Only One Bed

Bree was feeling much better, and Etienne was back at the arena with her for the evening show. I glared at Henry’s pic on my screen. Why wasn’t he answering? I redialed.

He answered, his very monochrome condo coming into view. He sat at his little table, eating what was very likely vegetables, fish, and either wild rice or quinoa or some shit. He turned the phone so it could lean upright.

I said, “Hey, bro. You’re not at the rental house with the fam?” Like, obviously he wasn’t, and some people might have replied, “Duh.”

Not Henry. He knew what I was really asking and simply said, “It was a long day at the rink. I’m taking an extra day off tomorrow.” His black hair was damp, and he wore a gray sweatshirt. My brother was the handsome one of the two of us, and he always looked polished even after a shower.

“Hold on. You’re taking an extra day off? You? Henry Sakaguchi? Do I have the right number?”

He ignored me as he sliced into whatever was out of frame on his plate. “The Ice Chalet is hosting a New Year’s Eve family skating event that they need to prepare for, and it’ll be open to the public over the weekend as well.”

“So they’re forcing you to take a three-day weekend for once?”

“Mn.”

I laughed, leaning back against the decorated headboard, a Christmas light stabbing me under my shoulder blade. “Sounds about right. That’ll be cool that you can spend more time with Obaachan and Mom and Dad.”

He nodded as he chewed a small bit of what looked like salmon. I’m sure he had some home renovation show on HGTV paused on the TV. Another wild night for Henry. But who was I to talk? I was alone in a cabin in the mountains, still thinking about kissing my best friend.

Shit. Yeah, I was definitely still thinking about it. This wasn’t working.

“Sam?” Henry watched me with a furrow of concern.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m here! Spacey as always. Awww, is that Esmeralda? Let me see her?” A calico tail had appeared in the corner of the screen.

Gently, Henry clucked his tongue, waited, then did it again and picked her up so she knew it was coming. She was fluffy putty in his hands, and he cradled her.

“Hi, Esme!” I waved as if she understood because I’m a dork. I was glad Henry rescued her. He seemed content with his routines, but I worried he was lonely.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing!” Such a lie, but I wasn’t ready to say, “I want to bone my BFF.”

Wait. What? I wanted to kiss him. Who said anything about boning? Well, I did, but…

I realized Henry was watching me patiently, nuzzling Esmeralda. She purred faintly. I shrugged. “Dunno. Do you ever wonder if you actually know what you want?”

He simply said, “No.”

Fair, since Henry wanted to skate. He wanted to train, train some more, and win the Olympics in Calgary next season. Then probably keep training because he liked it so much more than performing. Oh, and he wanted to thrash Theo Sullivan in the process.

That reminded me. “Did you know Theo’s here doing the show at the resort?”

Henry went very still, blinking at me. “Theodore’s at Mont-Tremblant?”

“Yeah, apparently the owner of this new hotel’s friends with his agent or something. He seems nice. Theo, I mean. No opinion on the hotel magnate or agent. I got to see the show the other night, and I talked to him for a while.”

“Did he ask about me?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“What did he ask?” Henry’s gaze was like a laser cutting a diamond.

“Dunno. The usual small talk.” Huh. Sometimes I wondered if Henry didn’t actually dislike Theo underneath their rivalry. That maybe… Nah. I was overthinking.

“I’m sure he was tiresome.” Henry bent out of frame and sat up without the cat.

I laughed. “He was cool. Anyway, Etienne and Bree are great.” I paused. “It’s been awesome catching up with Etienne. I missed him.”

“Mn.” Henry ate another bite of his dinner.

I missed him. It was true! It was no big deal. Yet now, that sentence felt huge. My face was hot, and I hoped the Christmas lights behind me hid it. Obviously I’d missed Etienne. That was totally normal.

Except now I want to kiss him.

Which wasn’t abnormal, but…

“What’s wrong?” Henry asked.

I blurted, “Did you ever like girls?” Smooth.

“I like lots of girls.”

“I mean as more than friends. I’ve always been into chicks, and I was just wondering if you were ever…confused. Or anything.”

He tilted his head, regarding me with that serious expression that I swore could read my soul like a tweet.

#BicuriousBro

“Is this about Etienne?”

“What?” I squawked, practically falling off the bed as I leapt up. “No! Why would you say that?”

“To begin, the way you’re reacting to a simple question.”

I groaned. I should have known better than to bring this up with Henry. I slumped back to the bed, my arm getting sore holding up my phone. “I thought about kissing him, okay? But we’re best friends. It must be…” I cast around for anything. “The mountain air.”