“Okay, so, scale of one to ten…”
“No.”
“One being the worst kisser in the world, aka my prom date—”
“No.”
“And ten being, like, thatBrokeback Mountainkiss where Heath Ledger broke Jack Gyllenhaal’s nose by kissing him so hard…”
“What?Isthata good kiss?”
“Yes. So where does your boy land on that scale?”
“Um, better than a kiss where my nose gets broken?”
“So an eleven? Fuck, I knew it.”
Kip laughed. “He’s a good kisser, all right? Stop being weird.”
“Who’s a good kisser?” Elena had finally decided to show up.
“Kip’s perfect boyfriend,” Maria grumbled.
“Oh, he’s not perfect,” Elena said cheerfully, taking the empty seat. “His jaw is too chiseled.”
“Mm,” Kip said. “And he’s way too tall.”
“And broad,” Elena added.
“And his thighs are way too thick,” Kip pointed out.
“Just terrible,” she agreed.
“You guys are assholes,” Maria said. “Let me know if any of his teammates are looking for an adorable Latina to take care of.”
Kip snorted.“Adorable?”
“Tell them adorable. By the time they realize I’m a total grouch they will already be in love with me and it will be too late.”
They all laughed.
The three of them spent a few hours eating Mexican food and drinking (but not too much because Kip didn’t want to be drunk for the game). They talked about Elena moving to California, and Maria’s new job, and about Kip’s new job, and about Kip going back to school. He felt good. For the first time in years, he felt confident about his future. His life was more or less on track, even without the perfect dream boyfriend.
But hedidhave the perfect dream boyfriend. And more than that, he was in love, and no matter how he imagined his future now, it always included Scott.
“We should go,” Elena said, tapping him on the arm. “We need to go see the man you’re obviously daydreaming about play hockey.”
“I wasn’t—Okay. Yes, I was.” He turned to Maria. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get a third ticket, but this game is super sold out.”
“Yeah, no shit. The tickets are going for, like, five thousand dollars online,” Maria said.
“I’ll text you a selfie from the game, all right?”
“Oh, fuck you.”
When they were out on the street, Maria hugged him. “I’m happy for you, Kip. I mean it. I act like a bitch, but you’re one of the best people I know and you deserve that fantasy man.”
He kissed her cheek. “Thank you. Maybe next time we go out Scott will come too.”