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I sighed. “Jess wants to talk to you,” I told him, handing over the phone.
“Matty,” she called into the line.
I got a little jealous. I’d just kissed the shit out of her, and she didn’t sound like that when she talked to me.
I crossed my arms and glared. Seconds later, she made a rude sound. “Oh my God, I didn’t strip in the middle of campus.”
Smirking, I cupped my hand around my mouth to yell, “Give her hell, P.”
“I pulled it off underneath the hoodie,” she explained, exasperated. “You’re both ridiculous.”
Prism said something that made her look at me. “You haven’t been to practice in four days?”
I grabbed the cell from my girl. “Tattletale,” I said into the line.
“If you miss any more, Coach is going to bench you at the next meet. It’s one of our last ones for the season.”
There was an anxious undertone to his words. I’d been focused on Jess almost twenty-four-seven the past few days, and I hadn’t checked in with him. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he needed me too.
Lying to your girl. Being a bad friend.
“I won’t miss any of the meets we have left.” I assured him. Then, “You doing okay, P?”
“I’m fine.” He straight lied.
“Bro code.” I reminded.
He sighed. “Fuck you.”
“You know I had to do it.”
Evoking bro code meant he couldn’t give me some bullshit answer. Bro code was sacred, a pact we’d made a long time ago to be truthful and loyal to each other no matter what. I didn’t evoke it very often now that we were older, but sometimes it had to be done. When we were younger, it was the only way to get a truthful answer out of him. But like I said, I’d been a little preoccupied the past few days, and now I needed to make sure I didn’t miss something.
He was quiet on the line, and I waited him out.
Eventually, he sighed. “It’s been a little loud lately.”
He’s struggling. I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “The chaos has been real.” I agreed, flicking a glance at Jess who was quietly watching me. “I’ll meet you at the gym.”
“You don’t have to,” he said, voice quiet. But there was relief there too.
“I want to,” I said truthfully, skipping the joke I could have made.
A hint of timidity came through in his next words. “Can we swim before we hit the weights?”
It was good I’d pulled out bro code. “Bro, sure.” I agreed. “See you at the pool. And P?”
“Yeah?”
“Wear that little Speedo I like.”
He laughed. “Fuck you.”
A joke was needed after all.
“I love you, bro!” I yelled into the line, and he hung up.
Smiling, I tucked the phone back into my pocket.
