Chapter Seven
Allie
In high school, there had been this girl, Gemma, that everyone liked. She was definitely tall and gorgeous enough to be a model, but she’d been way more interested in getting good grades and going to an Ivy League school, so she had basically sworn off dating. We sat next to each other in chemistry class junior year, so I was a firsthand witness sometimes to the ways guys would more or less throw themselves at her feet, only to be rebuked. Mostly, she was nice, if not a little cool about it; it wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the guys who were interested in her, she just didn’t have any desire to do the dating thing whatsoever.
Though I didn’t use Facebook much, I knew that Gemma was now in grad school at Columbia, and she did have a boyfriend. She seemed happy, or as happy as someone could seem based on their curated social media page. But what I remembered most about her was not her perfect ski slope nose or how clothes just seemed designed to fit her body, but the way she was so completely detached about every single guy that had shown interest in her.
I was thinking about this when Cole’s friend, Ben, had ridden past, and when he waved and said hi, I stood, waved back, and gestured for him to stop.
Which he did, of course.
Was it at all manipulative of me to suggest that we hang out, after initially turning him down? I had no intention of sleeping with him, but if he was going to make a bet like that with Cole, then I figured at the very least I could have a little fun with it, too.
When I checked my phone on Friday after work, there was a text from Ben, and I wrote back and told him that if he wanted to go out tonight, we could. He offered to come pick me up at 7, so I said sure.
There was still plenty of daylight left when I got home, so I changed and went out to work in the garden. It was a bit intimidating, just the sheer mess of it, but I figured if I started in a corner and worked my way out, I’d at least have a start on it.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I noticed that though it wasn’t dark yet, the sun was definitely setting. I’d left my phone inside, so I dusted my hands off, went inside, and saw that it was 10 of 7.
Ben didn’t strike me as the sort of person who would show up on time for anything, but I quickly washed my face, got changed into something that wasn’t covered in dirt, and was brushing my teeth when I heard a knock at the door.
“Be right out!” I said.
When I went to the front door, I saw that we were basically wearing matching outfits: olive green shorts (his were much baggier), and black T-shirts.
“Nice outfit,” I said.
He looked down at what he was wearing, then back to me. Grinned. “Guess great minds really do think alike,” he said. “Want to take my car?”
“Sure.”
I followed him out and noticed how he kept glancing over at Cole’s, probably wanting him to see us getting into the car and leaving.
“You been to Gardner yet?” Ben asked. He had some sort of hip hop playing, and though it wasn’t turned up too loudly, the bass vibrated the whole car. He had his Red Sox cap on backward, and he slouched in the driver’s seat, one hand lightly holding the steering wheel, the other in his lap.
I shook my head. “No. I haven’t done too much exploring outside of Chapin so far.”
“Why don’t we go there, then? You like seafood? There’s this great seafood shack there we could get some food at, if you’re hungry.”
“Sure,” I said. “Sounds good.”
We drove in silence for a little while, Ben nodding his head along to the beat of the song, mouthing the words under his breath every once in a while. It felt a little strange to be in a car with him; I hadn’t even had so much as a first date throughout high school and college. Not that there was going to be anything going on tonight with Ben, either, but it still seemed a little strange to be sitting next to him, going out to dinner, like any other couple might be doing on a Friday night.
“So have you and Cole known each other a long time?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Practically our whole lives. He’s like a brother to me, really. I knew when he ended up moving out here to Chapin that I’d move close by, too.”
“You guys didn’t grow up here?”
“Nah. We grew up on the coast, little beach town. Cole’s parents are wicked rich, if he hasn’t told you that yet.”
“He didn’t mention anything.”
“That’s not surprising. He doesn’t like to talk about that sort of thing.” Ben sighed. “There’s a lot he doesn’t talk about.”
He said this last part almost to himself, and though I could have pushed to find out what he meant, I chose not to.
“What about you?” he said. “You hail from the great big city?”
“I do.”
“And you just wanted to escape and live out the small town life fantasy?” He laughed. “Not that it’s much of a fantasy.”
“I like it out here,” I said. “So far. It’s nice to have quiet and space. To be in nature and not surrounded by concrete and asphalt and disgusting car fumes.”
“Cole lived in Boston for a while, when he was going to school. I’d come down and visit him sometimes. The city’s cool, but I don’t know if I could live there myself, either.”
We ordered fried cod, fried clams, and a basket of fries, plus two Cokes, which I normally didn’t drink. The food was incredibly good, though I’d probably have some sort of indigestion the next day.
Ben asked me how my new bike was. I’d gone into the shop one day after work, but he’d been busy helping someone else, so one of his co-workers had let me test ride a couple bikes before I finally settled on a hybrid that I could ride on the road and on the trails. We talked about bikes for a little bit, the conversation somehow always coming back to Cole.
“We raced BMX,” Ben said. “That was about the only time Cole and I have ever really competed against each other.”
“I get the feeling the two of you have a rather competitive relationship.”
“We do.”
“Not just with bikes.”
He nodded. “Not just with bikes,” he agreed.
I almost said, with women, too, just so I could see the expression on his face, but I decided not to.
When we were done eating, Ben drove me around a little bit, gave me a little tour of Gardner, and then drove me home.
“It’s funny,” Ben said. “While I had a really great time with you tonight, I feel like we talked about Cole more than anything else.”
“Did we?” I asked.
“Sort of seemed like it. Not saying that’s a bad thing or anything—he’s my boy—but, I guess I’m just not used to talking about another dude when I’m on a date.”
“Is that what this is?”
He regarded me. “Isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I felt like I was a little quick to turn you down the first time that you had come over.”
He shifted in the seat and leaned on the center console, his face now just a few inches from mine. Ben was certainly not bad-looking, but he just wasn’t my type. I could tell that he was going to try to kiss me, which wasn’t how I wanted to end the night. So I fumbled for the door handle and pushed it open, undoing my seat belt right as he leaned a little closer.
“It’s getting late. I should get inside,” I said.
He didn’t say anything for a second, and I knew he was waiting to see if I was going to invite him in. “Thanks again for taking me out,” I said.
He shifted back and gave me a close-mouthed smile. “No problem,” he said. “Oh, and by the way, Cole has herpes.”