Best Friends Forever

Nodding, I try to act the part. I feel a little stupidly flattered, as though this compliment, buried in giggles and diversions, is the most real thing I have heard in a long time.

“Grown-ass man, that’s me,” I joke as we begin to head toward the wide, concrete steps.

“Ladies’ man,” she corrects me, though I can hear a sour undertone.

“That’s just Ron, trying to be funny,” I reply, trying to blow it off.

I didn’t like it when he said it, and I’m not thrilled that it stuck with her. Makes me sound sort of ridiculous. Who would call themselves that?

Just before we reach the parking lot, she turns

to me, wrinkling her nose. “Clay… you have to be honest. Is this going to be okay?”

I suddenly realize I hadn’t given it a second thought. As soon as Ron made the suggestion, it seemed set in stone.

“Well, I do have plenty of room,” I shrug. “Do you want to come see the place now? Sundays aren’t busy for me.”

Her gaze is far off. Shrouded.

“No, I mean… we haven’t seen each other in a long time. All of a sudden I’m right in your space? Working with you? Are you sure about that?”

“Oh,” I answer slowly. “Well, we did it before. Living together, I mean. I’m sure it will come back to us. You can have your own bathroom this time and everything. Let’s take a ride and you can pick it out.”

She presses her lips together.

“I… can’t,” she mutters, then sighs heavily. “I have to fly back to Albany in a couple hours. I have to convince Ethan that this is as great an idea as I think it is.”

Again she meets my eyes, and the connection is perfect. I’m practically downloading her whole mental state. I know exactly who Ethan is, without even asking.

“He’s welcome too. I’ve got a pool.”

She pauses, furrowing her brow and shaking her head slightly. “Wait… that’s it? That’s all you want to say? That you have a pool?”

“I’ve got a ping-pong table too. Is that what you’re looking for?”

She raises her hands and then lets them fall against her thighs. “Clay, I don’t know what to say. Thanks, I guess? Thanks a lot?”

I shrug. “That’ll do it. So… I’ll see you when you get back into town? Soon?”

She looks around, plainly confused, but I don’t know why. This is the easiest decision I’ve made in a long time.

“Okay, sure. Thanks again,” she says, then holds her key fob in the air and presses the button, looking for the car that’s chirping. A rental, I guess.

I don’t know why she’s making a big deal out of this. A son? Sure, that was a surprise but not a surprise. Not like she told me she had a freezer full of heads or anything. It’s been a long time. I’m sure we’ve both changed in some ways.

But hey, it does sort of feel like we’re getting the band back together.

Chapter 12

Penny

By the time the Uber drops me off in my driveway, it’s already late. There’s just a single light on that I can see, and I realize Ethan is probably already in bed. He has to get up early for school, but I’m still disappointed. I could probably sneak in and smooch him while he’s sleeping. He still lets me do that sometimes.

“Oh, hey, welcome back!” Wanda calls out when I open the front door, lifting her wine glass to me in greeting.

She looks pretty terrific, sitting there on the kitchen barstool, her hair in twisted wreaths, her muscular arms bare as she flips through a magazine. Really, if I were ever going to be a lesbian, I would fall in love with Wanda immediately. There is just something about her. Unfortunately I was not gifted with that much fluidity.

“Let me get you a glass of wine,” she smiles, hurrying to the other side of the kitchen. “You must be exhausted! But I still want to hear everything! Did you get the development?”