Page 51 of Show Me 1

When he excused himself to go to the restroom, I grabbed my phone and pulled up my messages.

All twenty bazillion of them.

Sam:what’s up?

Sam:Whazzzzzuuupppp?

Sam:How’s your date?

Sam:Hope it’s going well. If not, give me the signal. Blink once if you’re bored out of your mind.

Sam:Blink twice if you need help.

Sam:Okay, done being obnoxious. Maybe.

Sam:Is this guacamole in the fridge still good?

Sam:Fine. I really will leave you alone now.

Sam:For real, though, he better be treating you nice.

I wasn’t sure where to start with all of that. I laughed as I scrolled through the messages again and imagined how pleased with himself he probably was.

Jesse:There’s no guacamole in the fridge so I hope you didn’t eat whatever it was.

Sam:Too late. Am I going to die?

Jesse:Better keep a toilet handy.

Sam:Kidding. I sniffed it and passed. Since you’re replying does that mean shit’s going downhill? Need me to call and say there’s an emergency? I can make something up.

Jesse:It’s fine. No need to send a rescue squad.

Sam:Oh. Okay. See you later I guess. Or tomorrow.

Sam:Be safe or whatever.

Sam:Does that sound condescending? You know what I mean.

Jesse:No, it just sounds fatherly, which is creepy in its own way. He’s coming back. GTG.

* * *

Johnand I hugged when the Uber stopped outside of the house. Our “date” had ended up being the equivalent of a dying campfire. Cozy and warm, but not a single flame. The upside was through the course of conversation, I discovered he had a friend who was a chef at The Golden Spoon, where I’d been dying to eat, and he promised he could get me in sometime, and with someone I actually wanted to go on a date with, which was really nice of him.

It was almost midnight and a Thursday night, so I expected everyone except Cam to be out. But when I walked in, both he and Sam were sprawled on the sectional, a nature documentary droning on the TV.

I thought they might be asleep, but both immediately jerked their heads my way when I shut the door behind me.

“How’d it go?” they both spoke at the same time.

I put my hand back on the doorknob. “I’m gonna go out and come back in again and hopefully pop us out of the twilight zone. That was creepy as hell, and I’m not sure whether it’s the unison part or your mutual investment in my love life, which suggests sad things about me.” I kicked my shoes off. “It was fine. Not a love connection, but maybe friends. I had a good time, I guess. What are y’all watching?”

“No clue.” Sam scrutinized me carefully, but I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. “Want to join, or are you heading to bed? I’m getting pretty tired, actually.”

“I’ll hang for a while. Can we switch toThe Great British Bake Off, or are you both super invested in seeing this cheetah get his guts ripped out?”

Cam shifted slightly on his couch and tossed me the remote. Sam shot a look over at him before swinging his feet off part of the couch he’d claimed and making room for me.