Friends Don't, But We Do

4. Put A Little You in My Drink

It's two weeks without speaking to him. My anger faded away after about day four. But my pride stuck around and that's the reason I haven't called. If I know him at all, that's the reason he hasn't either.

It's May now, and I realize I shouldn't be wasting his summer home not speaking to him. In a couple months he'll be gone for hockey season and it's nearly impossible to see him during those eight or nine months.

Chris and I are progressing into relationship territory. But I admit that I'm not as excited about him as I was in the beginning. Regardless, he's been genuine with me so the least I can do is give him an ongoing chance.

At work, he hasn't asked me to make him copies of documents- even though it's literally what I get paid to do- and I think that's sweet. Totally unnecessary but sweet. The point is, I'm at a good place in my romantic life and work has been worse, so I don't wanna have any problems with one of my good friends.

My friend Vanessa asked me to get drinks with her tonight, so after work I change into a mini skirt and crop top before meeting her at a popular club in Winnipeg. I invite Chris too, and he agrees to meet me there later. He had a board meeting at 7.

"Girl you look amazing!" Vanessa greets me, hugging me quickly and then pulling me with her to the bar. It's still early, so not too crowded and therefore it's easy to get a drink at the bar. Vanessa catches me up with her life in college and then introduces me to some of her college friends. They're all nice and love to party. I'm drunk by the time Chris arrives, finding me easily at one of the tables just off the dance floor.

"Hey Teagan," he yells over the music and wraps his hands around my waist. "Hi Chri-isss," I drag out, sliding my hands up around his neck and pulling him down so I can kiss him fervently. The music pulses in my ears as I slip my tongue in his mouth, not wanting to stop.

He pulls back after about a minute, smiling sweetly and telling me he's gonna get himself a drink and a refill for me. I watch him until his body disappears among everyone dancing. I could get used to this.

I sway slightly to the beat of the techno song playing, looking around for Vanessa and the rest of the girls but not finding them.

"Teegs!"

I would recognize that voice anywhere. I turn around and Nolan is standing there, a goofy smile on his face and a hat backwards on his head. He's drunk too, his cheeks are as red as ever. I've missed him. The alcohol makes me not question my first instinct, which is to hug him and not let him go. "Nolan!" I exclaim and throw my arms around him, squeezing his body and pushing my hot cheek against his plain T-shirt. "Oooh! You got stronger, didn't you?" I ask, laughing.

He blushes at my compliment and shrugs. "In two weeks? I don't know, maybe."

I laugh, and we pick up where we left off as if we never fought. "I ran into Vanessa at the bar. She said you were here somewhere," he says. I nod, happy that he came to find me. "Who did you come with?"

He tells me that he's just with his usual friends- Kale, Rhett, Tanner, and a few other guys he's grown up playing hockey with. I shoulda known since he rarely does anything without them. I spot Chris coming over to me, and preface his arrival by telling Nolan that I want to introduce him. The alcohol makes him indifferent.

I hadn't imagined how introducing Nolan to a boyfriend would go- partly because with every guy I've dated recently, things never worked out by the summer when Nolan was back in town. But if I had imagined it, it probably would've went something like this.

Nolan tried talking to Chris about hockey, but Chris is more of a football guy. Then he tried talking about work, but it was pretty obvious that Nolan couldn't care less about the daily life of a paralegal. The whole thing was just a little bit awkward, and I was half expecting Nolan to stage an exit and go back to his friends.