Page 56 of Riding Pine
“What if he doesn’t catch me?”
“Then you pick up your pieces, call me, and we’ll talk shit about him until you feel better.” He sets the rice aside and reaches for my hand. “If it doesn’t work out, then you have no regrets for trying, right?”
“Right.”
Everything James says makes sense, and I know he’s right, but I’d rather drop from an aerial silk without a safety net than take this leap.
“Can I tell you about Brandon now? Is your mini-crisis over?”
“I’m such a shit friend.” Setting aside the food, I focus entirely on James. “I would love for you to tell me about him.”
And he does. James tells me what the two of them have been up to while I’ve been wrapped up in Lukas, and my smile grows bigger the longer he talks.
“Wait. Are you telling me the guy is a cowboy!?”
James nods as he finishes clearing the coffee table, and I open a bottle of wine. Our second tonight.
“Well, kinda? He helps run a ranch here, but he wears boots and a hat, and he rides a fucking horse!” James laughs, wild and free as he bounces on the couch next to me and takes the offered glass. I’ve never seen him this happy. Not even the day we graduated. “He may have hinted that he owns chaps because he used to do rodeo, and I may have asked if he could wear them naked.”
“Oh my god, James,” I half groan and half laugh.
“He has a great ass. It’s a fantasy.” He shrugs as he takes a drink from a glass. “A fantasy I will see to fruition, my friend. I won’t fail when I’m so close to the prize.”
He snorts, and the two of us are giggling like kids while trying not to spill our wine as we talk like we did in high school. We talk about hot cowboys and athletes, men who have passed us over and how we wish them an eternity of uncomfortable beds and itchy balls.
Not sure when we opened a third bottle of wine, but I won’t regret tomorrow’s hangover.
“I’m gonna call Brandon. Do you mind?”
“Fuck no, but why don’t you just ask him over instead?”
His brows knit, and he reaches over, clumsily squeezing my cheeks together. “Because I’m here with you, Benny. We’re catching up and sharing shit. Talking about love and drinking wine.” His eyes dart to the table where the empty bottles sit. “Wow. We drank a lot of wine.”
“We did, and it’s okay to call him over. I want to sleep in Lukas’s bed, anyway.”
James releases my cheeks and nods. “I love you like a best friend, Ben.”
“I am your best friend.”
He nods as if it’s the wisest thing he’s ever heard. “Right. I meant I love you like a brother. You’re my best friend—like a brother.”
I burst out laughing as James frowns, mumbling that it doesn’t sound right either. “I love you, too, but call the man over. I’ll call an Uber.”
James already has his phone to his ear as I order myself a ride. My smile is genuine as I listen to my best friend speak far too loudly into the phone to the man he’s obviously falling in love with.
And I want that too.
“James.” He holds a finger up to the phone that Brandon can’t see and turns to me. “My ride is here. Thank you for tonight.” We hug, and I grab the phone from his hand.
“Brandon? Hi, it’s Ben. I’m leaving now, and you should come over to take care of James. He needs a greasy breakfast in the morning, and he’ll whine that he drank too much, but he’ll want to snuggle all day.”
James grabs the phone from me. “Text me when you’re home, you brat.”
“I will.”
I slip out and take the single flight of stairs outside, where the Uber waits for me. The driver isn’t chatty, and if he were, I’d likely not answer with all the wine-fuelled thoughts in my head.
He drops me off at Lukas’s building, and once I’m in his apartment, this odd warmth settles over me. I’m not so drunk that I pissed myself, but I check anyway. Confirming the warmth isn’t something physical, I flop on Lukas’s couch and pull out my phone.
