Best Friends with Benefits

12

Tyler
Saturday Evening @ Chase's House

"I don't know." Chase shrugged putting a new game into the Playstation. "Have you ever considered that maybe you do have feelings for her? I mean, you wouldn't threaten a girl over me."

"I know I don't have feelings for her, man." I sighed. "Amari and I have been too close for too long. Maybe a couple of years ago, but not now."

"So you used to like her?" Chase asked turning to look at me with a suppressed smile.

"No. She was always one of the boys and I'm not into guys." I shrugged. "I mean, there was one time when we were 11, but that's long gone."

"See, that's your problem." Chase shook his head. "You're so worried about what she used to be instead of what she is now. And let me tell you, she is finer than wine in the summertime. I mean, 10 out of 10 would smash. No joke. I'd..." I cut him off.

"Finish that sentence and I'll cut your throat out, put it in a box, and ship it to your mother." I glared at him.

"Sorry." He held his hands up in surrender. "I'm just saying."

"And I'm just saying. Even if I did like her, I couldn't date her." I shook my head and glanced at him. "What if it ends bad? My Mom would kill me if I became the reason why Amari distanced herself from our family. I'm taking a risk just by being her best friend."

"So, just make sure it doesn't end badly." Chase shrugged. "I still think you should go for it."

"I can't." I sighed.

"You can, you just won't." He shrugged staring down at his controller.

"Say that I did want to go for it..." I started and he looked over to me with wide eyes. "How would I go about doing that?"

Amari

"Yeah I like him, but I refuse to let him play me stupid." I rolled my eyes. "I know Tyler like the back of my hand. He says he doesn't like me like that, and I believe him. He wouldn't purposely hurt my feelings."

"I don't know." Lana hummed painting her toe nails. "Are you sure you believe him? I mean, you're still chasing after him so you must think you have a chance."

"It's not that I think I have a chance." I sighed laying beside her. "It's just that I know I want a chance. I know that I want to be good for him. With him. Why won't he let me?"

"Because of Naomi." Lana mumbled. "Naomi is a bitch with no sense of humor, but she is really pretty, popular, and a stable choice."

"Stable choice?" I glanced at her confused.

"When Naomi is with someone, she's all about them. Sure, she can be crazy. I mean, remember how Jerry tried to break up with her and it was that whole thing with his new girlfriend in the girls locker room? She was all about him, but now she's all about Tyler." Lana looked over at me. "You have that thing with Jake, but you're sitting here complaining about how Tyler won't even look at your ass for longer than five seconds. Jake's a great guy. Tyler shouldn't even be crossing your mind."

"So you're saying Naomi is a better choice than me? Great." I sighed.

"That's not what I'm saying. Tyler wants someone he has all rights to, but he also wants to run around and do his own thing. A dysfunctional guy like him needs a dysfunctional girl like Naomi. A girl that'll let him cheat because she'll never see the wrong he's doing." Lana explained. "He can't do that with you. You're too good of a girl to hurt, you're gorgeous and know your worth, and you're really close with him family. His Mom would literally murder him."

Know your worth. I wonder if she'd still think that if she knew that Tyler and I had been hooking up behind Naomi's back.

"You're right." I said. "Jake is a great guy and I'm the only girl he's looking at right now. Maybe I should be paying more attention to him rather than Tyler."

"Good to know that you listen." Lana laughed. "You and Tyler would've been cute, though. I can't believe you two never considered it before now. I can't believe he still isn't considering it."

Me either. I mean, 17 years is a long time to be just friends. I can't say that I never thought that something would happen between us, because everyone thought that there would be something between us. I just never thought that he'd reject me. That he'd choose someone else over me. That I would need advice about my best friend and what he looks for in a girl. I thought I knew Tyler. I thought I knew us. I guess guys and girls can be just friends. We were for 17 years.