“Hey.” She stands next to me, offering the faintest smile, and for a moment I forget it all as the fireworks go off. I need to stop staring at her lips, but I can’t bring myself to. Not until she turns to my parents. “Sorry for interrupting. I?—”
“Not at all,” Mom interjects, her face softening and lips lifting in a curious smile. Oh God, I know that smile all too well. “We’re Danny’s parents. I’m Esmeralda.” She extends her hand for Josie to shake it.
She does then dad extends his. “I’m Julio.”
“I’m Josefine. It’s so good to meet you both.”
It may be dark out, but there are enough lights that I see the spark of realization in Mom’s eyes before it sweeps over her face. “You’re Josie? Danny’s new roommate?”
Dammit, Penelope.
“Uh, yeah.” Josie casts me a glance before it drifts back to my parents.
“It’s so good to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many good things about you.”
Josie’s eyebrow’s furrow before they smooth out. “That’s good to hear.”
I mentally facepalm myself and intervene before Mom starts to pop out questions. “Can you both give me one second? I need talk to Josie really quickly.”
Dad tersely nods, but Mom only smiles wider. Josie doesn’t know what’s going on, but I see the wheels spinning in Mom’s head. I don’t want to get her hopes up because nothing is going on between us even though I’ve—no, I’m not going there.
They climb back into their food truck and once I know they’re busy selling their bread, I draw my focus to Josie.
“I didn’t mean to ambush you. You looked a little in distress and thought maybe you’d?—”
I force a chuckle. “Why would you think that?”
She tucks a wisp of her hair behind her ear. “You looked anxious.”
“Me, anxious?” Blood roars in my ears and my hands become clammy again. “I don’t know why you’d think that but I’m good. My parents just like to ask a million questions.”
“You know you can be honest with me. I won’t judge.”
I slip my hands in my pockets as my fingers twitch with tremors. “Honest about what? We’ve talked, remember? I’m good. I’m sorry you assumed I was anxious but I’m not. They’re just a little annoyed because I didn’t tell them about the MLB email and they?—”
She stares up at me, astonished. “You gottheemail? That’s?—”
“It’s really not a big deal. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet.”
Her brows pull together and her inquisitive eyes study my face. “Is everything okay?”
The muscles on my face strain to keep my smile from falling. “Everything’s good. It’s just been a busy and long day. I’m tired and my parents—they like pestering me with questions. And I’m sure they’re going to bombard me with many more. I didn’t tell them about you, by the way. That was all Pen.”
“Right.” Her expression becomes impassive, and she adds distance between us. “Well…I won’t hold you up.”
Please don’t go.I want to yell and hold her, but my mind is static and my body isn’t responding the way it should. Sweat rolls down my back, and my hands are trembling worse than they had before.
“Josefine, here.” Mom climbs down the little steps and holds a brown paper bag with the name of the bakery stamped on it. “I hope you likepan dulce. I added some of Danny’s favorites and a few other ones. You have Facebook, don’t you?”
“Mom, please,” I warn but she doesn’t look at me.
“I put my card in the bag. When you’ve tried them, message me on Facebook and let me know which ones you liked and I’ll send you more.”
“Thank you.” Her lips lift. It’s hardly a smile, and I hate myself for it. “I’m going to get going. It was so good to meet you.”
“You don’t need to leave. Julio and I need to keep working. We’ll call Danny later. You kids go have fun and?—”
“I just came to say hello. I’m actually helping the mermaid so I should be going now. Thanks for the bread again.” She doesn’t meet my stare anymore and walks away before letting Mom get a word out.
