Page 119 of Fun Together
Evie releases a sigh before hopping up from her chair. “Well, I’m going to put my suit on because the summer is almost over and I’m getting another swim in.” She walks inside and pauses to say something to Andrew, probably asking if he wants to swim with her. He shakes his head and watches her bound up the stairs.
It’s true, the summer is almost over. It always seems to end both too soon, and not soon enough.
I look over at Faye and her eyes are closed. I reach over and graze the back of my index finger against her arm and keep my voice low and soft. “Faye, baby, you ready to go?”
She peeks her eyes open and for a moment we just look at each other. We’re finally alone and I can’t read her at all. Not sure if she just heard that “baby” endearment slip out. I’m doing that a lot tonight, saying things to her I’ve been wanting to say for a while, but managing to choose the worst time to do it. She sits up and nods. “Let me go use the restroom and grab my purse.”
We head inside and Andrew looks up at our entrance.
“Sadly, looks like the party is over,” I say. I feel myself trying to be casual and it sounds so stupid to my own ears. Like the three of us aren’t all very aware that this party is beyond over.
Faye smiles carefully at Andrew. “It was good to see you,” she says.
He smiles carefully back at her. I want to scream this is so awkward. “Good to see you, too.”
“I’ll be right back,” she says before heading down the hallway.
“I drove us here,” I explain. “I’ll just run her home and come back.” I grab a glass from the cabinet. I feel like my fight or flight has been engaged, I’m so nervous. This is my best friend, and I’m terrified to be in the same room with him. “You want some water?”
“Sure.”
I take another glass down and fill them both up, biding my time before I take a seat on a stool across from him.
He takes a sip of his water. “So, what’s up with you and Faye?”
I pause, glass halfway up to my mouth. “What do you mean?”
“You guys are different around each other. More familiar. It’s almost like you’re . . . together or something.” He shakes his head as if it’s so hard to believe, it can’t possibly be true.
This need to tell him the truth is going to claw its way out of me. I’m scrambling, thinking of the best way to broach this subject, knowing Faye will hate me if I tell him about us. Knowing that I can’t keep this a secret from my best friend anymore. “We’re not . . . together exactly.”
“What do you mean byexactly?”
“It’s . . . I don’t know”
“Are you sleeping with her?”
I don’t say anything which I guess is answer enough for him.
He bounds off his seat and the stool screeches across the floor. “What the fuck?”
“It’s not what you think,” I say.
“I think you’re sleeping with my ex-girlfriend behind my back.”
“I’m not just sleeping with her. I . . . care about her.” I stand up, pacing now. “It’s complicated.”
“Yeah, I guess it is. What are you thinking? What isshethinking? How long has this been going on?”
“I feel awful keeping it from you and I’m sorry.” I take a steadying breath. “I’m sorry it’s hurting you to hear about it, but I’m not sorry it happened.”
“Was that your plan all along? You fucked up so bad in New York you decided to come home and take my life? Live in my apartment—check. Date my girlfriend—check.”
That hits me right in the chest, because what he’s saying isn’t exactlynottrue. “Come on, you know that’s not what I did.”
He slides his glass around on the countertop. Back and forth, back and forth. “I knew you always wanted her. I could see it back in school, the way you talked to her and looked at her.”
I had a crush on her, sure, but at the time it felt more like curiosity. I wondered about her like you do when someone is interesting in a way you can’t put your finger on. Maybe he saw my own feelings before I did, but that doesn’t mean I was waiting in the wings to swoop in and steal her while he was away.
