Page 70 of Gym Bros
I do, and I read from my screen. “Smart and playful. Like Rachel.”
Calyx does a spit take with his cocoa and smiles up at me. He’s got a drop of chocolate on the side of his lip, and I reach up to swipe it off. His tongue darts out where my thumb was. I suck the drop I retrieved into my mouth while we hold each other’s gaze.
His smile disappears, and it’s replaced with a look of curiosity. “What are your other moves, or have I seen them all now?”
“I’m winging it,” I assure him.
He tips his head. “Impressive.”
“Yeah? Thanks. Stay tuned.”
“What else is out here?” he asks.
“I don’t know. You wanna walk around? Or are you cold?”
“I’m okay.” He raises his drink. “This is helping.”
We wander around the pier, through an old arcade museum, which he’s marginally interested in, and then we walk to the edge of the dock overlooking the bay and Alcatraz.
“It’s not very pretty here, is it?” he asks.
I look around, trying to view it from an aesthetic standpoint.Compared to Malibu, he’s got a solid point, but I love the water, so I might be biased. “It’s not the Maldives,” I say.
“Have you been?”
“I don’t even know where it is,” I tell him.
“Indian Ocean,” he says. “Wait—did you know I’ve been there?”
I nod.
“How?”
“Your Instagram.”
“Oh. Well, yeah. Top notch resorts and beaches.”
“Good to know.”
“Why were you looking at my Instagram?” he asks.
“Do you ask all your followers that?”
“I—what kind of question is that?”
I turn to him, arrested by his face all over again. “Why do you think I look?”
“To be clear—youdorealize I have a penis, right?”
“I thought we covered this last night.”
“I barely remember what I said last night,” he says, and even I can tell he’s lying. “Girl, boy—that can mean anything these days. I’m talking about my literal anatomy.”
“Your penis. Yeah, I got it. You’re not always wearing pants on Instagram.”
“Have you ever hooked up with a person with a penis before?”
“Do I have to answer that?”
