took.
“I’m sure it was difficult for me to be the only one who was acknowledged as his partner,” I offer, imagining how I would’ve felt if our positions had been reversed. I know it’s a petty detail in the face of a life or death situation, but I would’ve felt hurt.
“Thanks, I didn’t like it, but I know society doesn’t usually get relationships like ours that aren’t that typical.”
“Maybe we could find a compromise, like each of us is the emergency contact for someone else,” I suggest.
“That would be cool, then no one feels like they’re being left aside,” he agrees.
Riot gives a dramatic sniff, and I look over to find him pantomiming wiping away a tear. “I’m so proud of you guys.”
“Shut up.” I chuckle and shove his shoulder.
We continue to pass the bottle between the three of us, fuzzy tipsiness slowly overtaking the jittery feeling of panic.
“Hey, do you remember that summer you and I were on opposing little league baseball teams, and Bishop didn’t want to play favorites, so he cheered for both? He painted one cheek with the Pirate’s logo for me, and the other cheek with the Gators’ mascot for you,” Leo muses fondly.
“I remember. Fuck, we put him in the middle of our bullshit a lot,” I reminisce with a chuckle. “Remember that Halloween when we wanted to have matching costumes, but we couldn’t agree, so Bishop ended up dressing as a pirate for half the night and a mummy the other half so we’d both be happy?”
Leo chuckles and then tilts the bottle to his lips to take another sip, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the swallow. “Why did we put him in the middle so much?”
“Honestly? I think we both had major insecurity issues, and Bish always had a way of making us both feel like rock stars. Fighting over him like that made us both feel validated.”
“Damn, get a few drinks in you and you’re an expert at psychoanalysis,” he says with a sloppy laugh. “You think that’s what I’m still doing? Staying mad at you just to make B choose as a way of validating my own insecurities?”
“Is it?” I ask.
Leo furrows his brow, seeming to think the question through. I lean into Riot on my other side, and he quietly tickles his fingers along the back of my neck. I hum happily and melt into the touch, my stomach getting fluttery and warm.
“It’s a lot easier to be pissed off at you than to blame myself for choices I knew were dumb when I was making them,” he admits, and my whole body buzzes with excitement. Is this it? Is Leo going to forgive me? I hold still, barely even daring to breathe as I wait for him to say more. “Even if you had mailed my application on time, there was no guarantee I would’ve gotten a full ride scholarship. I was determined to go to NYU, cost be damned. But it was a lot easier to say my debt was your fault.”
Riot’s fingers still on the back of my neck, and I swear he’s holding his breath too. Leo looks up at me, his eyes brimming with emotion.
“Griff.” I say his old nickname, reaching over and putting a hand on his. He looks down at our joined hands, conflicting emotions dancing over his face until he finally looks back up at me. “I’m sorry for being a selfish ass, I really am.”
“Me too, Belly.”
“I’ve gotta ask, what is with those nicknames?” Riot asks with amusement, breaking the tense emotion of the moment.
Leo chuckles and scoots a little bit closer. “Belly, short for Bellows,” he explains.
“And Griff, short for Leo’s last name Griffen.”
“Wow, those are truly lazy nicknames.” He laughs and shakes his head at us.
“Oh well excuse us, but you call Bishop baby which is the absolute laziest pet name I’ve heard in my life,” I point out.
“Fair enough,” he concedes. “I guess we all need to up our nickname game.”
Leo’s eyes glint with what I’ve learned to recognize over many years of competition as something brewing in his mind. “Best nickname wins?” he suggests, arching an eyebrow at me in challenge.
“Who judges what’s best?” I ask, leaning forward excitedly, more than ready to dive right back into our old rivalry.
“Bishop and Riot.”
“You’re on,” I agree. “Pass the whiskey, captain,” I say to Riot with a smirk.
“Captain? Not much of a nickname, but definitely something to add to that roleplay list I know Bishop is now making.”
We