“Hmm.” Parrish’s brow crinkles. He can tell he’s missing a lot of the story here. “I knew you had a thing for my Gamer Girl. I could tell right off the bat.” He gives Maxx a dark look, one that his friend returns without flinching. “And you …” He glances over at Chasm who exhales and then spreads his hands in a placating gesture.
“I was honest about it from the beginning,” he admits, and Parrish scowls at him.
“Who has the biggest dick?” Parrish asks abruptly, and I flush all over, tits included. It’s a very obvious sort of blush in this stupid dress, too.
“Uh, what?” I choke out, but I am not about to answer that question. It’s bound to make at least two people even angrier than they are now. “That has nothing to do with anything. If it were just sex, this would be easy. I would say thank you, Maxx; thank you, Chasm. Then I’d move on. This isn’t that.”
Parrish snorts and swipes a hand over his face.
“We all know who has the biggest dick anyway,” X jokes, and both of the other boys give him dark looks. “It goes without saying, I think.”
“You’re not any nicer now than you were in high school,” Parrish tells him with narrowed eyes. “So stop pretending. Have you seen him at his worst yet?” He glances over at me and my gaze locks with Maxx’s.
“I have. He went full asshole on me and Chasm when he thought we were keeping secrets about you from him. He also organized search parties and spent all night and all day for a week searching for you.”
That softens Parrish somewhat, but he still isn’t happy.
“I don’t know what to do about this. I’m … it’s a lot to deal with.”
“Let’s not talk about this for a while,” Chasm suggests, glancing at me again. His heart looks like it’s breaking, like he feels second place all over again, second choice, a backup plan. None of that is true, but I’m not just going to be able to tell him that with words. Actions, only. But how? How do we do this? “Let’s finish school up so we have one less thing to worry about and focus on Maxine instead. Once she’s safe, we can … talk.”
“I’m okay with that if Kota is,” Maxx says, studying me. He stares at me like he’s simultaneously my last and first choice all at the same time. “We can revisit it later, after you’re caught up, and we’re caught up, and … well, of course, Maxine is the most important thing.”
“Right now, it’s just me and Gamer Girl.” Parrish looks over at me, and I glance back at him. “Is that okay? You and me, dating. Like we would’ve been if I hadn’t …” He trails off, and my throat gets tight with emotion. If he hadn’t gone missing, I’d have never experienced the things I did with Maxx and Chasm. Would that have been easier? Harder? I don’t know. I can’t imagine not having shared those moments with them now that they’ve happened.
“I’m okay with that,” I tell him, deciding that a single week isn’t a big ask whatsoever.
“Will you go to prom with me?” Parrish asks, surprising me. “Unless my days are all screwed up, or if Whitehall’s cancelled it, it’s still happening on Friday, right?”
My eyes drift to Chasm’s, and his nostrils flare, but he gives a slight shake of his head.
“That’s a good idea. You two should go to prom together.” He exhales and turns back toward the window, sliding his cigarette out again and lighting up, making sure to angle himself just right so that the newly installed exterior camera won’t catch him smoking. If Tess—or anyone else—is watching the feed right now, they’ll likely assume that it’s steam from the open bathroom door.
I hesitate briefly, squeezing Lumen’s note in my hand.
Another idiom comes to mind: trapped between a rock and a hard place.
Fuck.
Parrish gives Chasm an odd look before turning back to me.
“If Tess lets you go, I’d love to go with you,” I say, my voice breathy and soft. Chasm doesn’t look back at us again, but I can tell that although this is killing him, he’s willing to do it for Parrish. If he is, then I am, too. Parrish has been through a lot; he nearly fucking died. And none of this is fair to him. He didn’t have any say in these matters anymore than we did.
“Tess will let me go,” he says breezily, waving his hand around dismissively.
“Are you two going to—” Maxx starts, gesturing at us. “Be intimate with each other this week?”
Parrish stares at him, then looks at me, waiting for my answer.
“I hope so,” he adds, voice getting husky, breaking into emotional shards that cut and bleed. “Hopefully right now.”
