I know, right? Poor little rich boy.”
I shake my head fervently. “They were using you.”
He winces. “I genuinely don’t think they meant to. But I was suddenly living a completely different kind of life to them, and the power imbalance was toxic. The only thing I can compare it to was when people in the group started getting married and especially when they started having kids. A gulf appeared between those guys and the ones who were still single. Not that having kids is toxic, of course. But suddenly, they didn’t know how to relate to each other so much. I think maybe at that point, some of them started to realize why I wasn’t around anymore, but by then, it was too late.
“When my company offered me the chance to move to Australia, I jumped at it. I saw the opportunity to start fresh with new friends, and I thought it would be perfect. Except the thing is, it’s kind of hard to make friends in your thirties. A lot of people already have their people.”
“But what about your sporty friends?” Colby asks sweetly.
Andreas nods. “Oh, yeah. There are some great guys there. But I’ve never been to a single one of their houses. Never met up other than to go for drinks after a session. It’s the same with work. I’ve got a lot of people I’mfriendlywith, but I haven’t hadfriendsfor years.” He takes a breath and looks at the two of us. “Until I met you both.”
Something unfamiliar and fragile blossoms in my chest. I can’t think of anything snarky to deflect the raw emotion, so for once, I don’t try.
“Oh, wow,” I say simply. I don’t know why, really, but I feel proud. Honored.
Andreas continues. “I feel like I’ve gotten to know you two better in the past few weeks than I have anyone else during the entire time I’ve lived in Australia. I’m telling you all this because I’m about to propose something absolutely mental, and I wanted you to understand the reasoning behind it so you don’t think I’ve actually lost my mind.”
I laugh. Partly it’s nerves and feeling overwhelmed by Andreas’s kind words about us. But part of it is excitement. I like it when he suggests crazy ideas. Usually, they’re awesome.
“Come on, girl,” I cry, my heart pounding. “Don’t keep us in suspense like this!”
