"It's really great to see you again." I couldn't help but laugh quietly as I heard his words trip over his lips for the fourth time that night.
"I believe you already said something about that." My gentle response as I hit his shoulder with mine. We've been sitting on his oversized white couch for a while now. To the casual eye the man sitting next to me, clad in an oversized white shirt and black pants, appears to be more interested in the game than my company, but I know better. This is one of our things, has been for years now. He watches basketball and I pretend to be interested; we both know I'm pretending and we both know the conversations we have after the game are always the best. That's just how our friendship works.
"You know Alexa, I don't get to relax like this much anymore." He said half heartedly, never taking his eyes off the screen, as I reached over grabbing a handful of popcorn from the glass bowl in his lap. I took a moment to study the man I've been friends with for over a decade; he was so lost in the game he'd never notice. We'd met in 1980, introduced by a friend of a friend of a friend type of thing. Since then I've lost track of all those friends, but not Prince. I could count on one hand my closest friends and he was the most important one of all. But tonight was different, tonight he looked so tired. The twinkle in his eyes wasn't quite as bright and his body just gave off an air of exhaustion as he sunk a little farther into the couch and I caught sight of his bare toes curled in anticipation. "Damn!" His voice firm and in unison with the final buzzer.
"We lost." I sighed, turning my attention to the game I had stopped pretending to care about some time ago.
"Oh well," he shifted his slight frame, turning so he was sitting crossed legged, looking at me, "so, what have you been up to?" Punctuating his inquiry by throwing a piece of popcorn into his mouth.
"Not much really," laughing slightly as he raised an eyebrow like he didn't quite believe me, "just been doing some freelance writing, you know, generally keeping busy."
"Hhmm. . ." The sound rumbled from his chest as he watched me grab for more popcorn, those dark, familiar eyes squinted slightly and lips pursed as though he was trying to remember something from a long time ago. "What about, um, Tony, yeah, that was his name. What's going on with that?"
"Oh." My back straightened unintentionally and I could feel my pale cheeks turning pink. I had almost forgotten about that, I'd hoped he had too. "That ended...um...yeah" my words filtered and I became more uncomfortable as i watched Prince's lips raise in a questioning grin as I tried to regain my verbal footing. "Yeah, just a few days after you met him." My words were rushed as I hoped that would put an end to the topic, but the look on his stubble covered face told me that wouldn't be the end of this topic.
"What happened exactly?" He asked casually, but he knew I was uncomfortable. These types of conversations always amused him, he enjoys pushing buttons, even mine.
"Nothing really," I lied through my teeth, "Tony and I just realized we weren't right for each other." My eyes were locked with his and we both knew there was more to it, but he has no idea exactly what. Memories of that last night with Tony crashed through my head. He had been thrilled to meeting Prince that night, though a little cautious of our relationship. I had assured Tony there was nothing between Prince and I except a strong friendship. Everything has gone great, until later that night when I called out Prince's name while Tony was deep inside me. I cringed inwardly as the echo of his name coated in passion rolled through my head.
"Hey," his hand landed gently on my jean covered calf, "we don't have to talk about it." I smiled innocently, trying to shake the memories.
"So what about you? Graffiti bridge done?" He gave a tired nod and ran his fingers through his long hair.
"Yes, the movie is finally done..." He was still talking, but for some reason I couldn't focus. I was still replaying that argument with Tony where he had accused me of cheating with Prince, of being in love with my dearest friend. I continued to nod and smile as Prince spoke, but I had completely lost the plot on what he was saying. Prince have a little shrug as he continued with his story which caused the wide neck of his shirt to slip just over his left shoulder. For some reason, in that moment, the sight of his bare, smooth shoulder caused a flutter in my stomach. Something I never felt before and it terrified me.