Elaine laughed so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes. When she finally composed herself, she said, “Oh my, I had forgotten about that. Andrew decided to use his school’s payphone to prank the eight-hundred number of a tampon company.”
“Prank them how?” I asked, knowing this was going to be good.
Stephen’s belly laugh had the entire restaurant looking at our table again.
“He disguised his voice to sound like a girl and spun some tale about having tampons stuck inside him.” Elaine shook her head, the slightest blush coloring her cheeks. “After several of those calls, the tampon company sent a bill to the school. The school pulled surveillance and then called us in for a meeting to pass the bill along to us.”
“I learned a lot from that one,” Wasp said, rejoining us. He settled Trent back in his chair before rounding the table to retake his seat. “Like how to watch out for cameras and block my phone number.”
His mother threw her hands in the air. “Of course. Far be it for you to stop your nefarious pranking activity.”
I just stared at Wasp, shaking my head, appalled by the hell he’d put his family through. “You were a horrible child.”
“Nope. I was afunchild.
“I’m a fun child,” Trent said.
Oh God.“Maybe a little less fun than Wasp was, though. I don’t think my mommy can handle that much fun.”
The rest of dinner was spent in companionable conversation. Before I knew it, it was time to go and I was actually sad our time with Wasp’s parents had come to an end. They both hugged me and Trent before climbing into their rental car.
“Next time, you three will have to fly out and see us,” Elaine said through her open window.
“Mom…” Wasp said, another warning in his voice.
She gave him another sweet smile. “Just letting them know they’re welcome, Andrew. You all are. It’s been too long since you’ve been home.”
We climbed into Wasp’s Jeep and instead of starting the engine, he turned to face me. “My parents monopolized all your time, and I barely got to talk to you. I’m not ready to drop you guys off yet.”
And I wasn’t ready to be dropped off. “This was fun, but I have to work in a couple of hours.”
“Mind if I come over and hang out until you do? We could watch another movie.” I started to object, and he said, “One without Penis Parker, of course.” His eyes were smiling, and he gave me a panty-melting smirk.
There were so many reasons Wasp in my apartment was a bad idea, but none of them seemed more compelling than the fact that I liked having him around. His presence made me feel less lonely and broken. It was like I had a good friend again… one who I wanted to kiss some more.
“Then I can take you to work,” he said before turning to ask Trent, “What do you say, buddy? Want me to come over for a while?”
“Yes!” Trent’s eyes were bright, and his grin was giant. “Can Wasp come to our house, Mom?”
“Yeah, can I, Mom?” Wasp asked, turning his pleading gaze on me.
“That was dirty, Andrew,” I replied.
“I do what I have to. It’s my stellar work ethic. By the way, I think my parents like you more than they like me.”
Grinning, I had to agree. “Yeah? Well, maybe if you weren’t such a rotten child they would like you more.”
“By rotten, you mean creative and entertaining.” Wasp started up his Jeep.
I laughed. “Or rottenly creative and entertaining.”
“It’s practically the same thing.” We pulled out of the parking lot, and by the time we arrived at our building, Wasp had weaseled his way up to our apartment. He and Trent checked out our movie collection while I slipped into my bedroom to change into my work uniform.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. Wondering what the two trouble makers were up to, I opened it.
Wasp stood on the other side. He looked me up and down, then muttered, “Damn, I missed the good part.”
“Which good part would that be?”
