Page 4 of Hitting the Gap

“Then what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” There was no way she was about to admit to Gonzo that the idea of eating the greasy burger made her feel sick. He wouldn’t understand. She looked up to find her friend watching her closely.

Gonzo’s eyes narrowed. “Please tell me you haven’t become a vegetarian or something.”

“No, no, nothing like that. I’m just not very hungry.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “What am I supposed to do, Gonz? I’ve got nowhere to go.”

“Move in with me.”

Bailey’s head snapped back. “What?”

“Just move in with me,” he said, then picked up his burger and took a large bite.

How could he throw something like that out so casually and then just stuff his face? He couldn’t be serious. “Yeah, right,” she mumbled.

He wiped the edge of his mouth with his napkin, then took a sip of his drink. “Why not?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Because I can’t,” she scoffed.

“Why? You need a place to live. I’ve got a spare bedroom. It’s not like you have a ton of options at the moment, Bay.”

“Yeah, but, come on, we’ve barely seen each other in the past ten years. I can’t just move in with you.”

“Bailey don’t be stupid. I’ve known you since I was five years old. The shit that matters doesn’t change.”

If only that were true. The girl he knew would never have allowed a man to treat her like she let Brad. She barely recognized herself. “People change, Gonz.”

“Ok, how’ve you changed?”

“I don’t know, I just have.” The man sitting across from her barely resembled the boy she remembered. Sure, he’d always been confident, maybe even a little cocky, but now everything about him screamed he could back it up. Whereas all her confidence had disappeared the moment she’d found out her ex-boyfriend had cheated on her with her best friend. Her petite, perfect size zero best friend. The one she’d stupidly convinced her fiancé to hire as his assistant. God, she’d been so stupid. No, the Bailey he knew was gone.

“Did you become a serial killer?” Gonzo asked as he took another bite of his burger.

“Of course not,” she scoffed.

“You develop one of those weird home shopping network addictions and that entire U-Haul is filled with porcelain dolls?” He tilted his head toward the U-Haul.

“No, smart-ass.” She rolled her eyes. “But people change, Gonzo.”

“Jesus, Bailey. You clogged my toilet in high school.”

“Ugh.” She gasped. “Rude. You don’t need to bring that up.”

He laughed. “Bay, seriously, I gave you my favorite sweats when you got your period at school. I’ve held your freaking hair while you puked. You’ve snotted all over me when you cried over some loser.”

“Hey, I don’t think you can talk about my bodily functions, dude. I touched your ‘special sock’.” She shuddered. She could still picture the mortified look on Gonzo’s face when she’d picked up the offending sock off the side of the bed so she could sit down. Why boys used socks to masturbate she’d never understand.

“Exactly,” Gonzo agreed. “Kids are fucking gross and we remained friends through all of that. I’m pretty sure we can handle living together now.”

“Gonzo, come on. I follow you on social media. I know how active your social life is. There’s no way you want me cramping your style.”

“Bay, I have four bedrooms. You being in one of them is not going to cramp shit. You can be my wingman and get rid of anyone who clings on and doesn’t want to leave.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Yep, but you love me anyway.” He tossed a fry in his mouth and winked when he caught it.

“Mmm, sometimes I wonder why,” she muttered.

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