Page 8 of Kiss Me, Maybe
“Of course I am.” He finally looks at me, but I’m not sure I believe him. Less so when he diverts the conversation away from him. “I mean, I’m not TikTok famous or anything, but I’m getting by all right.”
“Julian—”
“How many followers are you at now?” he goes on before I can answer. “Just promise me you won’t forget the little people inyour life once you’re rich and famous and too good for us common folk. You’ll need us around if you want to stay humble.”
“You’re hilarious.” I shake my head at him. “Where’s the rest of your stuff?”
“Storage.” He shrugs, a maddening gesture that has me reaching for my phone. “I’ll get it later. Who are you calling?”
“Reinforcements,” I answer. “My best friend is dating a former Dallas Cowboy, so that ought to do it.”
“You’refriendswith an NFL player?” His eyes bug out at me before he shakes his head with a bone-weary sigh. “We’ve already lost you to the fame monster, I fear.”
Marcela and Theo arrive twenty minutes later. With all our combined strength (but mostly Theo’s), it doesn’t take long to empty Julian’s storage unit and set all his belongings into the guest bedroom across the hall from mine.
“Moving sure takes a lot out of you,” Julian says once he’s all settled in, limbs sprawled on the living room couch in a dramatic show of exhaustion for someone who left most of the grunt work to the athlete in the group. Not that Theo complained once. In fact, he even offered to rearrange Julian’s guest room so the bed wasn’t blocking the desk.
“Glad to see you’re already making yourself right at home.” I smile dryly at him.
“Thanks again for letting me stay here,” he says, sincere for the first time since showing up. “I managed to find a part-time job that doesn’t conflict with my school hours. You’ll hardly know I’m here.”
I’m struck by a sudden wave of disappointment. It’s been months since we’ve gotten to hang out. I’d assumed we’d have more time to catch up while living together.
We don’t want you to be lonely.
I shake my mom’s voice out of my head. Whatever. I have my own life too. I have a new semester of school and work, though since all my classes are online I’m usually able to kill two birds with one stone by completing assignments during downtime. But I have friends I see every day—well, one friend, and Marcela has meetings that occupy most of her days. And now that she’s with Theo, I try not to ask her to hang out as much as I used to. As it is, I feel bad calling her for an emergency two weeks in a row.
“What about weekends?” I ask Julian. “I hope you gave yourself a break somewhere in your schedule. I burned out to a crisp and ended up switching fields after graduation, and that was without an extra job on top of student teaching.”
Plus, I don’t like the thought of being in the house by myself all the time. Maybe my parents are right to worry about how their trip will affect me. I’m desperate for human interaction, and I’m not even alone yet.
“I have Sundays and every other Saturday off. Though I imagine most of that time will be occupied grading and lesson planning. I can’t believe I willingly signed myself up for this stress.” He laughs good-naturedly.
“Kinda sucks that we’ll hardly see each other,” I say glumly. “We should find some time to catch up.”
“Definitely.” He grins slyly. “The only two queer cousins in this family need to stick together.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“But speaking of cousins…” His tone turns hesitant, and I know exactly what’s coming next. “Did you leave the chat?”
Marcela and Theo bound down the stairs before I can reply. My best friend always knows when to save me, even if she doesn’t actually know she’s doing it. Theo’s steps slow as he makes his way toward us, eventually stopping right in front of Julian. He looks sheepish as he rubs a hand on the back of his neck. “So, I sort of accidentally broke your dresser.”
“It’s a piece of crap.” Julian waves him off. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you sure?” he asks. “I can buy you a new one. The thing just came apart as soon as I set it down—”
“Seriously, you don’t have to worry about it,” Julian says with a laugh. “It’s from Walmart, and it’s been with me since my first move. I was due for a new one anyway.”
“Well, let me at least give you my number in case you change your mind.” I watch them exchange numbers in awe. Theo and Julian don’t have enough in common to be friends, but I thought the same of Theo and me once.
“I hear you’re student teaching at Jefferson. I’m a football coach there,” Theo says, and there it is. The start of the most unexpected friendship I’ve ever borne witness to. “If you have fourth or sixth period off, we can get lunch together sometime.”
“I have fourth off,” Julian replies, eyes lighting up. “I’d love that.”
Marcela and I exchange glances as the guys trade phones to input their information into, and then again when Theo enters the garage and comes back with my dad’s toolbox and a look of determination.
“Your boyfriend destroys someone else’s property and makes a new best friend,” I tell Marcela as they head upstairs.“Should we be taking notes?”
