Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

Jay

Bamboo Park was one of my favorite places to hang out at FU.

It was a chill spot near the greenhouse that had naturally formed walls of bamboo, creating a park with peaceful little nooks and crannies you could escape into. Maddy and I sat on a blanket in one of these bamboo-surrounded nooks, an almost empty bottle of wine split between us and a completely empty box of pizza next to it.

“Okay,” Maddy said, looking down at her iPad. “What if we do a flash mob?”

“Girl, aren’t those extinct by now?”

“Yes, but , imagine if you’re the one to bring them back! The attention you’d draw would be insane.”

“For all the wrong reasons, I’m sure.”

I took a swig of the white wine and looked up at the clear blue sky. We had gotten together to discuss the protest for the Beacon Bay drilling project. There was still time to shut it down, but every day that passed meant our job became infinitely harder.

The idea of a unified flash mob doing a corny dance on the beach didn’t feel inspiring, but…

“I do want to maybe have a performance element, though. Maybe that can help our cause go viral,” I said. “And you know how much I like those views.”

Maddy chuckled and played with the silver necklace sitting on her purple FU T-shirt. “Duh,” she said. “What were you thinking?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ve been a little distracted lately.”

“Mhmm. You mean dickstracted , right?”

I shot her a look. “Maybe. Whatever. Yes. But back to Beacon Bay. I think I want to have some kind of short play. With dancing involved.”

Maddy looked like she was about to keep pursuing her “dickstracted” angle but thankfully dropped it. “That sounds like a good idea. But in terms of, like, virality, I’m not sure how many scroll-addicted brains are going to stop and watch something like that.”

“True…”

“Oh,” she said, clapping her hands. “But if we do have some kind of show, I know the perfect person who could help with our fits. Blaise. He graduated from FU already, but he’s trying to break into costume design for TV and film. Maybe this could be his big break?”

“Sure,” I said. “The more, the merrier.”

“Perfect, I’ll text Blaise now, then.” She took her phone out from her white shorts and started tapping away on the screen. Her corgi charm dangled from the bubblegum pink case. “Maybe we can be sailors? But modern. And half-naked, of course. Maybe it can be a cabaret show? ”

I cocked my head and laughed. “Half-naked?”

“Sex sells, babe. Besides, I’ve seen that dancer body of yours. Why hide any of it?” She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously. “Especially when you’re not hiding it for a certain someone.”

“Who says I’m not blindfolding Ryan whenever we hook up?”

Maddy cracked up at that. “Ohhh, I didn’t know you were so kinky.”

My cheeks instantly flushed pink.

“Wait, scratch that,” she said, gaze narrowing to slits. “I forgot about your ‘Daddy’ experience.” She leaned forward and shook my knee. “You kinky little freak. I love it.”

I finished my glass of wine. Birds chirped and sang from inside the bamboo forest that surrounded us. I thought back to yesterday’s date, to becoming official with Ryan. It was—not to be overdramatic—but it was literally everything. I had woken up feeling like I was on top of the world. No, not even—I was on top of the moon. Floating along in low gravity. Bouncing with every step.

“Why are you smiling so wide?” Maddy asked skeptically.

The soft buzz of the wine made keeping any secrets difficult, especially when it was my best friend sitting across from me. “Ryan and I are officially boyfriends,” I said, all in one breath.

Maddy’s jaw dropped before she placed her hand under her chin and lifted it back up. “I don’t even know why I’m acting all surprised. I saw this coming from a mile away. Get it… coming?”

“You’re so ridiculous. ”

She started to laugh, the sound mixing with the chorus from the birds. “Wait, this is actually huge, though. I’m so happy for you! How did it happen? Tell me everything.”

And so I did. I started from the beginning of the date to the end. She held her fisted hands to her chest, her long lashes blinking up a storm. “And that’s it,” I said, leaning back, my hands in the grass. “Cute, right?”

“Are you kidding? That was like, Notebook levels of romantic. God, I love you two already.”

“There’s still some speed bumps we have to get over,” I said.

“About his family?” She waved a hand in the air. “People will get over it.”

“You don’t know that. Also, for my own moral compass, I don’t know if it’s healthy, ya know? I mean, I want to be his boyfriend, there’s no doubt about that. I just wish I didn’t have to be so torn about the things his family does.”

Maddy leaned forward. The sun shone bright onto her hair, reflecting off the pink. “Ryan isn’t like his family, at least from the few interactions I’ve had with him. I don’t think you should worry about that.”

“I know, it’s… hard, you know?”

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” Maddy said with a wink.

I laughed. I loved a good round of dirty jokes. We clicked so damn well. Like two rainbow-bright gay peas in a Pride flag–wrapped pod.

“I get it. I just don’t like how I feel like I still need to keep things under wraps.”

“That feeling will start going away,” Maddy assured me. “I think the connection between you two is way too strong to hide away. That shit’s as obvious as day.”

“Is it?”

“Mhmmm,” she said, grabbing the bottle of wine and pouring me a splash before she finished it off.

My phone buzzed in my lap, drawing my attention. Ryan’s name appeared on the screen. I unlocked my phone and read the message, a smile spreading across my face with every word.

Hey there boyfriend. I want to see you. Can I come hang out?

“He wants to come meet us. Is that alright?”

“Duhhhh,” Maddy said. “Ask Daddy if he can bring more wine, please.”

“You’re ridic.” I rolled my eyes and did just that, typing away an enthusiastic response to his question.

To my boyfriend’s question.

The title made me all kind of giddy inside. I dropped a pin in the text chat so he could find us easier and sat back, chatting with Maddy about finding her a man while we waited. It only took Ryan about half an hour to get to us, his cheerful “Hey, guys!” making me turn and sit up.

Ryan walked into our bamboo-encased hangout spot. He wore a pair of light-washed jeans cuffed at the ankles and a tight black shirt, a thin gold chain shining around his neck. He had two bottles of wine in his hand, lifting them like he held the first-place trophy to one of his games.

“My savior!” Maddy said. She jumped to her feet and grabbed the bottles before hugging him. He came and sat next to me. We were completely shielded by the bamboo, and Maddy already knew, so I didn’t stop myself from leaning in to kiss him hello.

Damn did that feel good. My chest filled with a flurry of butterflies, their tiny wings smacking up against my heart and lungs. He smiled at me. I nearly toppled over.

“You look good today,” he said, kissing me again and earning a “woo” from a beaming Maddy. “Like you do every day,” he added.

He always knew what to say, even if he may not have been one hundred percent accurate.

“You sure about that?” I looked down at my “Save the Whales” T-shirt. It looked like something I got out of the prop department in the theater, stark white with a stock image of a whale on the front, the font chosen for the text likely done at random.

“A hundred percent.”

“Thanks.” I rested my head on his shoulder and reached for his hand. Having his fingers lock through mine felt new but familiar all at the same time. He had a rough, calloused palm that eclipsed my tinier hand. It was nice. So fucking nice.

“I was out yelling about the impact oil drilling and fracking has on the whale population. Oh—” I looked to Maddy. “I saw Everly from bio walk past. He smiled at me. He definitely supports the cause.”

“Yeah, I like him a lot.”

“Same, same. Also saw Dex. He’s showing up, too.”

Maddy smiled. “Awesome, we’ve got at least two people showing up.”

Ryan leaned forward. “What have you two been up to?” he asked, looking around at our private picnic .

Maddy unscrewed the cap to the new bottle of wine and started to pour herself a new glass. “Just figuring out how we can take over the world. Spread the gay agenda. You know, that kind of stuff.”

“Sounds like a good time,” Ryan said. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes the way his smiles usually did. Now that the initial rush of his arrival started to dim, I saw something else in his expression. His mouth was tight, his bushy brown brows slightly furrowed.

He was stressed about something.

“It is,” I said. Before I could ask him what was wrong, Maddy jumped in.

“We were also trying to plan a big protest for the oil drilling project off of Beacon’s Bay. You should help out.” Her tone was exploratory. She looked down at my glass of wine as she poured me a refill. I glanced at Ryan. His expression looked extra tight. He stared off into empty space, somewhere in the bordering bamboo. His grip around my hand tightened.

Okay. What the hell was going on with him?

The butterflies in my chest swapped out for anxious little gnats, buzzing around and making my pulse spike.

“But, you know, I get if you don’t want to,” Maddy quickly added off the loaded silence.

“No, it’s not that…” His voice trailed off. He shifted, my hand falling from his. He adjusted himself so he sat cross-legged, his hands underneath him now.

Shit. I felt like I was on the edge of a cliff. There was a rocky and wave-laced shore underneath me, and all I needed to be pushed was a few words from Ryan.

Is he going to say he made a mistake ?

If Ryan got buyer’s remorse this soon after we made it official, then I was sure my head would explode, and I’d be launched directly into orbit. The wine we’d been drinking all afternoon started catching up to me. I began to imagine a hundred different over-the-top and dramatic scenarios that could play out from this.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. There was another stretch of silence.

I braced myself. Whatever Ryan was about to say clearly couldn’t have been good.