Matthew wasn’t exactly the king of subtlety – he knew that. He’d been told before.

What he didn’t know – didn’t realize initially, at least – is that trying to sniff your best friend every chance you get just to catch a whiff of his cologne again is not very bro of him. Not very demure, not very mindful.

But like … you do smell good, though. So it’s totally chill, right?

Matt’s just memorizing the scent to find a similar cologne for himself. Yeah, that’s totally all it is. It’s just about the cologne. It’s not like he’s been imagining waking up next to you every morning, or anything. Not like he’s been wondering what color suit you’d wear to the wedding, or if you want children. You’d be a good father, he thinks – a little strict, but the tough love type. The yin to his yang, or whatever it is. Can friends get married? He hopes so.

The more Matt thinks about it, the more he wonders. It’s like an endless loop, Pandora’s box opened and unyielding. Because even now, even as you’re concentrating on destroying his ego in Mario Kart, he can’t focus on throwing shells at you. Can’t focus on the colors, the shapes – the screen.

Your lips just look a little too soft for him not to focus on. Do they feel soft? Do you smell even better all up close and personal? Matthew is a curious guy. Maybe he should take a page out of your book – scientific method or something? Hypothesis, prediction, experiment, result.

“Hey, dude – what chapstick do you use? It’s gotta be one of the girly ones, right?”