Page 90 of Unbelonging
"Sort of."
"What do you mean 'sort of'?"
"Well, I walked in on Debbie watching it Sunday. So I caught the tail end." She held up a hand. "Don't worry. It's a new disk. She wouldn't let me have the old one."
In the end, I told Erika everything. She swore up and down that she'd never tell anyone, and I swore up and down that I'd share any new developments. To be honest, I wasn't exactly sincere, but I liked to think she was. In fact, I was counting on it.
And once I got started, I couldn’t stop. I pulled out my phone and showed her the picture of him sleeping. I held my hand over the lower half, so she couldn’t see all of him.
"But I've already seen him naked," she protested. "Remember? The tape?"
"Why do they still call them tapes?" I said.
"Huh?"
"Everything's digital now. But we still call 'em tapes."
"Who cares?" she said. "Show me the picture."
I gave her a look. "I'm not gonna show you a naked picture of my boyfriend. That's just creepy. Besides, I wouldn't like it if he did it to me."
"God, you're such a stickler." She sat up straighter. "Wait a minute. Did you just call him your boyfriend?"
"Um, well, honestly, I don't know what he is." I grinned. "But I do like him. More than like him, actually."
She looked down at the half-covered picture. "Wow," she said. "Just wow. So he really does look like that?"
I felt myself swallow. "Oh yeah."
"No wonder you don't want to share."
She was right. I didn't.
In the end, we popped in a romantic comedy and had the popcorn with that instead.
Sometime during the closing credits, I remembered the thing about Thanksgiving at my Dad's house. But when I invited Erika to join me, she shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm going skiing with my parents. You could come with us if you wanted."
"I wish," I said. But I couldn’t do that to Josh, and besides, I had my responsibilities here.
She leered at me. "You know what you should do? Invite Lawton."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right."
"I'm serious," she said. "Loretta would freak. It would be so worth it."
"Yeah, but I'm not sure she'd freak in a good way, or in a bad way."
"Either way, she wouldn't be givingyoushit for a change."
I had to admit, Erika had a point. I wouldn't actually do it, but the thought was enough to make me smile. "I wonder if he'd wear a shirt," I said.
Erika grinned. "Let's hope not."
Way too soon, our little party came to an end, and I was helping Erika gather up her things.
"Let me walk you out," I told her as I turned to Chucky. "Stay," I said in my best mock commanding tone. In his basket, Chucky snuffled and rolled over. "Good dog," I said.
Erika laughed. "Uh-oh. You've got it bad."
