Page 71 of Trust Me

“There’s a first time for everything.”

The grin on his face made my heart do a weird little dance. It sort of reminded me of the goofy way my buddy West acted, but that had never given me a palpitation. I must’ve really been tired.

“Plop that ass down,” he said, curling his legs so there was space for me. “I just have one condition.”

“You’re not in a place to set conditions.”

After I sat down, I looked over at him. He was silent, but his lip was pushed outward. It was more comical than anything, yet I found myself caving.

As if he could tell, he smiled again. “I’m making you watch something with me.”

“I’m gonna hate this,” I groaned.

“No, you’ll love it.”

While I dumped a pile of criminally greasy tacos on the table, he grabbed a metal case off of his bookshelf. Like it was the nineties, he slipped out a DVD and fed it to his Xbox. Honestly, I respected it. Streaming services had become dumb, greedy bastards. I’d never been to a Blockbuster, but I thought it would be cool to bring those relics back.

“What is it?” I asked before I stuffed a taco into my mouth.

“One of the greatest anime to ever exist.”

“Poké Ball Z or something?”

“Poké Ball Z?” He looked at me like I’d stomped on his goldfish. “Are you . . . Dean, you have to move out.”

I waved a dismissive hand. “Just put your weeb shit on.”

“Oh, we’re gonna fight.”

I used a taco to hide my laugh. The way he plopped onto the couch made me wonder if he was as flabbergasted as he seemed. It was just anime. I’d never been interested in trying it out, mostly because people always told me I had to. Allegedly, it would change my life or some shit. I hated overhyped things, so I just ignored them, but Oli seemed excited about this, so I guess I’d have to suffer through it.

“So, is this like Greek mythology or something?” I asked when I read the title on the screen.

“No.”

“But Titans are Greek.”

“I swear to God I’ll remove your spleen if you don’t shut up.”

With a snicker, I leaned back. When I felt his feet behind me, I stiffened and almost sat up, but then I decided against it.

“I made you a spreadsheet,” I said as the first scene opened. “To track your finances.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? It’s a damn good one. I use it for my own records.”

I was going to continue, but he was suddenly right beside me, putting his finger over my lips. “Shh.”

I snorted a laugh and swatted his hand away. “Fine, weirdo.”

As if the finger thing hadn’t been imposing enough, he reached across me and pushed his fingers into my jeans pocket. I was on the verge of shoving him back, but a second later, he pulled my dab pen out and held it up to me.

“You can smoke this in here if you shut the hell up.”

“You don’t have to bribe me.”

“I don’t like seeing you go outside in the cold to do it.”

Gently, I took it from him and brought it to my lips. His eyes fell to my mouth, and he just watched me the entire time I took a hit. Even though I knew he didn’t smoke, I didn’t try to blow it away from him. His nose wrinkled a little when it hit his face and dispersed outward, all while he refused to breathe.

I waved it away, trying not to laugh. “My bad.”

He put his finger to my lips again, and this time I bit it hard, forcing him to yank it back.

“Jerk,” he muttered, but there was a soft smile on his face.

He settled back on the couch, this time shifting his legs so they were in my lap instead of behind me. His calves were bare, and for a second, I stared down at them. I thought about asking him to move, but I didn’t actually care that much. And he looked comfortable. This was his bed, after all, and he should be allowed to relax.

I found him looking at me, so I turned back to the TV.

No talking during the show. Apparently, this was serious.