Just Like That

42. "a few more weeks"

Breanna Michelle Santana

   All it took was seeing him again for me to forget why I ever left in the first place. I really liked Grayson, maybe even loved him, but I wasn't sure I was ready to forgive him. I was so tired of the back-and-forth between us; one of us fucks up, we argue and swear each other off only to end up in bed together.

I've accepted my faults and owned up to them, that didn't make it right. We both had some work to do if we were going to get back on track to complete this bet on time.

"The nerve of that guy, am I right?" Joey spat, pacing through the foyer as we entered his hotel room.

Conveniently enough, he had been in town again but this time on business. It wasn't a permanent solution but it was looking like I wouldn't be needing him much longer anymore after making up with Grayson.

Not caring what he had to say bad about my "boyfriend", I just let him blab on, nodding my head to show that I was paying attention.

"I can't tell you who to hang with and who not to, but if you have any respect for me or yourself, you'd stay away from that guy." Joey kneeled down before me as I sat in a chair at the table. He put his hand on top of mine and looked deeply into my eyes.

"Oh, Joey," I sighed, putting my palm on his face,"it's not that easy."

Or was it?

Joey hung his head. When he looked up, I closed my mouth. He looked so upset. "K, then. I'll drop it, sorry. How about lunch?"

"Sure. What're we hungry for?"

Joey stood and led me to the kitchen area where we read over the menu. "How's a grilled cheese sound, I haven't had one since I was a kid?" He looked at me with a faint smile.

I smiled back. "I'd like that. Ooh, with soup!"

"Chicken or tomato?"

"Hm. I was going to say chicken, but tomato's calling my name. Surprise me!" I flicked his nose and skipped over to the balcony to stare out into the view of the city.

It wasn't too long later when room service was delivered, we had our cart of food and we eating on the floor like little kids.

I was giggling after something Joey said, he was mildly funny, I appreciated his dry humor. The only thing is, he wasn't goofy and I kind of missed that. It had been so long since Grayson and I were goofy together because in the past few months we were always at each other's throats, both literally and figuratively.

Joey used a napkin to wipe the crumbs from his mouth and finished laughing.

"So when do I get to meet the parents, or is that exclusive for boyfriends only?"

I removed the warm sandwich from my mouth and swallowed. "Joey, you have to understand, not only do I not really talk to my parents anymore, but I've only had one boyfriend and as soon as he met my parents, I found out he was gay. So, I'm not exactly dying to introduce them to anyone else. You're not gay, are you?"

He chuckled some,"No, I'm not gay. You'd know that if you ever let me touch you."

"Please not this again, I told you-"

"I know," he sat up,"it's always 'I'm on my period' or 'I'm not in the mood'. If you're not into me then just say that."

Why did I feel so bad? Joey was a great guy and not at all ugly, he just wasn't for me. I was just so stuck on Grayson, I couldn't allow myself to move on. The first thing he'd ask is if I let anyone else touch me and if I had, he'd be disgusted and not want anything to do with me. Besides, I'd be pretty bummed to find out Grayson's been sleeping around.