I went to grab a jacket as Kyle said, “Calling it your ‘famous pasta’ is not cute.” Chuckling, I opened the door and left.

They did have olive oil at the cornerstore, as well as the new issue of Soap Opera Digest so I was all over that *****. I picked up some milk just for good measure.

“Hey,” said the cashier as I put my stuff on the counter.

“Hey.” I smiled. It was Bobby what’s-his-face.

He indicated the olive oil. “Is Spencer cooking or something?”

I guessed Bobby wasn’t really as mute as I had thought. I nodded. “Yeah, his… famous… pasta… surprise…”

Bobby smiled slightly. “I miss that.”

“Yeah?” I paid him. It had been so long since I’d actually hung around in Spencer and Kyle’s apartment that I’d forgotten about Bobby, although I did know he and Spencer had (obviously) broken up and Bobby wasn’t living with them anymore. “Well, he’s a good cook, our Spence.”

Bobby nodded.

Okay, maybe he is sort of mute. Or maybe the whole Spencer and Kyle thing was upsetting for him. I could understand that.

“I’m not upset,” he said, reading my mind. Creepy. He was packing my items into a paper bag. “If you think… I mean, I saw it coming long before it did.”

“Which?” I wondered. “You and Spencer breaking up or Spencer and Kyle getting together?”

He shrugged. “Both.”

I looked at him dubiously. “And that’s okay for you?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” He said it as though that was all there was, but I must have looked like I needed him to elaborate because he wet his lips, tapped his fingers against the counter. “All the things I loved about Spencer, Kyle loves about him, too. Why would I be the one who deserved him?”

I liked the way he said it-so honest, so open. I smiled at him. “Sure.”

He smiled back and handed me my bag. “See you.”

***

I was at this moment in my life where I felt permanently drunk, and I mean that in a good way. Life was sort of surreal, too easy, too perfectly planned, like constant dj vu without the usual accompanying anxious feeling.