Page 32 of Just My Type of wrong guy

“Dude, relax. Didn’t she say she doesn’t care?” Daniele shoots back like I’m making a mountain out of a molehill.

“She did, Dani. But it’s still annoying.”

“I think you’re putting too much ‘don’t-touch-me’ on this girl, she’s famous, she’s gonna be all over the tabloids.”

I open my eyes and stare at the tablet on the bathroom sink, wondering if she’s my friend or my hater. But the coolness of the vitamin C on my face reminds me to breathe.

“Alex loves singing, Dani. And it bothers me seeing her name on gossip sites because of me… I didn’t want it to be like this. I like being with her, having her around.” I run my hand over my neck and let out a sigh. “I’ve barely hung out with the guys. I say it’s because Rick only talks about you, Gui’s all about Bia, and Thomas… well, Thomas barely talks.” I rest the tableton the second shelf of the dark wooden bathroom cabinet. “But that’s a lie. I just… like being with her.”

I lower my head, wash my face, and let the water wash away the scrub, hoping it might wash away some of the guilt too.

“Stop it. You’re not in love, A.J., you’re just…enchantedby what you can’t have,” Dani warns, but it only makes sense to her and huffs afterward.

“I didn’t say I was in love.” I lift my still-wet face.

“You’re acting like you are. For the last two weeks our calls are all about her, come on.”

“She’s one of my best friends, and she’s leaving in a month, don’t you remember?” I ask, grabbing the skincare towel and gently pressing it against my face.

“I’m your best friend, let’s not confuse things here.” Dani tries to make an expression, but the dark mask covers all her face.

“Even though I don’t look at Alex the way you look at Richard, I never complain when you spend hours talking about him.”

“It’s different.”

“How?”

“He’s my boyfriend, and I’m obsessed with him. You’re not like that. You’re A.J., you sleep with a guy, and the next morning, you’re talking about a girl on the phone with me! You don’t date, you don’t call the next day, you don’t care enough…”

I hold back the urge to roll my eyes like a teenage girl as I put the moisturizer on my face, and just a second later, she takes off the mask and shoots me a dirty look.

“Have you thought about the fact that maybe you and Richard being a couple, Gui having Bia, and Thomas isolating himself more and more has pushed me straight into the arms of my second favorite Brazilian?”

“Alright, you’re lying to me too.” She figures it out when I repeat the excuse I tell everyone. “So… do something to keep her with the band. Talk to her, tell Victor you two are a success, which is truth,” she points out with her finger raised, “only I know what I had to delete and the comments I had to silence these past few months…”

I hold back a laugh, thinking about the nonsense the Vagabonders have posted on our pictures.

“I think you’re right, I’m just too enchanted.” Dani doesn’t respond, she just blinks twice and keeps putting moisturizer on her face. I almost explain that I would never do that, that Alex has her career and her priorities, but the truth is, this conversation has run its course. “And you and Richard, how’s that going?” I try out the Portuguese Alex’s been teaching me over the past months on the road.

My best friend looks at me for a few seconds before she moves and smiles.

“I’m gonna die. I’m literally gonna die if I have to be away from my Big Bear for another two months. Seriously.” She dramatizes, leading me back to her bed. “I did what I could for this tour, gave you guys a career when you didn’t even believe in TikTok, and now… I have to be away from my man for six months?”

“You’re not banned from coming to see us on the tour, Dani,” I remind her, turning off the bathroom light and heading back to the room.

“I know, but I don’t want to keep hiding, pretending, or running away because ‘someone might see us’… I can’t keep acting as if there’s something wrong with what I have with Richard anymore. I don’t want to hide that I love the man I love, A.J.!”

“And what does he think about this?”

“Rick agrees, obviously.” She laughs, raising her eyebrow like I’m crazy. “Now he’ll be flying back and forth to his parents’ house when there’s no show. And since I’ll be turning 23 soon, let’s wait for him to come back and for me to have my birthday to tell everyone. Then…”

The doorbell rings, and I ignore it, motioning with my hand for Dani to continue.

“What really gets to me is that…”

“Anthony, it’s me. Can we?” Alexandra ’s voice, muffled by the door, sneaks into my ears across the room, and I move the chair away.

“I’ll be right back, it’s Alex.”

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