“Eli,” I squeak. I’m not used to talking like this or being talked to like this, I guess.
“Too much?” He chuckles.
“Maybe.” I mean. I don’t hate this sexy side of Eli. No. Idefinitelydon’t hate it. “I’m just not ready for phone stuff.” I may as well be honest with him. Or talking about what we did in the library. Not in any detail, anyway.
“Fair enough.” I hear him moving around on the other end of the line. “Which brings me to the reason for my call.”
“Uh-huh.” I’m leery. It can’t be helped. It’s just me.
“I want to take you to a party this weekend.”
“A party?” Oh dear. “What kind of party?”
“A hockey party.”
I swallow hard. “A hockey party? With hockey people?”
“The team. Yeah.”
“Where is this party?”
“At one of the guy’s houses.”
“Can Carley come too?”
“Sure. That’d be a good way for me to introduce her to Cody.”
Oh, right. He thinks they’d hit it off. “Okay.”
“Saturday night, then?” he asks. “I’ll pick you up early and we can get dinner beforehand.”
“Okay.”
“Invite Carley and we can double.”
“Double?”
“Double date.”
“Oh.” I’m an idiot. “Right.”
“Great,” Eli says, sounding chipper. “Well, I’m going to hit the books. Call me later?”
“Me?” He wantsmeto callhim?
“Yeah. You. You call me.”
“Later? Tonight?”
“Sure. If you want. Or tomorrow. Or both.”
Both? No. “Okay.” Oh, crap. I can’t believe I just said I’d call him later. The notion makes my stomach flutter. Truth? I’ve never called a guy in my life.
Correction, I’ve called boys about school things. You know, like lab partners––pretty much it’s guys that I never wanted to kiss or do other things with. No. Eli’s my first, well, everything, I guess. “Bye.” I need to hang up. I need to tell Carley about the party and her date.
