Page 98 of Run
Fonz hangs his head and laughs. “Yeah, looks like all that magic certainly cast a spell.”
“Dude,” Ethan pipes up as he reaches for the box of donuts again and pulls out a glazed one. “I am in too good a mood to let anything you say piss me off right now.”
Fonz clears his throat. “Well, good. Because there was something I wanted to talk to both of you about.”
That gets my attention, and I turn my head toward him as I pop the last bite of donut in my mouth and lick chocolate fudge off my fingers.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to each of you about this for a while but then, well, shit kept coming up. And then you guys were like, finally orbiting each other again and I didn’t want to distract you with my situation. But now that you guys seem like you’re good, I just … Well, here’s the thing … I’ve known for a little while, but I’m certain now that, without a doubt … Here’s the thing … I’m gay.”
There’s silence for a moment. Ethan and I look at each other, and then look at Fonz, and in unison respond, “We know.”
Fonz looks between the two of us, shaking his head. “No, you see, I don’t think you heard me.” He points at himself. “I’m gay.”
We both nod, and Ethan reaches for another donut. “Seriously?” I ask him, in utter disbelief that he can eat three donuts in one sitting and look the way he does.
“What? I’m a growing boy. I need sustenance.”
“Uh, OK, so when I say gay,” Fonz brings our attention back to him, “I mean that I date men. I enjoy the romantic and intimate company of men. You know …” He makes an “X” with his two pointer fingers, like he’s crossing swords.
I put a hand on his thigh. “Fonz, we kinda figured as much for quite some time.”
He looks horrified. “What? Is it that obvious? Do I emit some sort of gay vibes?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that, well, we know you, Fonz. Weknowyou.”
“Yeah,” Ethan chimes in, dusting glaze off his hands. “All these years you have never shown interest in a chick or chatted me up about one. You’ve never dated, although you are often busy and going out at night. You never put the moves on Ari.” He curls his arm around my shoulders and shrugs his own. “You think I would let her walk around here in just a T-shirt and underwear if I wasn’t pretty sure she’s not what you were looking for?” Fonz looks confused, so Ethan continues. “Let’s just say it started as a possibility, in our minds, and then there were things that just kind of cemented the idea.”
“Like what?”
“Like you have always had so many girls that were friends, and none of them ever turned into anything else,” I say. “And lately—”
“Lately you’ve been glued to your freaking phone and grinning like a love-sick puppy dog,” Ethan interrupts.
Fonz blushes.
“Dude,” Ethan leans over me to get a better look at Fonz. “We’re just happy you’re happy. You help everyone out. You help your dad with the family business. You drive Ari to her therapy and other appointments. You moved in here when I didn’t want to be alone.”
“About that.” Fonz’s face falls a little. “If you aren’t comfortable with me living here anymore, I understand. I know it might be, um, weird for you.”
Ethan pulls his arm out from around me and sits forward. “OK,nowyou’re pissing me off. Fonz, look at me.” Our friend obliges. “You think so little of me? You think I wouldn’t want you to live here? Jesus, dude! I’m legit offended.”
Fonz’s face pales and he swallows. His eyes glisten. “I just didn’t want you guys to see me differently.”
“Never,” I say at the time Ethan growls, “Hell no! Fonz, you’re my best friend.”
“Actually,” Fonz corrects, “Ari is your best friend. I’m your other best friend.”
“Nuh-uh,” Ethan wags a finger in the air. “Ari is my girlfriend, which means you are straight-up my best friend.”
I whip my head to look at Ethan when I hear him use the “G” word. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
“Semantics.” He waves a hand at me. “Just deal with it.”
I swivel my head back to Fonz and widen my eyes at him. He just shrugs before blowing out a breath. “OK, so … We’re good, then?”
I lean in and throw my arms around his neck. “Way better than good. We love you, Fonz.”
“No.” Ethan gets up and walks around the coffee table and toward Fonz as I pull away from him. “We love the ever-loving shit out of you.”
