Tiffany:
The friend experiment was working out better than expected. It had been a month since the dreaded kiss fail, but Harry proved to be an amazing guy to just hang out with. I found myself laughing more than ever and eating more than I should. He had made me his guinea pig for his recipes, and I was not complaining. I still had feelings for him. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. If he got a little too close, my insides fluttered. He barely touched me since that night in the storage room when he held my hand, but I think he was just trying his best to keep himself in check as well.
The thing is, we were good together. Like, really good. I found myself wearing less makeup and more sloppy buns, and I was okay with that. He often traded in his hair gel for his beat up baseball cap, and I didn’t mind. It also helped that it was a Yankees hat, and I finally had someone to smack talk the Mets with.
But in a weird way, our friendship was a secret. He didn’t have anyone other than his cooking buddies to hang out with, and because I had this secret fear of him falling for one of my sorority sisters, I didn’t bring him around campus. I think the secret made it exciting. No one could judge us. No one could care. I should have known Brit would be the one to burst that bubble.
“So, you’re still hanging out with Captain Jack?” she asked as her gaze remained on the train tracks. We were sitting in my car waiting for the 12:35 from Grand Central to arrive. Brit’s car was in the shop, and she had asked me to pick up her boyfriend, Erik, who was visiting for the weekend.
“Yeah.” I didn’t give her anymore details, and she squinted her eyes, trying to figure everything out.
“So, no sexy time?”
“No. He’s my Jaime, remember?”
“And are you okay with that?” Her expression softened. “Honestly.”
I thought about the way he had leaned over the counter last night as he fed me a spoonful of his homemade sauce. How it dripped on my chin and he wiped it off with his thumb. How I wanted him to lick the damn sauce off of me, and how being with him was equally amazing and completely frustrating. “No. I’m totally falling for him,” I pathetically admitted defeat. “Like, I am pretty much intoxicated by the very thought of him. Is that what you want to hear? That I still have hope?”
She looked at me like I was about to break.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re just watching out for me. I just… I’d rather have him as a friend than nothing at all.”
“That was me and Jaime. I get it, Tiff, I do.” She took a breath and looked out the window. “How about Sunday night you two join me and Erik for dinner?”
“Why?”
“Why?” She chuckled. “Because I’m your big sister, and I love you, and I want to make sure you’re not investing your time in an asshole.”
“Since you put it that way, how can I refuse?” I made a face, showing her I was not feeling her offer, but she waved off my concern.
“Erik has a good sense of people. He’s far better at it than I am. Maybe if the captain meets your friends and gets a sense of what your life is like outside of him, he’ll see you in a new light. Maybe he’ll realize he’s being an idiot.”
She had a point. “I guess I could ask him.”
The train pulled into the station, and Brit squealed. “Yes, ask him!” Then she jumped out of the car and ran to the platform as the train screeched to a stop. Resting my hands on my steering wheel, I placed my chin on top and watched as a few dozen people got off the train. Brit was looking left and right, scanning for Erik. I spotted him right away. He was toward the back of the train and came running down the stairs, calling her name, duffle bag over his shoulder.
As soon as he placed two feet on the platform, he dropped the duffle bag and opened his arms. Brit ran to him at full speed, and I half expected to see fireworks when the two were finally in each other’s arms. She pushed herself onto her tippy toes to kiss him, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as the two very publicly got lost in each other. I should have turned away. Aside from them, the platform was cleared now. The train had pulled away and these two were still making out like they were in the privacy of Brit’s bedroom. But I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
I had never seen two people so in love.
And I admittedly was never more jealous in my whole life.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Iris, who was holding a bag of nuts, staring at it with concern.
“The nuts expired last month. Think I can get away with them?” Iris poured the bag into a bowl and showed the bowl to me. They didn’t look any different to me, but she was eyeing them with caution.
“I think you’re fine.”
She sighed and placed them on the bar. “If anyone gets sick, it’s on your conscience.”
“I’ll have to live with it.”
“Look. Your fake boyfriend is heading this way.” Iris pinched my waist and pointed out the window, where we had a clear view of Harry crossing the street toward the bar. He was wearing a blue scarf, and he buried his mouth into it to keep warm. He wasn’t trying to be cute. But he was being really cute. “He doesn’t have tweedle dee and tweedle dum with him today, that’s a relief.” I had to agree. I wasn’t a fan of his classmates. Thankfully, neither was Harry.
“Yeah, I told him to come in between classes if he was free. I want to ask him something.” I turned and wiped down the bar. A woman this afternoon had spilled a glass of wine, and even though I had cleaned it twice already, it was still sticky.
Iris perked up and propped her elbows on the bar, resting her chin in her hands. “Like a date?”
“Sort of…” I couldn’t give her any further explanation because Harry was already inside, walking over to the corner of the bar where I was standing. Iris stepped away, determined to give us as much privacy as possible. But she tugged on my pony tail as she passed, and I took that as a sign that she’d want details later. If only Harry was half as excited about our relationship as the rest of the world was.
“Hey,” Harry said awakening the butterflies in my stomach as he made eye contact with me.
“Hey,” I replied, trying my damnedest not to give him a goofy smile. He sat on the stool, and I poured him a soda.
He reached into the bowl of nuts and took a handful. “I’m starving,” he said as he popped a few into his mouth.
I was going to warn him that they were old, but I really didn’t think a month old cashew would land him in the hospital. “Ironic since you go to cooking school. Don’t you get to taste the stuff you make?”
“Today was a lecture day, wise guy.” He adjusted his glasses and licked the salt off of his bottom lip before taking a drink of his coke. Who knew one could be jealous of salt?
“Oh, I’m sorry. It must have been a grueling lesson. Did your teacher argue on behalf of the feather or the leather?”
Harry furrowed his brow before getting my joke and relaxing into a light laugh. “No, it was not about poultry, beef, or even fish. It was a study on cooking healthier without sacrificing flavor.”
“Sounds riveting.”
“It was.” He popped a nut in his mouth and smiled as he chewed. “So, what was with the secret request?”
“Um… I have something to ask you. A huge favor, actually.” I wanted to play it cool, but the fact was I needed him to go on a date, something that might be way out of his comfort zone.
“A huge favor. I’m intrigued.”
A nervous giggle escaped my lips. Even now, after we had spent time together, he still made me so nervous, and I hated that. “Yeah. My friend’s boyfriend is visiting for a few days, and she invited me to go out and have dinner with them Sunday night. She wants me to get to know him better.” It was a little white lie. I mean, yeah I didn’t really know Erik all that well, but the way Brit lived and breathed him, I think I had a handle on the guy. Nope, they wanted to get to know Harry. But of course I couldn’t say that.
Harry nodded but didn’t answer; he just gave me a crooked grin as he sipped his soda. He knew what I was getting at, and he was going to make me say it. What a dick.
“They’re like this perfect couple, and I don’t want to be a third wheel. So I was hoping you could tag along. If you’re free, that is.”
Harry raised one eyebrow above the rim of his black glasses.
“Not a date… just… um…”
“I’d love to,” he said, leaning back into his stool and flashing me a deeper smile.
The desire to leap over the bar and wrap my arms around his neck was struggling to break free. Instead, I squeezed the rag in my hand. “Really?” I was so relieved. And cue goofy smile.
“Really. I mean it’s not every day one gets to meet the perfect couple.” He eyed me skeptically.
I laughed lightly. “Yeah, he’s sweet. Brit, on the other hand, can take some getting used to. She means well, but sometimes she has no filter.”
“Brit?” Harry reached for another nut, and I felt bad that I didn’t have a sandwich or something to give him. “That’s your friend?”
“Yeah, she’s hard to miss. Her hair is bright purple.” The smile he had been wearing fell away, and all the blood drained from his face. “Harry? Are you okay?” You would think a ghost had appeared the way he was looking at me.
Finally, he shook his head. “You know, I feel a little sick. I’m going to head out,” He must have known I was concerned, for he added, “But I’ll text you later.”
I watched as he fumbled out of his chair and snaked his way through the crowd of construction workers that had just walked in.
“What happened to him?” Iris asked, her skirts tickling my ankles as she pressed against me to get a better glimpse of Harry jogging down the street and out of our view.
I shrugged. “He said he felt sick—right after I had asked him to double with me on Sunday. Think I spooked him?”
“The way he was running, I think his stomach had just betrayed him.” Iris looked at the bowl of nuts, then tossed them into the garbage. “I thought they looked funny.”