Page 96 of Friends Like This

I laugh as I bump it with mine. “The OGs.”

“Everything okay up here?” Aaron asks, walking over from the basement stairs.

“Yep, we were just forming a sub-party,” Joel says with a smirk.

Aaron squints as he looks from Joel to me. He nods slowly and smacks Joel on the back. Joel grabs a tray of snacks and heads back downstairs, leaving Aaron and me alone again.

I’m starting to think we shouldn’t be alone together.

“You okay?”

“Heh. Sure.”

I grab a couple containers of beer off the counter and head for the stairs, but Aaron grabs my arm and spins me back to face him.

“Hey, since when do we not tell each other things?”

I sigh and smile weakly. “I’m notnottelling you something. I… you’re my best friend, Ace.”

“Uh, yeah,” he says in confusion.

“I think we need to be a little more careful about that.”

“Oh,” he says, as realization hits.

“It’s part of growing up, I think.”

He swallows hard. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right.”

I give him a little smirk. “Of course I am.”

He rolls his eyes, then reaches for one of the packs of beer I’m holding. “I’ve got that. C’mon, let’s go relax,best friend.”

I groan. “Oh boy, this is gonna be a thing now, isn’t it?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “Depends on how much I want to torture you.”

My stomach does a little flip.

That’s it! I need all thoughts and feelings about the possibility of Aaron and me to stop right now.Right. Now.

Brain. Heart. Soul. Body. I don’t care. No more of this.

We’re just friends.

Right?

Right.

Okay then.Moving on.

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