“I don’t know,” I whisper back.
“Well, what do you think it is?”
“Shhh,” I say.
She turns her face toward me and smiles. “Did you just shush me?”
“Yes.” I gently palm her face and say, “Sometimes it’s okay to be quiet, Lainey.”
“Okay, Tyson,” she whispers, putting her head back on my shoulder.
Her retort is playful, but the way she says my name makes my heart race. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s just Lainey, after all, my friend who has uttered my name thousands of times before. But something has changed between us.
I’m not sure how long we stay like that, but at some point, I can tell she’s drifted off. Then I fall asleep, too. When I awaken, I panic, remembering Hannah. I nudge Lainey, and we both sit up.
“What time is it?” she asks, rubbing her eyes.
“It’s time to get up. Hannah could be back any minute. You should probably put some clothes on,” I say, as her towel slips from her body.
Lainey pulls it up, then turns her back to me and quickly changes into a pair of pajamas. It’s the most modest I’ve ever seen her. She sits back down on the bed, but several feet away from me. I turn on the BBC. They are covering the latest in Gaza, but I can’t concentrate on the news right now.
“I think you should sleep here tonight,” she says, looking over at me. “In the bed with me.”
“I wish. This mattress is so comfortable.”
“Is that the only reason?”
I smile, but before I can answer, Hannah opens the door and walks into the room. “Well, aren’t y’all adorable!” she says. “Watching TV in bed like an old married couple.”
Lainey gives me a knowing glance, then looks back at Hannah. “And guess what? Tyson said he wants to sleep here tonight. With me.”
“I said no such thing.” I shake my head.
“Well, I don’t mind taking the cot,” Hannah says. “We really should be rotating anyway.”
“Well, if we’re rotating,” I say, “Lainey can take the cot.”
“Why me?” she says, the whine back in her voice.
“Why not you?” I say, the sharpness back in mine.
“Okay, Tyson. Please stop pretending that you aren’t dying to share a bed with me. We can all see through your act.”
“Well, maybe you could give me some acting lessons,” I say.
Hannah ignores us, heading into the bathroom. The second the door closes, I look at Lainey, smile, then whisper, “What the heck are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she says with an innocent shrug. “I’m just trying to be regular.”
I give her a look that says, Nothing about this situation is regular.
Then I get up from the bed.
“Where are you going?” she asks me.
“To my cot. So I can think,” I say, walking over and putting in my AirPods before lying down on my back.
A second later, Hannah walks out of the bathroom, and Lainey starts grilling her. I stare up at the ceiling, listening to Jason Isbell on low volume.
“So what happened with Archie?” I hear Lainey ask her. “Give us the scoop! Did you have hot sex?”
“How’d you guess?” Hannah says, rolling her eyes.
“Wow! What a coincidence. Tyson and I just hooked up, too!” Lainey says. “In the shower!”
Hannah laughs and says, “I don’t think he can hear you. He has his AirPods in.”
“Yeah, right,” Lainey says. “He’s ear-hustling. Oldest trick in the book.”
I smile, then open my eyes, looking over at her. “Trust me, Lainey. I’m trying not to hear you.”
“Likely story,” she replies before turning back to Hannah. “Now. C’mon. Tell me what happened!”
“Nothing,” Hannah says. “We just had a glass of wine in town.”
“Why didn’t you go back to his hotel?” Lainey asks.
“I thought about it…but I was really tired…. What about you and Ian? Why didn’t you go back with him?”
