Page 10 of Just Friends

You know when you’re streaming a show and it freezes, and for a moment, you don’t know whether the person has just stopped moving or whether the TV is buffering? That’s what Alex looks like right now, still and unblinking.

“What do you mean by that?” he asks slowly, hesitation written in every line of his body.

I pick up a fry from the almost empty plate and throw it at him. It ricochets off his nose before falling into his lap. “You don’t have to look so horrified. I’m not suggestingyoudate me. I just want you to find me someone to date.”

He pushes a hand through his hair again, and the short dark locks stand on end. He looks like he’s been electrocuted. “What, exactly, do you mean by that?”

This plan has been hovering on the edge of my mind all day. It’s just now starting to solidify into something worthwhile. “I think we should set each other up on blind dates.”

“Blind dates?” I don’t miss the incredulity in his voice.

“And we can go together.”

“Together?”

I give him a flat look. “Are you going to keep repeating everything I say?”

“Are you going to start making sense?” he shoots back.

I throw my hands in the air, exasperated. “I really thought you were going to like this idea.”

He looks away for a moment, studying a spot on the wall across the diner, before turning back to me. His face is resigned, and his shoulders are slumped in what looks like defeat. “Tell me your plan.”

The gesture is so unlike him, so at odds with my carefree best friend that I don’t even want to proceed. I thought this would be fun for both of us, but I don’t want to do it if it’s going to make him look likethat. “No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Some of the life returns to his eyes. “Tell me.”

“No,” I say with a jut of my chin.

His gaze turns devilish. “I know how to make you talk.”

He does, and it’s not fair. Two months ago, he found the ticklish spot on the back of my knee, and I haven’t known a moment’s peace since then. “That’s not fair.”

Alex slides his palm over the table, inching toward the edge. “Talk, Hazel.”

“Fine, fine!” I say, and his hand stops. My uneasiness ebbs at his smile, returning at the slash of his white teeth and the crinkles beside his eyes.Thisis how I expected him to react to this idea—with laughter and excitement. Not whatever quiet weirdness he had earlier. “Okay, so I thought we could go on a blind date. Maybe one each weekend? And we could go to the same place, in case either of us wants to bail.”

“You want to go on double blind dates?” He sounds so dubious that I almost want to laugh.

“No, not together. Just to the same place. We can be on separate dates, but just close enough to be there if one of us flashes the bat signal.”

He presses his hand to his head, his fingers shaped to form anLso it looks like he’s a middle schooler calling someone a loser. It’s a terrible signal we came up with at his office holiday party last year, in case either of us wanted to leave. That’s what theLstands for in our scenario, although Alex’s pervy boss certainly didn’t think so when I did it when he cornered me during the party to ask if I’ve ever dated an older man. Alex caught on, though, and got me out of there like a bat out of hell—no pun intended.

Okay, pun is intended. That’s too good to pass up.

“Yes, the bat signal,” I tell him.

“So we just go on blind dates?” Alex asks, loudly slurping the dregs from his now fully purple milkshake.

I shrug. “I don’t know. The idea just kind of came to me today while I was watching Cam and Ellie together. I just thought that we deserve something like that, you know?”

It’s true, seeing Cam and Ellie did spark that thought in my mind, but it was more than that. I watched as Alex danced with one of his cousin’s preschool-aged daughters, laughing and spinning her in circles. I watched as he and his brother, Adam, smooshed Ellie in a giant hug that they call an Ellie Sandwich. I watched as he grabbed two slices of cake from the dessert table and gave me the bigger piece. I just watchedAlextoday. And I thought he was too good to be alone. I might be still figuring out what I deserve in a relationship, but I know what he deserves, and I want to help him find it.

“But maybe we should have a more organized plan,” I say.

Some of the wariness creeps back into his eyes, but it’s gone before I can consider it. “What are you thinking?”

“Maybe some ground rules. Like, we can call it off at any time, no questions asked.”

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