Page 32 of Next to Everything We Wanted

“I left before anyone else could say anything. Everyone looked disappointed that you weren’t there.”

I frowned, guilt washing over me. “I feel bad that I wasn’t there.”

“It’s fine.” The heavy look in his eyes said otherwise. “You needed to take care of yourself.”

“Hey, guys.” Forrest came out of the shower, steam emerging from the bathroom. His dark curls were wet, and he wore his favorite blue robe with duckies on it. We used to make fun ofit, but we couldn’t deny that it’d grown on us. “Feeling better, Gavin?”

“Yeah. I just needed a day off. Thanks for filling in for me. I heard you guys did great.”

“It went better than we thought it would.” Forrest grabbed a swirly chocolate milkshake, sat in his chair, and turned on the TV. “Anything good on tonight?”

“Probably just sports and stuff,” I said. “Do they play sports on Friday nights?”

“Gosh, Gavin, you know nothing about sports. Watching them shouldn’t even be an option for you.”

“Hey, I used to play football in middle school.” I puffed out my flat chest. “No one wanted to mess with me.”

“Your mom showed us those cringey videos of you tripping over the ball every time you tried to kick it.”

I sighed. “That’s why I had to play on a city rec team instead of the school team.”

“Could also do with the fact that there wasn’t much going on there,” Phoenix said, eyeing my upper body, and he and Forrest snickered.

“Hey! I had chest hairs and a practically dropped voice and everything! Just not the big muscles or height.” The muscles had since been improved thanks to the gym in our complex, but not really the height. Thanks to Mom’s short genes, I hadn’t grown a centimeter after reaching five-nine. One thing I’d liked about dating Celeste was that she was barely five-four, making her the perfect height for me.

Stop thinking about her, I hissed at myself.Gosh, you were doing such a great job.

“We’re joking,” Forrest said with a grin. “You’ve always been beautiful just the way you are.”

I made a kissy face, and the three of us laughed. Living with these guys was something that I wouldn’t give up for the world.When we’d first moved in a year ago, we got at each other’s throats—especially Forrest and Phoenix, who fought over the food every time one of them wanted to eat. Now it felt great. Amazing.

Except for when I was keeping a secret that Forrest would kill me for.

A few minutes later, someone unlocked the door. Ellis came inside with a tub of ice cream. “Hey.” He did a little dance with his shoulders. “I’ve got chocolate for the sick boy.”

“Are you kidding?” Forrest exclaimed. “He’s nauseous! You can’t give him a big thing of that.”

Ellis scoffed. “Yeah, like he’d eat the whole thing in one go. Even Phoenix would be sick to his stomach of steel after trying that.”

“Bet,” Phoenix said, pounding on his stomach. “Make a whole baby for me next time.”

Ellis blinked. “That sounds dirty . . .”

“You thinkeverythingsounds dirty.” Phoenix stepped in front of the tub of ice cream. “Hello, baby,” he said in a mock-sultry voice. “I want to scoop you up. Let me get a feel of that creamy?—”

“Enough!” I said through a fit of laughter. “I suddenly feel much better. I’ll only have a little bit, especially if Phoenix won’t be able to handle it.”

“Bet,” Phoenix challenged again.

Ellis laughed and sat on the floor to open the tub of ice cream. “My mom made this a few hours ago.”

Phoenix brought plastic bowls over so Ellis could put the ice cream in them for us.

Someone knocked on the door, and Celeste came in with a warm smile. Her thick hair was in a ponytail, her tan complexion glowing in the living room light. Gosh, was it wrong for me tomiss our ice cream dates? To miss the way she hugged me every time she walked in?

“Evening boys,” she sang, sitting on the floor. When she smiled at me, her face pinched, but I smiled back. Was a “we’re still best friends, not lovers” breakup supposed to be this awkward? I didn’t have anyone to ask. “Ice cream!”

Ellis handed her the bowl and grinned. “I know you love your strawberry ice cream.”