Josh carves a pumpkin for one of the girls, making her squeal when the guts spill out. Orange-yellow pulp drips down his fingers and onto the table, and I have a sudden, random thought: he’s got nice hands. Strong. Masculine.
I quickly banish that thought.
This is exactly the kind of jock I’m trying to avoid. The type who gets everything handed to him just because he looks good and knows how to throw a ball. The type who’s never had to struggle. The type who makes girls swoon just by carving a damn pumpkin.
Guys like that are always so full of themselves. I can sense the arrogance from here, see the cockiness in the way he moves. Heprobably has a different girl in his bed every night, all of them vying for his attention, fighting for scraps.
He finishes and hands the girl the result—a perfectly carved jack-o’-lantern with a big, toothy grin. Her face turns bright red as she takes it, and she might as well whip off her panties and hand them over, because she looks ready to. I’m sure she’s soaked, and the guy knows it. Oh, yeah, he knows.
It makes my skin crawl.
“I’m gonna do it,” Ana says, eyes lighting up with determination.
“Do what?”
But she’s already heading toward the stand, leaving me no choice but to follow.
“Josh! Hey!”
“Yo, Ana, right? How’s it going?”
She glances at me, eyes wide, and mouthsOh my God, he remembers my namelike it’s some kind of miracle. Then she turns back to him.
“Good, good. Didn’t know you’d be here, selling pumpkins?”
Her voice tilts up at the end, like she’s asking a question, even though it’s obvious he is, in fact, selling pumpkins. What else would he be doing behind that stand?
“Yeah, I do it every year. Got a family of pumpkin farmers, so it kind of runs in the blood, you know?”
“And you still have time for this with all that football practice?”
“We always get Halloween off. Tradition.”
He smiles at her, and she practically turns into a puddle, all but dissolving onto the ground.
I roll my eyes.
“And who’s this?” Josh’s gaze drifts to me, and my skin prickles for no reason. “Your boyfriend?”
Ana laughs a little too hard. “No, no, this is my best friend, Sebastian.”
“Nice to meet you, man.” He sticks out his hand. The same hand that was buried inside a pumpkin just moments ago.
I reluctantly shake it, noting how firm his grip is. His hand is a lot bigger than mine, rough with calluses and sticky with pumpkin pulp. He holds on a beat too long before letting go.
My fingers tingle, and I wipe them on my jeans.
I expect him to turn back to Ana, but he keeps looking at me, those deep brown eyes locked on mine. What’s with the stare? Is this some alpha bullshit? A power trip? Trying to show me he’s on top?
“I like your jacket. Where’d you get it?”
It takes me a second to realize he means my denim one. No one’s ever commented on it before.
“Thrift store find.”
Josh nods. “Sweet. Looks good on you, man.”
I blink, caught off guard by the compliment. What’s his angle? Is he buttering me up? Being sarcastic? Or just trying to impress Ana by being nice to her best friend? Yeah, that’s probably it. He’s showing how unbothered he is by another dude’s presence.
