Naomi chuckled at Kieran's most recent text as she leaned against her car in the baseball complex parking lot.
Kieran: Today's food fact has me worried my brother might chuck my meat and yogurt to fill our fridge with spinach. Sometimes I swear that man was built without tastebugs.
The screenshot of Jake's app gave the average protein content count of 2.9g for 100 grams of spinach. It mentioned that a small study of 10 athletes taking spinach supplements for 14 days reduced muscle damage after running a half-marathon.
Kieran: ugh typos**tastebuds** But wouldn't it be creepy if little bugs lived on our tongue, consuming our food and shouting out the flavours to our brain?
Naomi: Tiny bacteria must live in our mouth to help start the digestive process and that running fact is intriguing.
Kieran: Have you been hanging out with Jake without me? Or has he become so techy that you're an elaborate creation designed to push healthy eating in an extremely tailored way who is momentarily glitching?
Naomi: Ouch, one comment is all it takes to question my humanity. What about all the pizzas we shared?
Kieran: It's more of a fear of his skills than anything.
Naomi: So if I said I had a banana, spinach, and strawberry smoothie for breakfast before my run, would you suspect I'm a robot?
Kieran: About a 60% chance. How gross was it?
Naomi: I used maple syrup to offset the taste, so not bad?
Kieran: It dropped to 20%. If you wanted to stop by to hang out, that would drop it down to 0.
She grinned. Going out after Rusty's training had been the highlight of her weeks. Last week's visit to the Greek restaurant with its flame-kissed appetizer had been memorable. Even though they hadn't talked about it, Kieran flirted with her a lot. Anytime she got close to him, he became a grinning, snuggly koala bear, which she loved.
Hanging out with him was more appealing than drinking with the team, although they were celebrating Ian's acceptance into his internship program. She didn't want to bail, especially since he'd been her rock at softball and was thrilled she'd agreed to come.
Naomi: That's tempting, but I'll have to delay it until tomorrow. If you meet me out front at Brinny's, we can sneak an extra one in early.
Kieran: Crafty Naomi, I love it.
His enthusiasm filled her heart with hope, but whatever build-up was happening might differ from how he'd be if this ever turned romantic.
"Nomi?" a familiar voice asked softly.
Her ex's green-gray eyes met hers.
"Hey, Greg."
Things had been awkward but civil since he'd had Tara at the game two weeks ago. One of them seemed to realize they'd struck a nerve, and she'd stopped attending.
He straightened a polo shirt Tara had bought him. "Are you going to the pub for Ian's celebration tonight?"
She nodded. "And yourself?"
He tucked his hands in his shorts pockets. "Yeah."
"Waiting for Marc?"
"He has to help Nimkii with something before he goes, and I didn't want to be a third wheel. Feel free to say no, but can I get a ride?"
Naomi fidgeted with her keys. "Tara's busy?"
"She's setting up at the bar. If you're uncomfortable with it, I'll take the bus."
"It's fine. Hop in." She'd driven him countless times. What was one more?
As he sat in the passenger seat, she searched for the address and best route. Luckily, there'd only be ten minutes of potential awkwardness ahead, according to Google Maps.
While she drove, Greg tapped his fingers on the door panel near the window like he did when he was thinking. She turned on the radio to break the awkward silence and, to her luck, an old Three Days Grace chorus belted out, 'I hate everything about you. Why do I love you?' She quickly changed it to a classic rock station where the Guess Who sang 'No time for the love you send. Seasons change and so did I.'
"How's work going?" Greg finally broke the silence.
"Good, took on a new private client, but otherwise, pretty status quo. What about you?"
"That's great. The market's unstable, so people are constantly checking in like our company doesn't employ a team of analysts to handle situations like this. I've had lots of fun and late nights at work."
"Tara must love that," Naomi said out of habit from before the long-term couple broke up. She regretted it the second it left her lips. She didn't want to know about their relationship.
"Why do you think I'm going to Ian's tonight? He doesn't want me there, but she does."
Naomi was so glad she wasn't stuck in a relationship with that dynamic. "And you want to sit at home and play Call of Duty."
He chuckled. "Is that too much to ask?"
If he'd been working overtime all week, it didn't seem like it. The dark circles under his eyes confirmed he wasn't getting much sleep.
"Why didn't you skip softball?"
From the corner of her eye, Naomi caught Greg staring at her, but she refocused on the road.
"She would have had me running errands."
Greg didn't sound happy. If anything, he was as annoyed as he was before his break-up with Tara. It astounded Naomi that people would tolerate that just for sexual chemistry. Kieran had done it with Brinny. Although from the conversations Naomi overheard, he hardly spent time with Brinny anymore, despite the time he spent messaging Naomi throughout the day. Even if it seemed wrong to enjoy Brinny's discomfort, the news still thrilled Naomi. During the game earlier, Kieran had been texting her pictures about a gelato place they could visit.
"What has you so smiley?"
"Gelato." It wasn't an outright lie.
"Oh yeah? A pit stop before the pub?" Greg's smile matched his upbeat tone, which was odd considering he usually avoided eating out, as it was an unnecessary expense.
"Nah, I'll save it for the weekend."
Greg ran his hands over his shorts and exhaled. "Thanks for driving. I miss this."
Naomi swallowed the lump in her throat. "I did too at first, but maybe things are supposed to be this way. None of your girlfriends liked how close we were, and neither did Luke."
He sighed and closed his eyes. "Considering your next boyfriend, or do you already have one?"
Shit. She should not have opened that door. Things were almost okay between them. "No, I don't. But you have a girlfriend, and Tara has never liked me. Things should be easier for you two with me out of the picture."
"Nothing's easier," he muttered quietly enough that he must have thought she couldn't hear him.
His statement was one-sided because their relationship had her overthinking, feeling guilty, and panicking. Even though she and Kieran weren't dating, it was easy with him. His touch was soothing and warm, his laughs infectious, and he treated her asexuality with curiosity and respectful cautiousness instead of disdain.
"Will we ever go back to being friends?" Greg asked.
"Maybe once more time has passed." Her heart was still tender.
They spent the rest of the drive in silence. As he typed on his phone, a familiar work logo appeared in the top corner of the app. She focused on traffic and not speeding through the never-ending construction zones.
When they entered the pub, Tara spotted them and made a beeline for Greg. "You're the last one here," she chided him.
From the group of tables, Ian was eyeing Greg with disdain.
"Something came up, and Marc couldn't drive me, so Nomi offered."
"Thank you, Naomi." Tara's sincerity seemed forced.
"The decorations look nice," Naomi tried to diffuse the tension. A red and gold banner hung on the wall.
"They messed up the colours, but my brother would never notice, so I suppose it's fine."
"Ian's chill like that." Naomi readjusted her purse as they lingered awkwardly. "I'm going to grab a seat. Nice to see you, Tara."
Naomi went to congratulate Ian, who stood for a hug. A few people she didn't recognize sat beside him, including a woman wearing a 'May the N.M. be with Joule' t-shirt in a Star Wars-looking font. They must be his engineering buddies.
"You must be Naomi," a man with a trimmed dark beard said in a slight Indian accent.
She wracked her brain for the names Ian mentioned often. "Are you Fateh?"
"No, I'm Nick, that's Fateh," the man smirked and pointed at the fair-skinned redhead in the group.
"Fateh's messing with you," Ian said. "That's Nick, and this is Jia," he nodded to a woman with black hair wearing the Star Wars t-shirt.
"Nice to meet you all. Ian's always talking about you. Great shirt," she said to Jia.
"Thank you. Glad somebody appreciates it." She eyed Fateh, who shrugged.
"You drove Greg here?" Ian asked.
"Marc had to help his girlfriend, and your sister was busy, so he asked."
"I would have peeled out and left him choking on a cloud of dust." Ian wore a satisfied smile.
Naomi chuckled. "I'm not that vindictive."
"It's the appropriate punishment for being a dick."
"Tonight's about you, not him, so tell me all about this internship."
That made Ian brighten, and she squished onto the bench to learn all about the security company whose computer programs he would be working with. "And of course, Jia landed a government internship. She always beats us out for the coveted spots."
"Can't help that I'm brilliant."
"If you ever want to share any of that mind power, you let me know," Naomi joked.
Despite not understanding their engineering-specific conversations, she got along with Ian's friends. She outstayed Greg and Tara, who took off after forty-five minutes and a few celebration shots he grumbled about paying for. Marc and Nimkii showed up later, and soon it was down to the sweet couple, Naomi, Ian, and a basket of fries.
Ian swayed beside her, his eyes failing to focus on much. "I know I'm not supposed to ask this, but fuck it, how was Greg so... You're amazing, and if you said he wasn't using you, why would he give you up?"
Why did Ian make her seem like property? She looked to Marc, who held Nimkii's hand and smiled.
"Did he tell you?" Naomi asked.
Marc pressed his lips together. "Just that you didn't want to be with him."
"Ahh, that makes way more sense," Ian said.
"He wanted to be with a version of me that only exists in his mind. Our reality was different."
"I'm confused again," Ian said.
She took a deep breath. It wouldn't stay a secret forever. Either Greg would tell Tara who'd let it slip to Ian, or Greg would get drunk and blurt it out. She'd rather control her own narrative.
"I'm asexual."
Ian quirked an eyebrow, while Marc and Nimkii nodded at her like they understood.
"When did you tell him?" Marc asked.
"A week before we broke up."
He reached out to squeeze her hand. "That's rough. Did you guys talk about it?"
"It was the reason we ended things. He didn't want to accept it was real, and I couldn't go through that again."
Nimkii ran her palm over her dark hair. "That's understandable."
"So, does asexual mean you would never sleep together?" Ian asked.
"I have no physical desire to have sex. I can choose to have it for other reasons, but it's never because I crave it physically."
"After everything you two have been through, for him to... never mind." Marc sighed and sipped his Coke.
Marc had always been the more rational of their friend group, but hearts didn't operate that way. "He said he wanted to try, but that was after he questioned my identity and implied that what I could offer him wasn't enough."
"You are enough, Naomi," Nimkii said.
"Thanks. It would have turned into my first relationship all over again. Where I'd feel like I was in debt or failing him. I won't do that again." The weight of those memories settled on her shoulders, driving them toward the seat.
"You might have been good for him, but it's clear he's not good for you," Marc said.
"It makes sense to you, doesn't it?" Naomi asked Ian, who'd been in a quiet daze.
"It kind of does, not to sound like a dick, but I would want the person I'm dating to want to be with me."
"She wants to be with him romantically," Marc countered.
"I know what he means," Naomi said bleakly. "It's something I never experience and have no control over."
If Ian and Greg thought this way, what were the odds that Kieran would too but was in denial for now or just being nice?
"There are certain things Marc and I have no interest in doing with each other, and we're still together. What's a deal breaker for some isn't for others."
"Are you—"
"Asexual, no. But I have an ace friend, and they are happy and fulfilled."
"Good to hear."
"I didn't mean I think less of you, Naomi." Ian looked at her with worried eyes.
"I wasn't hurt. I've only ever had platonic feelings for you."
"Not even like a little non-sexy crush?"
Marc and Nimkii chuckled at Ian's eager tone.
"It's nothing personal, just how it is."
"But you seemed sad."
"I was thinking about someone else."
"Greg?" Ian grumbled.
"Technically, in comparison."
Marc smiled. "Are things serious with the person you're comparing to Greg?"
"Nothing I want to talk about yet. But if it turns into something, I tell you."
Naomi swore Kieran had stared at her lips like he wanted to kiss her several times, but she wasn't sure she was ready. It'd be nice to talk about their intentions and expectations, so she didn't land in another Greg situation. Kieran already knew the difficult parts to discuss, and his reactions had been encouraging, but it could be different if they became romantic partners.
"Please don't tell Greg. He's already asking if I'm dating anyone, which, unlike him, I'm not."
"I don't talk to the guy unless I'm forced to," Ian said.
"I won't. Our friendship has faded over the years. He and I changed, or I have, and we're more like roommates than close friends. He's always running off or at work, and I spend as much time as I can with my amazing partner." Marc grinned up at Nimkii.
After the playoffs party, Naomi could understand why their bond had faded. Greg looked out for himself first and less and less for his friends. It was good Marc had that strong bond with Nimkii.
"I liked it when you two were dating. It felt more like the connection we had when we were younger, but the relationship has to work for both of you."
She smiled weakly. It helped soften the pain to hear that Marc understood her logic and position. Maybe she would find someone who understood and wanted to be with her in time.
***
I had a different song picked out for Naomi's radio switch, but 'No Time' came on the radio yesterday, and it fit so much better especially since they're from Winnipeg like Naomi and it's more of a moving-on song. I linked a live version at the top if you feel like watching some 70s rock concert footage.
Thanks again for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the bit of closure or moving on Naomi's doing here. At the very least she's trying even if Greg isn't.