The Follower Read Free Page A

Andy flushed, drowning out whatever else Chris was saying.
    Andy peed—not bothering to flush—and then took a quick shower. After he shaved, he returned to his bedroom with a towel around his waist and discovered that Greg had come home from work. Greg was sitting on his bed with Jessica, a-little-heavy-but-still-kinda-cute curly-haired Italian-looking girl who lived in one of the other buildings at Normandie.
    “Sorry,” Andy said.
    Jessica was looking away, embarrassed.
    “It’s cool,” Greg said. “Want us to go in another room or something?”
    Andy knew Greg would’ve killed him later if he said yes. Greg hadn’t hooked up since college, and Andy didn’t want to be a dick and take away a chance for his buddy to finally get some.
    “No, it’s cool,” Andy said. “Lemme just grab some clothes. Sorry to interrupt.”
    “You’re not really interrupting anything,” Jessica said, obviously trying to protect her dignity.
    Greg glared at Andy, as if Andy had blown it for him.
    “It’s okay,” Andy said. “I can get dressed anywhere.”
    Andy took a pair of socks, boxer briefs, Banana Republic jeans, a navy Banana Republic button-down shirt, and his Banana Republic loafers, then said, “See you guys later,” andleft the room. Andy went into John and Chris’s room, got dressed, and then went into the steamy bathroom—John was showering—and gelled his hair, applied deodorant, and dabbed Lucky You cologne all over, including his pubic hair.
    He had some time to kill before he had to leave for his date, so he rejoined Will and Chris in the living room. Chris still had control of the remote and was switching between sports and porn. Watching a red-haired woman having sex with two big black guys, Chris said to Will, “So what happened with you and that girl the other night?”
    “Which one?” Will asked.
    Chris looked at Andy. “Listen to this guy, ‘Which one?’” He turned to Will again. “Short, poodle hair.”
    “Oh, Lara. She’s really cool. She’s a speech therapist.”
    “Did you fuck her?”
    “Nah, I like her friend.”
    Chris said to Andy, “You shoulda seen this guy. He comes into the bar last night at one o’clock. He’s in his scrubs, of course, and he’s got two girls with him. Not one—
two
. Jen, the red-hot new bartender, goes to me, ‘Is your friend single?’ “
    “The guy’s a magnet,” Andy said.
    “It’s because he’s a fuckin’ doctor,” Chris said.
    “I’m not a doctor yet,” Will said.
    “You know what I’m talking about,” Chris said. “You wear those scrubs everywhere—supermarket, Blockbuster, running in the park—and babes come up to you like you’re fucking fly tape.”
    “Jealous?” Will asked.
    “Of the scrubs, not you,” Chris said. “Even Andy could get laid wearing that doctor shit, right, And?”
    Andy was staring at the TV. The redhead was in a contorted position on a staircase, between the two guys. Chris used the pause feature on the DVR and then slo-mo’d the scene.
    “I saw that chick in this other film the other day,” Chris said.
    “Listen to this dude—
film,”
Will said. “Like it’ll win a fuckin’ Academy Award.”
    “Shit, what the hell’s her name?” Chris asked.
    “Ginger something,” Will said.
    “No, I know who you’re thinking of,” Andy said. “This one’s Heidi or Hillary or something with an H…Holly?…Nah, wait a sec, it’ll come to me.”
    Chris continued playing the scene at normal speed and then, just as the guys started to orgasm at the same time—Andy had always wondered how they did that; didn’t they, like, get grossed out by each other?—Greg and Jessica came down the hallway. Chris spotted them and flicked the channel back to ESPN, but Greg and Jessica had obviously heard the sex sounds, because Jessica was smiling and blushing, and Greg looked pissed off.
    “Hey, what’s up?” Chris said, trying to act casual.
    Andy and Will were trying not to crack up.
    “You guys going