Max exhaled sharply through his nose, biting his inner lip. He suppressed a smile and bowed his head. He didn’t think this day would ever come.
He didn’t see any reason to hide something that was out in the open.
Chuckling, he whispered, “That makes you more observant that people give you credit for.”
Five years and no one had ever called him out for it. The sudden exposure seemed almost anti-climactic.
Well, Lauren hardly stayed in town anyway. He only got to know her because they lived next to each other. Jae and Logan only saw her when they would come over to his house.
He found it ironic that it had been Colin who caught him. Colin usually spent the summer out of town and that was the same season Lauren would come into town.
Until this year, they had never met.
Did he lose his touch? Could other people tell that he liked Lauren now?
Colin let out a breath. When he didn’t hear Max deny it, his chest squeezed a little. He stepped backwards until he felt cold metal behind him. Two days had already passed since the party happened but the memories of the time after they cleaned up still affected him greatly.
“I wouldn’t really say that” he said, shaking his head, “Did you really pretend to get Alex laid because you were worried he’d turn out to be gay and break Lauren’s heart?”
Max snapped his head towards Colin. That one sentence perfectly described what happened. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.
The accuracy of Colin’s words felt scary to hear. It almost seemed like he didn’t wear any clothes and that Colin could see through him like an x-ray would.
“You say it’s not but then you say something like that” Max snorted, crossing his arms. Colin didn’t have to pretend to be humble.
Colin pressed his lips together.
“It’s not an observation” he clarified, “You do know that you talk when you sleep, right?”
The night after the party had been long for Colin. It would be for anybody with two drunk friends snoring loudly together in one room.
It didn’t help that they both had a habit of talking in their sleep which became worse when they’re drunk.
Colin sometimes thought this was how he actually got to know his friends. Not that he listened to them on purpose but because he usually took the role of designated driver while the two slept it off in the car.
Even when he didn’t drink out with them, he’d be the one they call, reasoning that they trusted him around their drunk selves.
For Colin, he took that responsibility seriously but times came when he also felt conflicted.
The events after that party proved to be one of them. Until that night, he never linked the Lauren drunk Max used to mumble in his sleep was the Lauren he had just met.
The connection hit him like a ton of bricks. He distinctly recalled that he once commented to himself how much Max must love that girl…
… but not once did he question Max about it.
“You’ve heard me talk, huh?” Max replied, “Then again, I already suspected that. It would be abnormal not to hear Jae and I talk after a drinking session while we slept. We really appreciate how you never mentioned anything about it unless we do.”
“I’d say today’s an exception to that, I guess.”
“Looking like I do, how could it not be?” Max joked. His eyes swept the floor until he found the ball. He walked towards, “Is it story time? Is this my cue to tell you how I feel about Lauren?”
He picked up the ball, rotating it again in between his hands. He looked up at the basket. He seemed to be in a good angle for a shot.
“I’d say yes but you never really made a move” Colin turned to his side and leaned a shoulder against the basket’s pole stand, crossing his arms.
Max gave him a skeptical look. He put the ball in one hand and opened his arms, “Dude, I thought you were observant. Why would I make a move if she clearly doesn’t see me that way? That would be a waste of time.”
He jumped on heels and threw the ball onto the basket. It went through in one smooth motion. The basket’s strings swayed at the contact.
The ball bounced on the floor and rolled towards Colin’s feet.
“So you decided to set her up instead?” Colin answered him with an equally skeptical look.
Max rolled his eyes.
“I didn’t pick Alex randomly, you know. To be honest, I find him too thin for Lauren except he makes her happy so… that obviously mattered more than his figure” he scratched the back of his head then, he dropped his hand to the side, “He also seems like a good guy. I saw no reason to break them apart so I try my best to support them instead. That’s also why I tricked them into a double date with me.”
Five years and Max would have to be the dumbest person alive if he didn’t accept that Lauren could never look at him in a romantic way. Even if she did, he knew she deserved someone much better than a ladies’ man like him. It wouldn’t be right for such a sweet girl to have that kind of partner.
Colin picked up the ball and held it with two hands. He slowly took a deep breath. He thought Max would have switched the topic by now—except there he was, unashamed about his feelings and his actions.
He licked his lips and stepped forward.
Max scrunched his eyebrows at the sight of Colin. He waited patiently for Colin to tell him whatever he had weighing in his mind. He could see it just by the way Colin’s eyes darted around the gym. That usually meant he had something to say but he didn’t know how to say it.
“What is it?” He finally asked. He remembered that Colin could take days before he would share his thoughts.
When Colin looked at him, his entire expression was impassive. He clearly still felt unsure.
Max hung his head, squeezing his eyes. The suspense could really kill him if Colin still didn’t talk.
“Dude, just tell me. I doubt it would be any different if you say it later or tomorrow or another day” Max pleaded. He pressed a hand on one side of his face and wiped it downwards.
Halfway done, he heard Colin speak.
“What if I like her?”
Max froze into ice. His hand still touched his face and his entire body lost all feeling. Who would have thought that two of his friends could become a couple?
If they wanted to talk about nice guys, Colin topped that list. Just the mere fact that he could tolerate him, Jae and Logan altogether proved that. Colin clearly was the perfect candidate to look after Lauren.
Forget about being the mother hen of the group, he needed to be out in the wild mating!
“Well, that’s great then!” Max exclaimed. Colin took a step back at his outburst but Max ran up to him for a hug.
Then, he clapped both of his hands against Colin’s shoulders, “I’m sorry if I tried to setup Lauren and Alex, buddy. You should have told me sooner! I would have been the best wingman! Don’t worry about a thing. I’m on your side. I could turn that double date around so Lauren wouldn’t think of Alex as a potential boyfriend.”
If there had been a formula on how to get Max back to his normal self, Colin didn’t think this one right now would be one of them.
He’d expected Max to be even more upset. It seemed insensitive to do so but when a friend comes clean, it only seemed right to return the favor.
“Are you sure about this?” Colin stared at Max’s eyes hard but Max smiled so wide that his eyes squinted from it.
“Of course, of course” Max moved to his side, wrapping his arm around Colin’s shoulder, “I’ll help you out. If you two get married, make sure I’m the best man, alright?”
Colin smacked the back of his head.
“We’re too young to talk about marriage, Max” He scolded him.
Max rubbed the sore spot with a pout, “I was only thinking about the two of you. I have heard that it’s better for females to have kids ear—”
Whatever Max had to say died when Colin caught his neck to a headlock.
“Hey, wait a minute! You and Jae seriously need to stop doing this to me! I’ll have a stiff neck one day because you guys!”
Max struggled to get out of his hold but Colin merely laughed. Although Max may hide his true feelings about Lauren and maybe he actually felt crushed to watch her be with someone else but…
… Colin could think about those later. At the moment, he just felt happy to have Max back.
He eventually let Max go who playfully glared at him while he massaged his neck.
Colin patted his back, “Thank you for your support, Max. But if you want Lauren to forgive you, I think the best way is to have Alex forgive you first.”
Max pressed his lips together, “You think he’d still do that if I made Lauren hate him?”
Colin immediately shook his head, “No, no, Max. You cannot do that!”
“Why not?”
“Lauren would just hate you more.”
“What she doesn’t know can’t hurt me.”
“Yeah, because that clearly worked out last Saturday.”
At that, reason finally entered Max’s brain. He placed a finger to under his lips, thinking out loud, “What if—”
“I don’t even wanna hear it” Colin dropped the ball onto the floor. He turned Max around and began to push him out of the gym, “This time we’ll do things my way, okay?”
