Notorious (Playing With Fire)

“Hey, Eric, how the hell are you?” Brandon entered the kitchen and Eric stood in greeting. They embraced quickly, slapping each other’s backs as guys were wont to do and it felt strange. This was a man he’d loved, who he’d been with in a relationship and now they treated each other like buddies who enjoyed getting together watching football.

Life took strange turns.

“I’m good, man. I need to talk to you. Both of you.” Eric nodded toward Alexa, who stood at Brandon’s side.

“Want to go into the living room?” Brandon started toward the room, and Eric didn’t have a choice though he would’ve protested.

They walked into the living room, Brandon and Alexa sitting on the couch close together, Eric sitting in a chair across from them. He thought about standing when he spoke but realized that might look too intimidating or asshole-like.

“What’s going on?” Brandon studied him carefully. “You look serious.”

“I just…” Eric paused, gathering his thoughts. It was one thing to rehearse, another thing entirely to actually say it. “I want to tell you guys I forgive you.”

They didn’t say a word. Just stared at him in return and let the silence stretch to an almost uncomfortable length. He finally shifted in his chair, his lips parting as he started to speak, but Alexa beat him to the punch.

“That means a lot to me, Eric. A lot to us, I should say. We’ve always felt—guilty.”

Brandon nodded, remaining silent.

“I know. I reveled in your guilt to be honest. I blamed you both for my downward spiral, for my ridiculous behavior. I was hell-bent to destroy myself, and I knew it had everything to do with what you both did to me.” Eric paused. “Now I realize that I did it all to myself.”

“We never meant to hurt you,” Brandon said, his voice low.

“I know that. Now. It feels good to say this. I believe in you two as a couple. You did the right thing, making the relationship about the two of you and getting rid of me. I mean that.”

“We never got rid of you,” Alexa started, but Eric cut her off with a wave of his hand.

“You know what I mean. I’m just saying that you don’t need to worry about me, or think that you can’t be near me because I’m still mad at you. I’m over it. Completely over it. I’ve found someone new.”

“Stacy,” Brandon added.

“Yeah.” Eric nodded, his gaze trained on Alexa. “Stacy.”

“You’re serious about her, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. He could hear it in her voice. She knew how he felt, she’d always been in tune with him. “I’m in love with her.” He sounded as if he were in pure agony.

Alexa laughed. “You don’t have to sound so depressed about it.”

“I don’t know how to tell her,” he admitted.

Alexa stood and went to him, kneeling before his chair. She took his hands in hers and squeezed. “Just…tell her. Take her out, treat her right and whisper it in her ear. Trust me, she’ll melt.”

“So you’re saying keep it simple?” He had grand plans of wining and dining her and buying her an expensive bracelet, necklace or whatever it was that he saw on some recent jewelry store commercial. Just the thought of that over-the-top gesture made him nervous as shit.

“Definitely keep it simple. If she loves you, that’s all she’ll want. Just you.” Alexa cocked her head, a gleam forming in her eyes. “Just treat her right, Eric. She’s my best friend, and she’s been through a lot of crap. Don’t break her heart. It’s been broken enough.”

“I never want to break her heart. I love her too much,” he said, his voice solemn. His entire body stilled once the words slipped past his lips.

It was mind boggling, how much he meant that statement. Only a few months ago he would’ve scoffed if someone told him he’d feel that way about someone. A woman.

Alexa nodded, looking satisfied. She released her grip on his hands and stood. “You just said it perfectly. I’m glad you came by, Eric.”

“I’m glad too.” He stood, as did Brandon, and all three of them came together for a brief hug. “Very glad.”

The flowers came first—a simple arrangement of vibrantly colored wildflowers from the florist down the street. They smelled wonderful. She caught their scent as she stood behind her chair and cut hair and she received lots of compliments and oohs and aahs. And lots of curious questions. Questions as to who they might be from. She didn’t want to call Eric her boyfriend but what the heck else could she label him as? Her lover? That always sounded kind of silly to her, too dramatic.

That hot guy she fucked? That was far too simplistic and not to mention a little crass. They hadn’t declared themselves a true couple yet so it seemed presumptuous to say so.

So she just told everyone the flowers came from a friend.