Page 34 of Eight Weeks
“Actually, can you send me her number?”
Lily’s eyes snap toward me, as so do Colin’s. The only difference is that my sister looks at me with sympathy, my best friend wears a smug smile on his lips.
“Let me ask you something averygood friend of mine voiced that one time I asked the same question,” Colin begins, his smirk giving me an unusual intense desire to let my fist get acquainted with his face.
“You’re taking her out on a date, and she didn’t even give you her number?”The question that left my mouth when Colin asked for my sister’s number. The same that’ll haunt me now for the rest of my life. I never even asked for Sofia’s number, nor am I going on a date with her. Yet it feels like I should’ve gotten her number the moment we met at the beginning of October.
Phone numbers end up in my possession almost magically. I enter a bar and won’t get to leave said bar without a least three snippets of papers in my jeans pocket. So I’m sorry if not having Sofia’s number yet somewhat throws me off.
Colin waits a second before he continues, only so he can take in my expression a little longer. “Or maybe not, you look like you’re about to cry.”
“Are you okay?” Lily asks, tapping her hand on the couch to tell me to sit down.
I do. I take a seat next to her, leaning my head on her shoulder even though Colin is almost to growling in my ear for stealing his girlfriend for a moment. Like I care, she is mysister, for fuck’s sake.
“I’m great.”
“You don’t look great,” Grey remarks, instantly handing me something to drink. “Can’t offer you anything stronger before a certain kid is asleep.”
A sacrifice we are all willing to make for Miles, so I won’t complain even though I could use something stronger right now.
“Is this about Sofia?” Lily digs deeper, leaning her head right against mine like she always used to do when we were a little younger and I came to talk to her about my problems. Mostly hockey related.
“Nah. Winter. She’s out of her goddamn mind.” After everything she said in her bedroom, it’s safe to say she’s also a big reason of my current mood.
???
Good two hours pass beforeLily jumps up from her seat to run to the door and opens it, only to return to the living room with Sofia right by her side.
Our eyes meet only briefly, awkwardness taking the upper hand. I don’t want things between us to be awkward, but I can’t really help it either.
“You’re just in time. We’re playing truth or dare,” Colin lets Sofia know while pulling his precious girlfriend back in his lap, hugging Lily like she was gone for years.
“Truth or dare?” Sofia repeats, taking a seat across from me. There’s plenty of space to sit beside me, but of course she’d go as far away from me as humanly possible.
Talk about a setback.
At least we’re going to Germany together in a few weeks, right? That gives me a couple of days to… to what? Talk to her? Have her to myself with no way to escape me?
“Yes, getting Grey’s mind off of his breakup.”
Wait,that’swhy we’re playing this game? I thought Brooke wanted to play it. Miles put her to sleep in my bedroom half an hour ago, and I thought we’re only proceeding to play because we don’t know what else to do.
I swear, I’m the worst best friend ever. I didn’t even know Grey and Izan broke up.
“When the hell did that happen?” I query, hearing of it for the first time in my life.
Grey shrugs. “Yesterday. We wanted to go out for dinner, and we encountered a little bit of an… Asian stereotypical racism confrontation. I don’t think he even thought about what he said, and I personally didn’t feel all too attacked, but after what happened with Lexi, I refuse to stay in a relationship that has minor hits towards racism, you know? God, it was about fuckingriceand me not being in the mood for it that night, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hated the way he phrased it and—”
I lay my hand on his knee. “Breathe.” He does. Inhales deeply, exhales twice as long. “It’s okay, you know. No need to justify your breakup. If you couldn’t stay with him for whatever he said, then don’t force it.”
He nods slowly. “So yeah. I’m officially swearing offanyhuman. I’m staying single for the rest of my life. Who knows, maybe I’ll adopt a few dogs and cats.”
Grey and swearing off dating? I doubt it. He’s a sucker for romance.
“Anyway,” Miles laughs. “Now that everyone is here, we can proceed. I think it’s only fair that it’s Sofia’s turn now. To be asked, I mean, not to ask.”
The first couple of rounds go all smoothly. We’re all having a clear head—mostly, anyway—and the questions stay as PG13 as possible, as so do the dares.
