Page 12 of Just Friends

Adam reaches over and yanks the emergency cord, halting my treadmill. I have to grab the edges to keep myself from face-planting from the lack of momentum.

“What was that for?” I pant, propping my hands on my hips.

“That’syour grand plan? Set her up on bad dates so she thinks you’re her best option?”

“What? Do you have something better in mind?”

Adam mirrors my stance, and I know that to anyone watching, we look like reflections of one another. With the same shade of almost-black hair and angled eyes, sharp jaws and crooked noses from when we broke them at different times during our childhood, we’ve often been mistaken as twins. The only major difference in our appearance is that Adam is about two inches shorter than me, with more of a stocky, sturdy build, whereas I’m lean and toned. He also got our mom’s pale blue eyes, while I inherited our dad’s dark as night ones. And while my facial hair is trimmed to stubble, he’s been sporting a thick beard since college.

“Anything would be better than that,” he says with a roll of his eyes.

“Thenhelp me,” I say, and I hate how desperate I sound. God, Ifeeldesperate. Ever since Hazel brought this up two days ago, I’ve been grasping at straws, trying to think of anything and everything that could get me out of this mess I’ve created.

“What am I, your therapist?”

I grab my water bottle and squeeze, sending a spray of water droplets over his face. “You’re a dick.”

Adam wipes his face with the hem of his shirt and follows me off the treadmills to grab a bottle of cleaning solution.

“Do your own workout and leave me alone,” I say over my shoulder.

“Fine, I’ll help you. But you’re going to clean my treadmill first.”

I fix my eyes heavenward and head back to our machines to wipe them down. When I return, Alex is talking to Parker, a guy we’ve met a few times while working out here.

“So he’s in love with his best friend,” Adam is saying when I walk up to them.

I grab Adam’s ear and tug hard. He lets out a loud grunt, trying to pull at my arm.

“Nice to see you, Parker,” I say to the very confused man before yanking Adam into the locker room. “What is wrong with you?”

He shoves me in the shoulder and rubs at his ear. “You said you needed help.”

“I askedyoufor help,” I yell, and the sound echoes in the empty locker room.

“Well, we both know I’m not good at advice.”

“ButIam,” a weathered voice says from inside one of the shower stalls, and to my never-ending horror, a completely nude elderly gentleman pushes open the curtain. He strides out without a towel, water droplets glistening all over him. His skin is wrinkled like clothes left in the dryer for days, and everything, and I meaneverything,sags and hangs in ways that make me nervous to age.

“I couldn’t help but overhear your predicament,” he says slowly, and I think I detect a hint of an English accent, as if it’s dulled over time living away from his home.

“We didn’t discuss the predicament,” Adam says, focusing his gaze on the lockers above the old man’s head.

“You need help,” the man says, staring at me with an intensity that is incredibly awkward considering his lack of clothing.

“I think we’ve got it under control. Thank you, though, sir.”

He lowers himself onto one of the benches, spreading his legs wide and resting his hands on his knees. “I was out there,” he says, and I’m starting to feel a twinge of annoyance with his cryptic responses.

“Out where?” Adam asks, and I can tell he’s done with this whole situation.

The old man ignores Adam’s question. “I heard your story, young man,” he says, not looking away from me. “I know what you should do.”

Maybe it’s the confidence he must have to sit naked in front of two strangers, or the wise lilt to his English accent, like a storybook narrator, but I think…I want to hear what he has to say.

The old man pats the bench next to him, watching the indecision flicker on my face, and I find my feet walking in his direction of their own accord.

“What are you doing?” Adam asks as I take a seat. His brows are arched high on his head, his mouth hanging slightly open.

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