Page 19 of Brad & Finn
Finn used finger quotes on the last word, and Brad was pretty sure that wasn’t something he’d done in high school. The fact that it was one of the first new habits Brad had discovered about adult Finn made it all the more endearing.
“And thank god I did, because your closet has been getting dusty, my dear,” Chloe said.
Finn shook his head, as if this was not the first time they’d had this discussion. “We don’t go out enough anymore for me to keep refreshing my clothes. It’s been long enough that my sizeisn’t changing anymore, so I don’t see a point in engaging in fast fashion.”
A group of women stepped up to the desk together, laughing and talking over each other. Brad thought he recognized one of them as the captain of the volleyball team, but he couldn’t say for sure from this far away.
“Well, we’ll have to go out more often,” Chloe said, her eyes darting to Brad and then away so fast he thought maybe he’d imagined it. That is, until a slow, almost mischievous smile spread across her lips. “It’s been ages since we went on a weekend trip to Chicago. You can wear some of the new clothes I got you for that, and then it’s not fast fashion, it’s multi-purpose.”
Brad’s throat had gone dry, and he couldn’t seem to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. Finn cast him a curious glance, his eyes a sharp green under the fluorescent gym lights.
“I do like visiting Chicago…at least for a weekend,” Finn said.
Neither of Brad’s two former best friends was touching him, but he felt that creeping warmth from the night before. It started in his chest and crawled up his neck until he had no choice but to throw his arms around their shoulders. Chloe laughed and leaned her head against his pec while Finn stood stock still, but didn’t pull away.
“I’m hoping to move into a better place in the next six or so months,” Brad said, leaving out that what he meant by ‘better’ was a place that actually felt like a home and not a crash pad for a sad, exhausted bachelor. “As soon as I’m settled, you two are more than welcome to avoid the ridiculous hotel prices and stay at my place. I’ll have a guest room with a guest bed and everything.”
“A whole guest bed to myself!” Chloe sang, spreading her arms out like she was imagining starfishing on a bed. Shenarrowly avoided slapping Finn in the face, but he still shoved her hand away like she had.
“You’re absurd,” he said. “There’s no way I’m sleeping on the couch. You know my back has never been the same since…” He glanced around and then lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “You dropped me in that game against Cornwell.”
Chloe gasped and threw herself at Finn. “You know it wasn’t my fault! I would never!”
“My back begs to differ.”
“It was all Courtney’s fault!” Chloe whispered, just loud enough for Brad to hear.
“You’re just blaming her cause she’s a year younger and won’t be here to defend her honor.”
Brad felt like he had somehow stumbled into a competitive ping pong match. His head bobbed back and forth between them as he tried to focus on the conversation, while simultaneouslynotthinking about the implications of Chloe kicking Finn out of Brad’s imaginary guest room. While he could always get a king for the guest room in case other couples or large groups wanted to stay over, he’d much prefer to have a king in his room where he could host…well, his ownguests.
“Maybe Brad remembers,” Chloe whispered, turning to look over her shoulder at Brad.
Brad searched his memory to see if he had in fact ever seen Finn fall during a cheer. He was pretty sure he would remember that because even the idea of it had his heart trying to jump out of his chest.
“I think he was injured that game,” Finn said, his voice quiet but in a different way. This time, it sounded like he was trying to hide his words from Brad as opposed to the alumni who weren’t paying them any attention.
The line shifted, and a woman behind the registration table gestured for them to come forward.
Chloe dropped her arms from around Finn’s shoulders and stepped forward, but paused to turn and look back at them. “Well, that sure explains why you fell then, doesn’t it?”
Both men stood frozen as Chloe bounced towards the registration desk. Finn broke first and hurried after her. Brad considered waiting for them off to the side, but he didn’t want to stand awkwardly alone or risk getting pulled into a conversation with someone else and not be able to join back up with them.
Yes, he realized the ridiculousness of that thought, but he chose to do nothing about it.
He walked up to the desk and came up behind Finn, just in time to hear him calmly but firmly decline one of the icebreaker cards.
“Okay, if you’re sure. There will be other icebreakers and activities during the cocktail hour, which begins in fifteen minutes,” the woman behind the desk said. Her name tag read “Vanessa - Assistant Principal.” She looked too young to have been around when Brad was in school.
“I’m excited to play even if he doesn’t want to. My card says…chocolate!” Chloe said, brandishing her card in the air.
They both thanked Vanessa, and Chloe took Finn’s hand and pulled him towards the rest of the gathered alumni. Finn grabbed Brad’s sleeve and tugged until he was sure Brad was following.
“You know, between the two of you, I’m not sure my sleeves are going to survive this trip,” Brad joked.
Chloe shrugged dramatically, throwing both hands up in the air and dragging Finn’s arm up at a weird angle. He pulled his hand free with a grumble that sounded something like “over-caffeinated Energizer Bunny.”
“I can’t help it that you two don’t communicate well,” Chloe said with an exaggerated sigh. “I will not apologize for taking it upon myself to make sure both my high school besties are happy—oh my god, Candace!” Chloe made one of those whooping noises the entire cheerleading team had mastered at a young age and dashed across the room.
