The Friend Scheme - Cale Dietrich Page 0,18

few of Mom, and one with my grandparents. I triple-checked and am sure I did a good job. Eddie is jumping up and down, pressing his paws against the door, and I can see a male figure outside. I grab on to Eddie’s collar and open the door.

“Hey, hey,” says Jason.

Even under the harsh porch light, he looks fantastic. I’ve never seen him wear casual clothes, but they suit him really well. He’s wearing a dark red T-shirt and navy skinny jeans, along with cool Nikes that were probably really expensive. They look kind of extra.

“Hey,” I say. “Thanks for coming.”

“No, thanks for having me.”

Eddie is going wild, like he wants to lick Jason to death.

I mean, I get that.

Jason crouches and starts petting Eddie. “Who’s a good boy?”

Eddie sits proudly and lets Jason rub his chest.

“He likes you,” I say. “He’s normally way more skittish with new people.”

“Really? That’s, like, the highest compliment possible. I love dogs.”

“Me too.”

Jason stands. Oh man, Eddie really does like him. He’s nudging at his legs, wanting more attention. But now Jason is looking at me.

What’s the proper greeting for something like this?

I go for a handshake, and he ignores it, going for a hug instead. And he’s a great hugger. He’s so firm, and yet … we kind of sink into each other.

It’s perfect.

“Should I take my shoes off?” he asks as we break apart.

“Nah, it’s fine.”

“Cool.”

We walk inside.

“Anyway,” I say. “Um, are you hungry?”

He shoves his hands into his pockets. “I am, yeah. Is that all right? I could’ve eaten before, but I thought…”

“Yeah, dude, ’course. I was thinking we could order pizza or something. There’s this New York–style place down the road that does honestly the best pizza I’ve ever had.”

“That sounds fucking amazing.”

“Great.”

I close the door behind him and lead him through the entrance foyer, into the kitchen. I walk around the kitchen island while Jason checks out the place. Eddie brings Jason his favorite toy, a chewed-up rope with a ball on the end of it. Jason tosses it, and Eddie runs off to retrieve it.

“Do you want a drink?” I ask.

I open the fridge and scan the options. There’s white wine, but that’s Dad’s. Luke keeps a couple of bottles of beer on the bottom shelf, because Dad isn’t super strict about him drinking. I could offer him one of those, but Jason might not like that. I get the idea he’s pretty straight-edge.

Or as straight-edge as someone in our world can be.

“I’m good,” he says as he throws the toy again. “Thanks, though.”

I close the fridge and turn back. “No problem.”

“Nice place, by the way,” he says.

I imagine being him, seeing my place for the first time. In front of us is the living room, where there’s a brown couch in front of a huge TV. Outside, through a set of glass sliding doors, is the pool. Down one hall is Dad’s room. On the other side of the house is a hall that leads to my bedroom and Luke’s, plus a bathroom. The floors are stone-colored ceramic tile. They make the whole place feel kind of frosty.

“Thanks. Um, what kind of pizza do you like? We should probably order, like, now, if you’re hungry.”

I bring up the app on my phone. He moves around and stands beside me, so close that we’re nearly touching. I can smell his cologne now, and it’s very nice.

“Pepperoni, obviously,” he says.

Honestly, it’s the only acceptable answer. I’m glad he said it.

“Cool. How about I get one of those and a garlic bread? We already have Cokes and stuff here.”

“Sounds perfect.”

I order the food, and the app tells me it’ll be delivered in twenty minutes.

“I could show you the pool, if you’d like?” I ask.

He nods, so I take him through the house. Eddie follows behind, with the toy in his mouth. He’s so needy.

“I love your TV,” says Jason as he takes the toy from Eddie and throws it. “Where do you keep your games?”

“In the drawer.”

He slides it open, revealing my stack of games.

“Can I?” he asks.

“Sure.”

He rifles through them. “All nice choices, man. You clearly have good taste.”

“Thanks. But come on, I’m not done yet.”

“Fine, fine, sorry I’m so curious about you.”

I don’t know what to say to that. But for some reason, I blush.

We go outside and go through the gate, to walk around the pool. It’s lit up by underwater lights, which makes it look sort of magical. The whole area is really nice.

It gets a