Page 25 of Not Friends

As if he knew I was thinking about him, my phone chirped with a text from him.

Denver: What time? Are you feeding me?

No, this was not turning into an event. This was a hostage exchange. Nothing more.

Sadie: I am not feeding you. Whenever, as long as it’s after seven-thirty. Also, Rob is going to get it.

Denver: Rob’s getting your T-shirt?

Sadie: No. I’ll explain when you get here.

I didn’t want to have to type out the whole stupid story. Putting my phone away, I focused all my attention on Nitro until Jenny got home. Then I changed clothes, tossing my old shirt on the arm of the couch, and went to the store in search of the least offensive men’s body wash on the market. And there were some real doozies out there. I renamed them as I sniffed each one. Desperate for Attention, Pine-Sol Times Ten, Musky Man Chest, Ruined Vanilla for Me.

My nose was beginning to tingle, and I realized I couldn’t buy any of these anyway. Denver would accuse me of cheaping out on him. Whatever he showed up with for me wouldn’t be a ten-dollar-clearance rack special. No, I’d need to think fancy. I was shopping for manscaping Denver snooty-pants, after all. The guy who catalogued people’s outfits and spent more time on his hair than I did.

I drove to a specialty beauty and skincare store I’d only stepped in once before and waved away the offer of help from the shiny sales clerk who greeted me. She looked no more than sixteen, but also looked maybe thirty-five, and it kind of freaked me out. Plus, I wasn’t sure what their policy was on taking off lids and sniffing things, so I’d be fine on my own, thank you very much.

The first men’s body wash I picked up cost twice what the most expensive bottle at the grocery store did, and it smelled overwhelming. It was exactly the type of scent Denver already wore. I put it back down and picked up another, lifting the lid. Oh wow. This was different.

It was Thor in a tux at a fancy party. I took in a deep breath, and my hands got a little tingly. There was no denying it. This was a dangerously delicious scent. Too dangerous. I put the bottle back down and looked for something else. Denver couldn’t wear something like that. There had to be some in-between scent. Something okay, but not chase-him-down sexy.

I tried. I really did. I sniffed everything in there until I was about ready to pass out. But I was running low on time, and in the end, I picked up that wretched bottle and took it to the register. It was the winning scent, hands down. This was about winning, and I always played to win.

Everything would be fine. With this bottle, I would prove I was right, and Denver was wrong. I’d show him with one sniff what low standards he’d been living under. It probably wouldn’t even smell that nice once mixed with his natural scent. Whatever that was. He’d always drowned himself in too much cologne for me to tell.

Chapter 14 – Denver

Dang Sadie. I’d walked into a trap. Again. It was seven forty-five, and she wasn’t even here. I’d brought dinner like an idiot. Jenny was doing her best to withhold judgement, but I could see the curiosity practically bursting out of her. Here I was on their doorstep with gift bags in one hand and Mexican takeout in the other. If there were conclusions to be drawn, she was super entitled to them, especially when I asked where Sadie was.

Jenny gave me an apologetic smile. “I swear she’ll will be back any minute. Sorry, I have to go meet Noah, and I’m already running late.”

I wished her well, and she took off. But that wasn’t even the worst part. That was waiting for me when I walked inside. Jenny must have really been in a hurry to not give me a heads up about my ex.

Makayla looked up at me from the couch where she was singing “I Can’t Feel My Face” to Nitro, her shoulders in full shimmy. I swear, the bird had a shoulder shimmy going on, too. Makayla smiled at me and kept going, but she trailed off after the chorus, finally noticing the incriminating evidence in my hands. Like Jenny, she had questions. But unlike Jenny, she didn’t bother keeping them to herself.

“Is it Sadie’s birthday?”

“No.”

“Jenny’s? She should have said something. You know she has plans tonight, right?”

“It’s not anyone’s birthday.”

“Oh.” Makayla stared and I stared back. She didn’t have the right to ask me what I was doing there. We weren’t dating. We weren’t anything anymore, and it was weird.

I realized, now more than ever, that she had only been passing the time with me. Not that I hadn’t done the same, but it still hurt. I’d told Julian and Hank I wasn’t bummed, and I wasn’t. But I was tired. So tired. I kept dating girls with one foot out the door.

Sadie called them project women, which was rude. Not that I’d expected anything less from her. But she was wrong. They weren’t projects. They just weren’t in a position to get into a serious relationship, at least with me. Had I done that on purpose?

No more. I wanted something real or nothing at all. Julian would be so proud, but I was still scared. It was a big decision to make at twenty-five. I didn’t like being alone. Heck, wasn’t that why I was here? Heaven forbid I spend a Friday night at home.

Makayla avoided further eye contact with me by focusing on Nitro. He rubbed his head against her thumb, a nudge for more attention, and she gave it to him, going back to singing. The longer I stood there, the less cute it seemed.

Finally, she looked up and asked, “Can you believe Nitro’s leaving tomorrow?” She held him up close to her lips. “I can’t beweeve it. Our widdle fweind is weaving me. You widdle meanie.” She made a kissy face, and Nitro squawked, looking pleased with himself.

If he took a chunk out of her face right now, she’d definitely be feeling it. I’d never hear that song the same way again.

“Nitro’s leaving tomorrow?”

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