The Guy on the Right (The Underdogs 1)

He wrinkles his nose. “Ghost pains. I guess.”

“Your ex?”

“Kind of.”

“Explain, or I’m not getting out of this Honda.”

“Nora and I used to hang out with Zach and Lindsey a lot.”

“Those two are hard to watch if you bone alone.”

He tilts his head back on his headrest and his chest pumps with a chuckle.

“That’s better. So, what exactly is a ghost pain? You miss her?”

“No, I don’t miss her like that,” his voice is low, and I can see he’s somewhere in his past. “I guess a ghost pain is remembering the future you once thought you’d have.” He clears his throat. “It’s nothing. I’m an idiot.”

I draw his face toward me with my palm on his cheek. “You, my friend, are a lot of things, and a smart ass at times, but not an idiot. And I hope like hell for ghost pains one day. It’ll mean I’ve loved someone hard and finally done some good living.” Slowly I lean in and press a kiss to his cheek.

“Night, Theo.”

“Night, Laney.”

#heroparty #notmrsdoubtfire #matothedamndea #newbestfriends #heworeaskirt #butlookatthoselegs #livingourrealestlife

Theo: How are you feeling?

Laney: Like I want to peel my skin off. Mom is making me wear oven mitts when she’s home. How in the hell did I contract chicken pox at twenty-one?

Theo: It could be worse. It could’ve come in as shingles. Those are supposed to be a lot more painful.

Laney: How do you know?

Theo: I looked it up.

Laney: She finally left for work, and I can’t stop scratching. I’ll give you everything in my savings to come and get at my back with a rake.

Theo: No can do. What did you do today?

Laney: Glued a great pyramid of Doritos for worship.

Laney sent an image

Theo: That’s pretty impressive.

Laney: Had to do something with my hands. And it’s gotten two thousand likes.

Theo: That many?

Laney: Do you ever check the damned page? We have almost nine thousand followers.

Theo: WTF!

Laney: Yep. Ever since the Ghostin’ the Whip post we’ve gained momentum.

Pause…

Theo: I think I see why.