"Yeah, I mean. He's nice? A little older. He's a writer," I said, picking at the label on my beer.

"It's not like, serious or anything."

Chewing restlessly at my bottom lip, I finally admitted, "I, uh. I thought, for a while, that me and Derek might... But it's like the door got shut on it, or I fucking imagined it, or... I don't know. It's weird."