Page 45 of Betting on You

“Christ, man, can you shut up about the shirt?” Adam muttered, grinning and shaking his head.

“I would but you won’t,” Evan said loudly.

Eli laughed and said, “It’s fucking beautiful, dude—just shut up about it already.”

“I like it,” I said, unsure ifEvanactually wanted my opinion.

“Beer?” Adam asked.

“No, thanks,” Charlie said. “Bay?”

“No, thanks,” I agreed, looking at him and wondering if he usually drank and was just saying no because of me. Regardless, Iwas glad he wasn’t drinking that night. I wasn’t anti-booze, but I was a little too much of a control freak to handle the idea of losing my inhibitions in front of other people.

“I gotta be honest,” Eli said, “I pictured you a little more, uh—”

“Ugly?” Evan looked at Eli and nodded his head in agreement. “Same.”

“What?”I looked at Charlie. “You told them I’m ugly?”

“No.” He laughed.

“No,” Eli said. “He just talks about you like you’re some guy he works with. He failed to mention that you’re—”

“Notthatugly?” I said, looking at Charlie, unable to hold in a laugh.

“Exactly,” Eli said, looking relieved that I hadn’t taken his words the wrong way.

“Charlie,” someone yelled from the living room. “We need you.”

He looked at me and said, “Care to be the official phone-a-friend with me?”

“Huh?”

“Charlie is a trivia god, so everyone wants him on their team,” Eli said, picking up the can of Ultra in front of him. “So much so that he’s become a free agent, where players can pay to phone-a-Charlie.”

I looked at him in shock. “Is this true? Are you smart?”

“I’m a genius,” he said, so typically Charlie.

“He actually is,” Eli said.

“Shutup.” I mean, Charlie was obviously an intelligent person, but he’d never struck me as someone who would care enough to dowell in school. People with attitudes like his usually ditched class and slept during lectures.

Was heseriouslya genius?

“Charlie!” The group at the dining room table all yelled like their favorite person in the world had just walked in, but he gave them a half smile and lifted a hand in the air as if this was normal.

Actually, it seemed likeeveryonewas happy to see him, and not just because of his apparent trivia prowess. Just about each person we passed as we went into the living room smiled and shouted a “Charlie!” in his direction. As if Charlie were their old buddy back from some sort of long trip.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it.Iliked Charlie—wow, I actuallydidlike Charlie—but it was somehow surprising that so many other people did. I would’ve imagined him being too much of an acquired taste for the general population. Kind of an IYKYK type of guy.

“Sampson!” A guy in a black-and-white T-shirt and red jeans—and a full beard—screamed. “When Tad said you were coming, I couldn’t believe it. I haven’t seen you out in forever.”

“I work every weekend,” Charlie said, then looked at me. “This is Bailey, by the way.”

“Hey, Bailey,” he said, grinning like I was fantastic just for beingwithCharlie. “I’m Austin.”

“I love your pants, Austin,” I said, wishing I’d taken Eli’s proffered beer just so I had something in my hand to make me look like I fit in. “Bold choice.”

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