“Me? You keep breaking all my shit! It’s not like I want you closer to me or something.”
“I’m so sure! I bet you’dloveto torture me by sharing a bed.”
“Sounds to me like you wanna, Freckles.”
“Please get over yourself.”
“You first.”
We separated in a huff, and I promised myself a long stay at Miraval in the off-season to recuperate from the aggression this man awoke in me.
Now, the only option is the room directly next to his master suite.
Indi’s wheezy complaining snaps me back into the present. “Oh, God. I can’t do this anymore.”
My best girlfriend props her feet up on either side of the moving belt and hits the emergency stop button. When the machine powers down, she dismounts and doubles over, gasping through every breath. “This trip to Italy ruined me,” she says through a pant, shaking her head. “Nothing…in these veins…except arrabbiata. No strength…left, muscles…replaced with…spaghetti cacio e pepe.”
I lower the speed, but she holds up a hand.
“Go on without me.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fine.”
“Thanks, I have a lot on my mind and?—”
She interrupts before I finish. “Awww, you miss Wade. I knew you two would be good together.”
“Uh-huh.” My nostrils flare in disbelief. “Sorry, are you the same Indi who insulted my boyfriend when we announced we were dating?”
My boyfriend?
Oh, no.
“I was shocked, okay? It’s weird thinking about Wade in that way. He’s like” —she waves a hand around seeking the words— “that dog on Instagram who’s called ‘a humper’, but he’s not ashamed about it. I know he’s a good guy, but you’re my best friend. I wasn’t gonna stand by and watch you get hurt again.”
He can’t hurt me. We’d have to like each other first.
Water lines Indi’s lower lids with the threat of falling. A lump swells in my throat. She better quit. We can’t be crying at the gym.
“And then I saw this.” She pulls up a screenshot on her phone and zooms in on an image from our short interview-date-thing at Cafe Jardín. Chin rested in his palm; Wade’s dreamy gaze isfixed on my side profile as I speak to the waitstaff. “He’s crazy in love with you.”
Pinpricks sprawl across every inch of my exposed skin. She couldn’t be more wrong.
“Gabe?” Indi halts my incoming dissociation, using the safety rail to straighten and bore into my soul with her giant, round eyes. “Are you in love with him?”
Absolutelynot. But I can’t say that. And I can’t say yes, either. What if it comes true?
I play it cool. “Pfft. Please. It’s not that serious. We’re having fun getting to know each other better.”
At least the latter half of the statement is true. Wade Boehner is not at all who I thought he’d be.
“Sure. You can deny it all you want, but I have all the evidence I need, my little lovesick friend.”
I lose my pace when I fake-gag, sending me flying off my machine.
She turns green and grasps her stomach. “Ugh, don’t do that. I’m gonna be sick.”