Warner Park

✨ Chapter Five | Regular Friends

— Vince —

I was soaking wet from the rainy run when I got back home. Turning the shower water hotter than usual, I stepped in, not even flinching at the icy blast that hit me first. On autopilot, I lathered soap over my chest, but I couldn't shake the image of Andy, shirtless and grinning in the rain, out of my head.

By the time I was sitting at my kitchen table in a bathrobe, I knew I couldn't let the day go on without calling Gary. My knee bounced as I raked a hand through my damp hair, the towel still draped around my shoulders. He'd better answer.

Finally, on the fourth ring, Gary picked up.

"Why are you calling me this early, you gorgeous dickhead of a friend? Not all of us wake up before dawn to maintain washboard abs."

"Gary, I need help."

He sighed dramatically. "With what?"

"...Andy."

Another sigh. "Vince, hun, maybe stop spending so much time with him. You're doing this to yourself. I can't help you. Nobody can help you." He chuckled, the sound groggy but amused. "Honestly, this is what you get for thinking you can be bi and still pretend to be straight, you beautiful idiot."

"That's not what I'm doing," I shot back, frustrated. "I'm not pretending. I'm bi, I just want to date a woman right now."

"Sweetheart, I love you, but are you joking? How is that not pretending?"

"This is out of my hands, Gary. You know it'll change things in a way I won't be able to recover from."

Gary groaned. "You don't want to bother with publicly coming out, like it's the 1940s and you're going to get lynched for having a boyfriend. It's ridiculous, Vince. No one's going to boycott you or stop casting you. Your girls won't see you differently. And if their friends get catty, they'll handle it... they're tougher than you think. If you're in too deep, just break up with Sam and ask Andy out. You've got support. You're making this harder on yourself."

"No. I can't come out right now. It'll mess everything up."

Gary didn't respond immediately. When I thought he might finally be giving up, he spoke again, softer. "What's the worst that could happen?"

I let out a hollow laugh. "Are you serious? Explaining it to my kids and hoping it doesn't confuse the hell out of them? Becoming the only thing anyone wants to talk about in interviews or online? Losing roles because some of my connections are bigoted as fuck? You keep saying it'll be fine, but you don't know that for sure, Gary. You could be wrong. Things are better now, yeah, but this shit is still hard. Give me a break."

The silence that followed was heavy, and I was about to apologize when Gary finally said, "If that's how you feel, Vince, then I really don't think being friends with Andy is a good idea. The more time you spend with him, the deeper you'll dig this hole. You need less Andy, not more."

I leaned back in my chair, groaning. "This morning, he ran next to me, shirtless, completely soaked. He laughed at my jokes. He called me out on my shit like he could see right through me. And then he sat there in my car, quiet and pretty, while we listened to the rain. Gary, I swear, it's like he's doing this on purpose. He's torturing me."

"He's not doing anything on purpose," Gary said, his voice calm but firm. "He's trying to be your friend. He likes you."

"I'm trying to be his friend too, but at this rate, my right hand is going to fall off--"

"Vince!" Gary hissed, clearly trying not to wake Frank. "Can you not?!"

"Just tell me how to push this aside and be friends."