“Apparently I’m the only one who thinks this is the worst fucking idea since horses,” Garrett says irritably.
“Horses?” Logan and Fitzy echo in unison.
“Like, horses in general?” Morris asks in confusion.
“As in, domesticating them,” he grumbles. “They belong in the wild. End of story.”
“Babe,” Hannah hedges in, “are you just saying that because you’re scared of horses?”
His jaw drops. “I’m not scared of horses.”
She ignores the denial. “Oh my God, it’s all coming together. That’s why you wouldn’t go to the Thanksgiving fair in Philly.” She glances at the rest of us. “My aunt and uncle wanted to take us to this festival thing with all these cool booths and a petting zoo…and horseback riding. He said his stomach hurt.”
Garrett visibly clenches his teeth. “My stomach did hurt. I ate too much fucking turkey, Wellsy. Anyway, I don’t like this. I’m going to be so screwed when they break up.”
“They might not break up,” she points out.
I furrow my brow. “And how would that even affect you?”
Since I’m not seeing his logic, he slowly spells it out for me. “Sides, dude. People break up, their friends take sides. Dean’s my buddy, so obviously the bro code says I have to side with him. But this one—” He jerks a thumb at Hannah, “is my girlfriend. Girlfriend trumps buddy. Wellsy’ll take Allie’s side, and I’ll have to take Wellsy’s side, vis-à-vis, I’m taking Allie’s side.”
“I don’t think you’re using vis-à-vis right,” Morris pipes up.
“Yeah, I believe the word you’re looking for is therefore.” Logan’s lips are twitching wildly.
“I wouldn’t expect you to take Allie’s side on my behalf,” Hannah protests. “And you’re being such a jackass about this. We’re adults. If they break up, we’ll all still be able to co-exist peacefully.”
“Ross and Rachel co-existed,” Logan agrees.
Fitzy snorts.
Garrett is too busy glaring at Hannah. “I can’t believe you’re cool with this. She’s your best friend. He’s going to blow this—you know that.”
His girlfriend shrugs. “All I know is that Allie is happy. And if Allie’s happy, I’m happy.”
“Tuck?” Garrett prompts.
I hesitate. On one hand, Dean seems genuinely into Allie, at least from the limited interactions between them that I’ve witnessed. On the other hand, the guy doesn’t have a serious bone in his body. Allie’s a nice girl. I don’t want to see her get hurt.
Either way, it’s none of my business.
“Wellsy’s right. They’re adults. If they want to be together, then who cares?”
He glowers at me. “Traitor.”
“Dude, the girl TKO’d him yesterday,” Logan says with a grin. “You know how big his ego is—if it could take that kind of hit and he still wants to be with her, then it’s the real deal.”
Despite myself, I start to laugh. Fuck. I wish the other guys were here last night for all the chaos. After the team’s road game to Scranton, Dean and I came home to a dark house where Allie and Dean’s sister were watching a horror movie. The girls freaked, Allie accidentally knocked Dean out with a paperweight, and now I’m equipped with enough ammo to torture him for the rest of his life.
“Oh hey, speaking of last night,” Hannah says. “Did Dean’s sister get back to Brown okay? I wish I got to meet her.”
“Trust me,” Fitzy mutters from the couch. “You’re lucky you didn’t.”
Logan snickers. “You poor thing—a hot blonde was throwing herself at you. How dare she!”
The other guy flushes. “She asked to see my dick!”
“And that’s a problem because…?”
As Morris and Garrett start laughing their asses off, Fitzy just shrugs. “Aggressive chicks aren’t my thing. I like going at my own speed, all right?”
I’m tempted to call bullshit, because he sure didn’t seem to mind when Sabrina’s friend Carin dragged him to her car for a hookup. But Fitz and I haven’t really spoken about that night, so I stay quiet. Besides, if I mention the double date, everyone will demand to know who I was with.
The last time we saw each other, Sabrina teased me that I’m not telling people about us because I’m ashamed of her. Which is so not the case. My friends have a bad habit of sticking their noses into each other’s love lives—case in point, Garrett’s obsession with Dean and Allie. So yeah, I’d rather not have my relationship with Sabrina dissected by everyone, not when it’s still so new.
And anyway, I know she’s secretly relieved that we’re on the DL. The one time I used the word relationship to describe us, she got all weird and fidgety on me.
“Okay, I gotta bounce,” I tell the room. “Any other grown-up issues we need to discuss, or can I go?”
“Go,” Garrett grumbles, making a shooing motion with his hand. “You were no help anyway.”
*
Sabrina
Tucker’s tongue is in my mouth before I can even close the front door. Despite the ripples of heat that assault my body, I force myself to wrench away from the kiss. Nana’s in the kitchen, and I don’t need her walking out and witnessing this.
“My grandmother’s home,” I murmur.
I expect disappointment, but he simply nods. “Cool. Want to introduce me?”
The one thing I’ve learned from dating Tucker this last month is that absolutely nothing fazes this guy. He takes everything in stride, adjusting and adapting as needed. I don’t even know what he looks like when he’s annoyed.
“I should warn you—Nana’s a bit…outspoken.” That’s my tactful way of saying rude bitch. As we head for the kitchen, I pray that my grandmother won’t be a jerk to Tucker.
She’s at the table when we walk in, flipping through an issue of US Weekly. “Did Ray forget his key again?” Nana asks without looking up.
“Um. No.” I shift awkwardly. “Nana, this is Tucker.”
Her head flies up. Immediately, interest fills her gaze. She studies Tucker from head to toe, so blatant in her ogling that I feel my cheeks heat up.
“Horses?” Logan and Fitzy echo in unison.
“Like, horses in general?” Morris asks in confusion.
“As in, domesticating them,” he grumbles. “They belong in the wild. End of story.”
“Babe,” Hannah hedges in, “are you just saying that because you’re scared of horses?”
His jaw drops. “I’m not scared of horses.”
She ignores the denial. “Oh my God, it’s all coming together. That’s why you wouldn’t go to the Thanksgiving fair in Philly.” She glances at the rest of us. “My aunt and uncle wanted to take us to this festival thing with all these cool booths and a petting zoo…and horseback riding. He said his stomach hurt.”
Garrett visibly clenches his teeth. “My stomach did hurt. I ate too much fucking turkey, Wellsy. Anyway, I don’t like this. I’m going to be so screwed when they break up.”
“They might not break up,” she points out.
I furrow my brow. “And how would that even affect you?”
Since I’m not seeing his logic, he slowly spells it out for me. “Sides, dude. People break up, their friends take sides. Dean’s my buddy, so obviously the bro code says I have to side with him. But this one—” He jerks a thumb at Hannah, “is my girlfriend. Girlfriend trumps buddy. Wellsy’ll take Allie’s side, and I’ll have to take Wellsy’s side, vis-à-vis, I’m taking Allie’s side.”
“I don’t think you’re using vis-à-vis right,” Morris pipes up.
“Yeah, I believe the word you’re looking for is therefore.” Logan’s lips are twitching wildly.
“I wouldn’t expect you to take Allie’s side on my behalf,” Hannah protests. “And you’re being such a jackass about this. We’re adults. If they break up, we’ll all still be able to co-exist peacefully.”
“Ross and Rachel co-existed,” Logan agrees.
Fitzy snorts.
Garrett is too busy glaring at Hannah. “I can’t believe you’re cool with this. She’s your best friend. He’s going to blow this—you know that.”
His girlfriend shrugs. “All I know is that Allie is happy. And if Allie’s happy, I’m happy.”
“Tuck?” Garrett prompts.
I hesitate. On one hand, Dean seems genuinely into Allie, at least from the limited interactions between them that I’ve witnessed. On the other hand, the guy doesn’t have a serious bone in his body. Allie’s a nice girl. I don’t want to see her get hurt.
Either way, it’s none of my business.
“Wellsy’s right. They’re adults. If they want to be together, then who cares?”
He glowers at me. “Traitor.”
“Dude, the girl TKO’d him yesterday,” Logan says with a grin. “You know how big his ego is—if it could take that kind of hit and he still wants to be with her, then it’s the real deal.”
Despite myself, I start to laugh. Fuck. I wish the other guys were here last night for all the chaos. After the team’s road game to Scranton, Dean and I came home to a dark house where Allie and Dean’s sister were watching a horror movie. The girls freaked, Allie accidentally knocked Dean out with a paperweight, and now I’m equipped with enough ammo to torture him for the rest of his life.
“Oh hey, speaking of last night,” Hannah says. “Did Dean’s sister get back to Brown okay? I wish I got to meet her.”
“Trust me,” Fitzy mutters from the couch. “You’re lucky you didn’t.”
Logan snickers. “You poor thing—a hot blonde was throwing herself at you. How dare she!”
The other guy flushes. “She asked to see my dick!”
“And that’s a problem because…?”
As Morris and Garrett start laughing their asses off, Fitzy just shrugs. “Aggressive chicks aren’t my thing. I like going at my own speed, all right?”
I’m tempted to call bullshit, because he sure didn’t seem to mind when Sabrina’s friend Carin dragged him to her car for a hookup. But Fitz and I haven’t really spoken about that night, so I stay quiet. Besides, if I mention the double date, everyone will demand to know who I was with.
The last time we saw each other, Sabrina teased me that I’m not telling people about us because I’m ashamed of her. Which is so not the case. My friends have a bad habit of sticking their noses into each other’s love lives—case in point, Garrett’s obsession with Dean and Allie. So yeah, I’d rather not have my relationship with Sabrina dissected by everyone, not when it’s still so new.
And anyway, I know she’s secretly relieved that we’re on the DL. The one time I used the word relationship to describe us, she got all weird and fidgety on me.
“Okay, I gotta bounce,” I tell the room. “Any other grown-up issues we need to discuss, or can I go?”
“Go,” Garrett grumbles, making a shooing motion with his hand. “You were no help anyway.”
*
Sabrina
Tucker’s tongue is in my mouth before I can even close the front door. Despite the ripples of heat that assault my body, I force myself to wrench away from the kiss. Nana’s in the kitchen, and I don’t need her walking out and witnessing this.
“My grandmother’s home,” I murmur.
I expect disappointment, but he simply nods. “Cool. Want to introduce me?”
The one thing I’ve learned from dating Tucker this last month is that absolutely nothing fazes this guy. He takes everything in stride, adjusting and adapting as needed. I don’t even know what he looks like when he’s annoyed.
“I should warn you—Nana’s a bit…outspoken.” That’s my tactful way of saying rude bitch. As we head for the kitchen, I pray that my grandmother won’t be a jerk to Tucker.
She’s at the table when we walk in, flipping through an issue of US Weekly. “Did Ray forget his key again?” Nana asks without looking up.
“Um. No.” I shift awkwardly. “Nana, this is Tucker.”
Her head flies up. Immediately, interest fills her gaze. She studies Tucker from head to toe, so blatant in her ogling that I feel my cheeks heat up.
