Page 5 of Otter Heart
“You know I’m joking, Booboo.” I took a step back, my hand still on his shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too,” he replied. “I thought you would’ve made another trip down before now. But I’m glad you’re here.”
Another set of footsteps crunched through the gravel.
“James!” I called, pulling him into a hug as soon as hereached me. “How are you, baby?”
“You know I’m good,” he laughed, his face bright as always. Nothing ever got that guy down.
“Still putting up with this guy?” I asked, jabbing a thumb in Rowan’s direction.
“Absolutely. But I’m pissed at him.”
“Oh?”
“What?!” Rowan scoffed. “Why are you mad at me?”
James plodded over, grabbed the bottom of Rowan’s shirt, and pulled the hem up to his chin, revealing row after row of abs that looked like they’d been sculpted out of marble.
“He told me this morning that he thought he was getting chubby,” James scoffed. “Can you fucking believe that?”
“Rowan,” I replied, shaking my head. “Do me a favor and get on gay time instead of gay self-loathing, okay?”
“But I put on two pounds this past week! My entire business centers around me being fit!”
I reached out a hand, placing it on Rowan’s cheek. “Booboo, you know I love you,” I said, patting him kind of hard. “Fuck off.”
“Thank you,” James sighed. He slipped an arm through mine and the pair of us walked around the house to the back porch. “Get the stuff, Rowan.”
I heard the defeated sigh behind us, and I couldn’t help but laugh. That boy was never going to stop being a big dummy, no matter what he did. Good thing it was adorable.
“So,” James said the moment we were on the porch by ourselves. “I heard you dumped your entire life and moved out here permanently.”
I nodded. “Right to the point, I see. But yeah. I did.”
James put a caring hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”
“I’m…” I started to lie. But then I blew out a long sigh, raking my fingers through my short brown hair. “No. No, I'm not fine.”
“Are you sick?” A hand went to his lips with a gasp. “Are you dying?!”
“God no!” I laughed, waving off his concern. “Nothing like that. I’m just… I don’t know… messed up, I guess.”
“How bad is it?”
“I yelled at a blind man yesterday for running into me,” I said. “So bad enough that I’m snapping at people for no reason.”
“On purpose?”
“No… I mean, yeah, I yelled at him on purpose, but I didn’t know he was blind until afterward.”
James kept a serious expression. “So, what’s wrong?”
Another sigh. “I don’t know. I can’t figure it out. That’s uh… that’s why I asked you guys to come over.”
“Not just a social visit then?”
“It can still be social,” I smiled weakly. “I just need some advice, I guess. From both of you.”
