Audre & Bash Are Just Friends(27)

No. Audre was too practical to let this meaningless attraction spiral into a Whole Thing. And, she reminded herself, he was almost certainly dating that Prospect Park girl. Besides, she suspected he only had two brain cells in his head. He could go from super engaged to checked out in seconds. Was he fried? Was she boring? Hard to say. But he could help with her book.

Besides, feeling attraction wasn’t the same as acting on it. And maybe it wasn’t even attraction. Maybe it was just appreciation. Like admiring good art.

Audre turned the corner on Degraw. And there was Bash. He was standing under the Just Because awning wearing striped swim trunks, a short-sleeve button-down (the buttons were pointless since the first three were undone), a rope necklace, and Nike slides. The top of his hair was tied into a knot. He looked like a person who lost their luggage on a tropical vacation.

And yet he made Audre’s stomach flip-flop. She swallowed hard and then tugged at her short smocked sundress. Was she too dressed up? Were the platform sandals too much?

“Hey!” she called out.

Bash looked up from his phone and saw her. His eyes widened and, from her vantage point, he seemed to freeze. Just for a moment, though. Then his face softened, and he flashed Audre a small, hesitant grin. It was a symphony of expressions.

“Hey you,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing much!” Her voice sounded strained.

“That’s wassup.”

They stood silent for a bit, fidgeting and looking at their feet. Finally, Bash spoke up.

“Let’s just start over. Like we’re meeting for the first time.”

“Great idea!”

“Are you a hugger? I’m a hugger.”

“Let’s hug!” They embraced stiffly while managing to keep their actual bodies far from each other. She did note that the top of her head fit nicely under his chin.

Bash pulled away, thrusting his hands in his pockets. “You look nice.”

“You too. Um… this isn’t a date,” she blurted out. Immediately, she wished for death.

“Um… I know,” he said, his eyes widening. “Damn. You’re hella direct.”

“I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry. I just think boundaries are super important.”

“I’m aware it’s not a date. I’m your fun consultant. Your funsultant.”

“You’re funny.” She lightly punched him on the shoulder and immediately felt like an idiot. “So. I’m excited to get started.”

“Me too, but I just wanna manage your expectations. I’m not as interesting as you think.”

Audre’s face fell. “Please don’t back out. You already agreed to help me. On this mortal plane, all we have is our word, Bash.”

“On this mortal plane.” He tilted his head, mulling it over. “Bars.”

“Well, in third grade I won a citywide poetry contest,” she offered awkwardly.

He grinned. “Don’t worry, Audre, I’m not backing out. I kinda feel like you’re nervous.”

“Fuck,” she said quickly. “Does it show?”

“It’s okay if you are. This situation is weird,” he said. “I get nervous all the time. In ninth grade I drank, like, nine Mountain Dews to get the courage to ask this girl out to Applebee’s. I was awake for two days.”

“Did she say yes?”

At this, his face went a little blank, as if he didn’t understand the question.

“Right, of course she said yes,” she said under her breath.

Just then, two moms pushing double-wide strollers came barreling down the sidewalk in a full sprint. Bumper stickers reading MARATHON MOMS decorated their strollers. Protectively, Bash’s arm shot out across Audre’s chest, and he backed them both up against the front door of Just Because. He held her against the door until they passed.

“Be careful, ladies!” he called out, dropping his arm from her chest. “Those moms almost took you out.”

Audre blinked up at him, breathless. She nodded in silence.

“You good?”

“Yeah. Yeah, uh, thank you for stroller-saving me.” She felt an anxiety flush coming on. Suddenly sweaty, she swept her heavy braids over one shoulder. She needed to reclaim her power, and fast. “I’m thinking… maybe we should do some icebreakers? When I led the orientation for new juniors at the beginning of last year, I did icebreakers.”

“What, like trust falls? I’m six four. You can’t catch me.”

She raised her brows. “First of all, I have enormous upper body strength.”

“Do you?” He stepped back, taking a good look at her frame. “Is that based on blind confidence or an actual unit of measure?”

“Confidence. Secondly, no. I meant like Two Truths and a Lie. Would You Rather.”

“I’d rather do a trust fall.”

“Okay, we’ll skip the icebreaker,” she said. “So. What do we have planned for today? I’m along for the ride. Following your lead.”

“Cool. Cool.” Bash clapped his hands together. “So, yeah, I’ve been thinking this over for the past few days. Your first challenge is to do something physical and risky, right? I wrote them all in my notes app.” He held up his phone as proof. “I was thinking it should be something you’re not used to, right?”