“The what?” I pull a face at him as he fires his eyes to me.
“The apartment two doors down,” Tyler murmurs before Snake has the chance to reply. He joins me again and passes me a towel, which I accept with a smile of gratitude. “Some college chicks. They’re hella annoying.” Bending over slightly, he ruffles his hair with his own towel.
“Huh,” Snake says after a second. “You weren’t calling them annoying when you were all doing body shots on each other last month.”
“That was a dare,” Tyler interjects, his body shooting upright. His hair’s everywhere, and if I weren’t so focused on Snake’s words then perhaps I’d find it cute. “Your dare, actually.”
Snake grins and it makes his nose seem a little crooked, like it’s been broken before. “Yet you had no complaints when it came to doing it.”
Tyler just shakes his head, yet I’m hoping he’ll say something. Defend himself. Even, hopefully, tell me that Snake’s just kidding. Who are these girls that live in apartment 1201? College girls? I’ll bet they’re gorgeous. I’ll bet they’re smart. I’ll bet they all hang out often.
“I’m gonna call Dean,” I blurt. I’m not sure why the thought even crosses my mind, but after I say it I realize that I really, really do need to call him. It’s overdue and I can almost hear my phone yelling my name from Tyler’s room. So I turn around, towel in hand, and float through into his bedroom. Or my bedroom. Whichever.
I catch Tyler furrowing his eyebrows at me as I shut the door and I’m tempted to throw him an apologetic smile, but then I remember the body shots. I look away quickly and click the door shut, my expression blank. It doesn’t remain like that for much longer, though, because soon I’m gnawing on my lower lip as I reach for my phone and dial Dean’s number.
The sound of the monotonous ring almost makes me feel sick. If I could, I’d avoid all contact with him for the next six weeks. Six weeks to get my thoughts in order, to decide if I want to stay with him or if I don’t. Right now, I’m too busy trying to figure out how I feel about Tyler. It’d be better if I could figure out how I feel about Dean much later, but apparently I have to figure it all out now, at the exact same time. I’m juggling the two of them back and forth, trying not to hurt either of them, but already I’m struggling. I can’t think of a way to resolve any of this.
“So you are alive,” Dean’s voice mutters into my ear, his abrupt greeting bringing my attention back to the call. His contemptuous tone makes me regret this already.
“Sorry,” I say. I almost want to sigh, but for his sake I manage to suppress it. “I got so caught up in everything and then my phone died and—”
“And what? They don’t have landlines in New York? They don’t have phone booths?”
I draw my phone away from my ear and scrunch my face up at it. Damn. Part of me wants to hang up right there and then because of his bitter attitude, but the rest of me seems to have the common sense to know that that’ll only make this worse. So I press the phone back to my ear. “I haven’t even been here twenty-four hours. Just chill out. You’re acting like I haven’t called you in a week. I’m here. I’m in one piece.” I grit my teeth and set myself down on the corner of Tyler’s bed. The mattress is soft, but I’m far from comfortable. “And the city is great, thanks for asking.”
Dean doesn’t reply immediately. Instead, he remains silent and the only thing I can hear over the line is the sound of his breathing. Slow and deep. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles after a while. “It’s just that we’re on completely different coasts and I’m not getting to see you every day. I need to be able to talk to you. You owe me that at least.”
“I know.” I glance around Tyler’s room, nervously looking for something to focus on, but only end up staring back at the towel in my lap. I hadn’t realized I was still holding the baseball, either. I squeeze it hard. It’s cold and slightly wet. “I’ll try to call you more.”
“You better,” Dean shoots back, but his tone is softer now. “Do you want to drive me crazy over here?”
“Just try not to think about me,” I joke. After the words leave my lips, I realize I’m not even kidding. I don’t want Dean to be thinking about me. I’m too busy thinking about Tyler to pay Dean the same amount of attention. “Really,” I say, “don’t think about me.”
“It’s not that easy.”