I grab a couch pillow and smack her with it. “I do not like Clay!”
Mrs. Pena chuckles. “When you say it like that, it sounds like maybe you do like him.”
“Oh my god, you too?” I say, laughing to make it seem like I don’t care about the accusation, when really it bothers me a lot. “I don’t like him!”
“But he’s socute,” Mrs. Pena says. “All tall and mysterious… if I was your age, I’d be all over him.”
Beside me, Bree is grinning as if she’s won this argument by having Mrs. Pena join her side. I hit her with the couch pillow again.
“I don’t like Tom and I don’t like Clay,” I say pointedly, keeping my head held high. “Besides, I’m focusing on work right now. I don’t care about any guys at the moment.”
“Okay, I understand,” Mrs. Pena says. “Also we should probably not tell Keanna about Little Tom’s crush or she’ll be all over that.”
We all agree, and eventually we settle back into watching TV. I haven’t told Bree or anyone else about how Clay cornered me and told me that nothing would ever happen between us. It’s too embarrassing to admit out loud. I know I don’t like Tom deep down, but I did enjoy getting all the attention from him yesterday. It made me feel a whole lot better that at least someone is attracted to me, even if it’s not Clay.
But as soon as I think it, I tell myself to let it go. It shouldn’t matter. I really am here for the work experience and the traveling – not to get a boyfriend. Hopefully soon my chest will stop constricting every time I think of Clay.
In the afternoon, all of the guys show up after a long day of riding at the motocross track. Zach had arrived first to shower and change clothes at his own house, but the guys went back to their hotel to clean up before coming over. Keanna and Jett are so cute when they reunite. Even if it’s only been a few days since they last saw each other, they act like it’s been years.
I sit on the couch and watch as Keanna squeals when Jett walks in the front door. She rushes over to him and he picks her up and they hug, her arms tightly wrapped around his neck. The sight of it warms me to the core. I want a relationship like that. Maybe one day I will get that lucky.
Clay shuffles in last, earbuds in place like they always are. He gives Zach’s mom a quick hug and then settles on the couch, not even looking in my direction. Fine, who cares. I certainly don’t.
The small living room feels a little cramped with all the guys here. They’re all energized from a day of riding and they’re talking so much that it makes it hard for Bree, Keanna and me to keep watching our Netflix show. But the good news is that with so much going on, Bree has no way to accidentally bring up the Tom thing.
And then the doorbell rings, and that very same person enters the house. I feel a blush creep from my head to my toes when Tom smiles at me. He gives me a little wave and then turns his attention to the guys.
Zach claps him on the back. “I’m glad you could come over,” he says. They’re old friends, according to what Tom had told me yesterday. They’ve known each other since they were little kids.
I glance at Bree, but she’s on her phone. Good. Hopefully she keeps quiet.
“How long are you guys staying?” Tom asks Zach.
“Just tonight. Headed to Vegas in the morning.”
“Cool, cool,” Tom says with a nod. He glances over at me and smiles. I smile back.
As the conversation goes back to motocross, Tom makes his way over to me. “You remember that pool stick I told you about yesterday?”
I nod. Somehow we’d gotten on the conversation of pool and he’d told me about a clear acrylic stick he had inherited from his grandfather. Tom gives me a sheepish look and I can’t believe I didn’t realize it yesterday. He’s got a huge crush on me. He’s twenty years old and he’s acting like a little kid on the school playground. It’s actually kind of cute. If I lived here in Tennessee, I might like him back.
“I brought it if you want to see it?” he says. “It’s in my truck.”
“Sure,” I say with a cheerful smile. I know this won’t go anywhere, but he’s a nice guy.
I grab the throw blanket off the couch and wrap it around my shoulders before following him through the garage door out to the front yard. Bree wiggles her eyebrows at me when I walk past her and I roll my eyes back at her. We’re just looking at a pool stick. It’s no big deal.
It’s cold outside and my blanket is only doing so much. I shiver as Tom opens the passenger door of this truck and shows me the stick. It’s pretty cool – the entire thing is clear and the inside has a small rose embedded in the plastic.
Tom shuffles on his feet while I admire the pool stick. “So uh, listen, Avery.”
I swallow. Uh oh.
Tom smiles. “I know you’re leaving tomorrow and it’s totally not a big deal. But you’re a cool girl and, well, I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me tonight? Just for fun?”
He’s so nervous and it’s adorable. I don’t think a guy has ever been nervous to talk to me in my whole life. I smile back. “Sure.”
Tom beams. “Cool. I’ll come by and pick you up around six? I need to head back to work real quick.”
