Louisville vs Manchester

“No fair! You’re cheating. I swear. There’s no way you could possibly beat me 4 times in a row!” Natalie protested as she huffed in Ethan’s direction.

Ethan laughed and flexed his nonexistent muscles. “What can I say? I’m just that good I guess.”

Natalie stuck her tongue out at him. “Yeah yeah.”

A buzzing phone interrupted.

“Ugh. Is it dumbfuck again?” The American girl made another face at him but this time in regards to the person in question.

“Yeah... he won’t leave me alone.” Ethan’s eyes were locked on the phone. His finger traced the reply button  and he fought the urge to hit it.

Almost as if reading his mind Natalie nudged him, breaking his connection with the phone.

“You don’t need him Ethie. He is stupid if he can’t see how amazing you are.”

He grumbled before speaking again. “Yeah but...”

“No buts!” She was grinning at him. He found it... puzzling. The way she was watching.

“I’m just trying to figure all this out, you know?” He took a deep breath. “I don’t even know if I like girls. I don’t think so but who knows at this point? Does that make me gay? I don’t know. How does this work? All I know is I’m not a girl. That’s it. That’s the only answer I...”

His rambling was cut off by a set of lips on his. Her lips. He didn’t fight it. His hands were there in her hair now and he let the kiss grow until her hands started traveling.

“Woah... no...” he protested as he pulled away.

“Ah sorry.... I don’t know what got into me...” she looked at the floor and wiped her face with the back of her shirt sleeve. “I...” she didn’t finish.

“No it’s okay. Just not.. that... the hands... I don’t mind the kiss though...”

It wasn’t a lie. He didn’t hate the kiss. It was just different than he was used to.

He watched her bite her lip. Was he attracted to Nat? She was one of his friends and he cared for her. But did they have anything else there?

Ethan wasn’t sure the answers but he watched her lean in to plant a soft kiss on the tip of his nose.

“You’re a dork.” She was grinning. “We can go slow. Yeah? See if you even like girls.”

He was glad she seemed to understand.

“How’s it going on those dating sites by the way? Which one did you join? Tinder?”

He was surprised by the abrupt change of subject. One minute she’s talking like she fancied him and the next she’s asking if he’s talking to anyone.
“Uhh I mean I made a tinder profile but haven’t tried talking to anyone. It’s just sitting there.”

Nat’s face shifted into a mischievous grin and she reached for the phone sitting in his lap.

“300187” she smirked as she entered the numbers and the phone unlocked. “Really Ethan? His birthday... Nevermind...”

“What? He’s my best friend.” Ethan protested.

“Mhm. And so is Elaina and me but I don’t see our birthdays as your lock code.”

He wanted to grab the phone from her in protest but she was nursing it in a way that made it impossible for him to grab.

“Ah here we go. Grindr.” She held up the phone to his face. “Smile!” A click was heard and watched her tap away at the screen.

“Natalie! I’m not going on Grindr! Holy shit!” A wave of nerves washed over him but he managed to steel himself enough to reach for the phone and take it back.

He tapped at the screen until he was sure the profile was deleted.

As he was deleting the app he noticed several new messages from Kellen.

‘Just hear me out’ one read.

‘What if you’re wrong? You weren’t a guy when we...’

Nat grabbed the phone before he could read the end of the sentence but he knew what it said.

“Enough of that. How about I take you on another round in Halo and you try not to get yourself killed.”

He rolled his eyes playfully and gave her a smirk. “You’re on Louisville. Watch and learn.” Ethan flexed his fingers.

“As if Manchester.”

She tossed the controller at him again and moved so they were sitting shoulder to shoulder in front of the couch in the living room.