“I think it’s sweet,” Ember murmurs against me.
“I think you’re sweet.” I drop my head so my lips brush her hair. “And sexy. And you give the best—”
“Noah!” Ember wrestles from me and starts motioning with her head. Following her gaze, I see her mom standing just inside the door to the apartment.
“Shoulder massages,” I finish. I realize how bad that sounded. I was going to sayfake tattoosbut freaked out when Ember said my name.
Maddie stares at me with shrewd eyes. Ember swears her mother doesn’t know about our weekend at the coast, but I’ve been getting a vibe from her since then. Maybe it’s my own guilty conscience, but I swear she’s looking at me as if she knows every single thing I did with her daughter.
“Hi, Mom,” Ember says as Maddie throws her purse onto the counter.
Maddie says hello to both of us, heads to the sink, and turns on the water. She pumps enough soap for three people onto her open palm. Holding a finger to the water, she waits for ten seconds, then picks up a small brush from the back of the sink and scrubs her nails. I thought thirty seconds of warm, soapy water was enough to kill most germs, but Maddie has been going at it for nearly a minute.
I look at Ember for explanation, but she’s watching her mom with a pensive look on her face.
Maddie finishes, dries her hands on a clean towel she has removed from a drawer, and takes a deep breath. “Now,” she says, “you two looked cozy when I walked in. Are you having sex?”
“No,” I say automatically.
“Yes,” Ember says.
Maddie keeps her gaze on Ember. She doesn’t look mad, or sad, or upset, oranything. “Are you being safe?” she asks. Now she’s looking at me, and her eyes harden a fraction.
“Yes,” I answer. I feel like I owe it to her to speak. “Are you going to tell my parents?” Not that it’s the end of the world, but I’d rather not have the conversation with them.
Maddie laughs, taking me by surprise. I don’t know what’s funny. “Noah, I won’t be telling your parents a thing, but don’t you think they already know?”
Her words make me think back to the day Ember and I skipped school, and how my dad knew exactly where to find me. “Yeah, probably.”
Maddie opens a cupboard, and inside I see a lot of pasta, some canned goods, and packets of dried soup. Tipping her head to one side, she reaches in and pushes things around.
“We’re going out tonight.” Ember tells her. “A double-date with Noah’s brother, Brody, and his girlfriend, Alyssa.”
Maddie turns, looking at me with wide eyes. “Your brother’s name is Brody?”
“Yeah…”
Ember and I look at each other, and she shrugs. “Mom, are you okay?” She asks.
“Fine.” Maddie turns back around. “I’m fine. I just… That would’ve been my boy name if I’d had one, that’s all.”
“Really?” Ember asks. “I would’ve thought you’d choose something like Forest, or Hunter, or…”
“Shades of green?” Maddie asks, a confused smile on her face. Her shock over my brother’s name seems to have dissipated. Ember lifts a section of hair with one hand and points to it with the other. “Oh, yes,” Maddie laughs. “What can I say? I’m missing a creativity bone. Apparently, I like to state the obvious.”
Ember laughs softly, but I’m not sure what the hell to do. Maddie’s being so chill about finding out Ember and I are sleeping together, it’s disconcerting. Shouldn’t she be chasing me out of the place with a kitchen knife, while screeching at me to stay away from her daughter?
Maddie asks Ember a question, something about Sky, and I try to calm my accelerated heart rate. Normally I don’t mind hanging out at Ember’s place, but right now I can’t wait to leave. Suddenly filling my body with flaming hot wings doesn’t sound so bad.
* * *
“Alyssa,it’s nice to finally spend some time with the girl Brody doesn’t shut up about.” I lean back in the booth, looking across the table to my brother.
Alyssa sweeps her blue eyes to Brody, her cheeks flushing, and grins at him.
“You don’t shut up about me?”
He leans over and pushes his face into her hair, murmuring into her ear. I pretend to vomit, and it gets Brody’s attention.
