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“So, Tommy, w- we’ve been doing this kind of friends with benefits thing for a while now, ya know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“A- And it’s been nice. Fun, I mean. Th- The benefits part, especi-”
“I get it.”
“Right. So, um, anyway, I was just thinking.” Buck shifted in his seat, hand gripping the empty shot glass in front of him.
“About?”
“I… I hate being friends with you.”
A pause, then. “You what?”
“No! No, I mean, I- I want more from this. From us.” Buck sighed. “It’s been hell, Tommy. You come around, we talk, we have… we do stuff, and then you leave. I don’t like it. I’ve tried moving on. I’ve tried dating a- and I’m sure you have too, but every time I’m with them I’m thinking about you. I- I mean, I left my date the other night and came right to your place because the whole time I was eating dinner with them all I wanted was for you to be the one across from me.”
“Wow. That… That’s a lot.”
“A lot?” Buck questioned. “Like, good? O- Or bad? Is- Was that too much? Sorry, I need try it a-”
“No, it’s not that. Just unexpected. But, Babe, I want the same thing.”
Buck’s eyebrows furrowed. He held up a hand. “Wait. Babe? Ravi, seriously?”
“He never called you Babe?”
“No.”
“Sugar?”
“Ew.”
“Sweetheart? Honey? Jackass? Anything?”
Buck rolled his eyes. “We aren’t pet name people. He called me Evan. You can call me Evan. Now, let’s try again.”
Ravi’s head fell to the table with a thunk. “Buck, no!” he whined. “I can’t go through this again. We’ve been over it at least fifty times.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“We got here at seven, Buck,” Ravi reminded him, sitting back up to hold his arm out and show Buck his watch. “It’s now eight-thirty and you have done nothing but force me to role play as Tommy the entire time!”
Buck glanced at the watch, then pushed Ravi’s hand down. “Well, if you’d get it right we wouldn’t have to redo it.”
“If you’d talk to him instead of me then we wouldn’t have to do it at all!”
“He’s a bit nasally,” Buck continued, ignoring Ravi’s complaints, “with a dry kind of sarcasm. He can’t help it. Even when he’s serious, there’s that same dry and relaxed demeanor. But, at the same time, he’s got great posture, so, like, sit up straighter. Also, keep your eyes on me. He is always listening. Takes in every word. His responses are thought out, even when he says something stupid. He’ll stop, think for a second, respond. I- Should I write this down?”
Ravi glared at him. “I hate you.”
“You know what? I’m gonna go to the bathroom and let you take a minute to remember your last interaction with Tommy. Really think about it, soak it in, and we’ll go again when I get back.”
As Buck slid out of the booth, Ravi thought about running. Bolting out the door the second Buck entered the restroom. As the thought ran through he head, he spotted Buck’s phone, left behind at the table.
He grabbed the phone, put in Buck’s code to unlock it, and went to his messages.
He quickly typed a message out to Tommy, hit send, then set the phone back where Buck had left it just as he came out of the bathroom.
“Okay,” Buck said, clapping his hands together as he sat down. “I’m thinking about changing up the start, because I don’t-”
The sound of his phone buzzing stopped him mid-sentence.
He picked up the phone, eyeing it curiously when he saw Tommy’s name pop up.
“Of course. Be there in twenty,” he read. “Be where? What’s he-”
He froze as he read the text above Tommy’s.
Hey! I’m at Vinnie’s and was wondering if you could come by to talk? No emergency.
Ravi scooted out of the booth just as Buck glared up at him.
“That’s my cue,” Ravi said.
“What the hell did you do?”
“Stopped myself from committing a serious felony,” Ravi replied.
Buck stood, a mixture of anger and terror on his face. “Rav-”
“Listen, all I did was take the step you were too scared to take. What you do now is up to you.”
“Ravi, I wasn’t ready. I don’t know-”
“Dude, I may not know every movement the man makes, but I do know he seems like a pretty nice guy who wouldn’t waste his time with you if he didn’t want to be with you.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
Ravi sighed. “You’re scared, right?”
“Well, I… I wouldn’t say scared.”
“You’re scared he’s gonna turn you down,” Ravi stated. “Okay, so what if he does? At least you won’t be stuck in this limbo anymore. You’ll know. And, in the far more likely scenario where he completely agrees that this friends with benefits thing sucks for everyone, you’re gonna get your boyfriend back.”
“But-”
Ravi patted Buck on the shoulder. “Sit, wait, tell him what you told me when he gets here.”
“I-”
“Or, you can tell me right now to text him. I’ll tell him I’m the one who sent the text as a stupid prank and you won’t have to worry about a thing.”
Buck opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. He glanced down at his phone, then back up to Ravi, and shook his head. “No,” he decided. “Don’t text him.”
Ravi smiled, giving Buck a thumbs up. “Good choice. See ya tomorrow, Buck. And congratulations!”
As Ravi left the bar, Buck sat back down at the booth, took a deep breath, and he waited.