Page 52 of Here In Your Arms

“Don’t want to share?” I ask. “You don’t have to answer, just curious.”

“It’s good. You’re sharing, so the least I can do is reciprocate. I don’t know if either of them would. I hadn’t thought about it until seeing Charli go through it. She seems so happy, so who am I to say a relationship has to be just one person?”

I nod my head. “I can see that logic.”

“I’ve definitely been a bit of an ass overall, especially to her. So, it won’t be an easy thing to approach her with if I ever do.”

“You won’t know until you try.”

“Fair point,” Graham says, holding his drink up.

I smile as we clink our glasses together, appreciating the raw conversation. Maybe I should spend time with him a bit more. He seems like he’s a good friend even if he says he’s out of practice. We sit in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, watching the crowd and drinking down our second round more slowly than the first.

“Does this mean we’re friends now?”

Graham laughs. “You tell me, boss man.”

“Not your boss.”

“Technicalities.”

“You’re exhausting.”

“Yeah, we’re friends,” he relents with a grin.

“That means this round is on you.”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s the new friend rule. Whoever admits to friendship first pays for drinks.”

“That’s not a thing!” he protests.

“I’m sure it is, just go with it,” I tell him before holding up my glass for a second cheers just to see what he’ll do.

“You know, there are rules to a cheers, and while this counts, it’s a shitty cheers,” he says with a smile, clinking his glass against mine.

“We already did a cheers. And wait, you have rules for a cheers?”

“You don’t?”

“Alright, explain this to me. I need to avoid making a faux pas in the future,” I say, chuckling a little.

Turns out there’s more to cheers than I initially thought. Graham and his siblings have a list of rules that he outlines for me while I laugh along. The story of how they determined the rules of cheers is just as amusing as the rules themselves. I’ll have to bring this information back to Wes and Rory; they’ll enjoy it.

I pause at that thought, realizing how easily Rory has slipped into the small list of ‘people I want to share things with’. Even though I’m still not quite sure how we’ll all fit, it’s confirmation for me that we’ll figure it out. I’m invested in this, and I plan to see it through.

Chapter 19

Rory

When I get out of bed, I can tell the day is going to be a little difficult, but I’m optimistic. I don’t really have any plans, so while I’m feeling somewhat energized, I get my apartment clean. Thankfully, it doesn’t take much. Even with scrubbing the bathroom, the place is presentable in about an hour. I’m sweaty and gross by the end, and I should take a shower, but I just cleaned the damn shower and now I don’t want to get it dirty. My motivation is quickly flagging as well.

My phone chimes with texts, and I check our group chat. Kyle, Wes, and I have been texting mostly non-stop since we started seeing each other. Some days are slower if they’re working or if I’m having a rough evening, but I don’t think there’s been a day where we don’t talk. It’s making me feel giddy and hopeful, despite the text messages from Nathan that don’t seem to stop. It’s been a few days since he sent that first one, and he sends at least one daily. While I’d like to think it’s not wearing at me, I know it is. After a quick message with them to say good morning, I decide my energy levels are going to precarious today, so I run through the shower, even though I just cleaned it.

When I pick up my phone after dressing again, I see that Wes and Kyle replied. Sounds like Kyle is wrapped up in some home improvement shit, but Wes is borderline begging for my time. How can I refuse that sweet ginger?

Me: Whes! Did you want to hang out?

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