“Stop biting your fingers.”
“Stop making me squirm. Did I piss you off?” I blurted out.
He parked the car and slid his gaze over to me. He remained silent and that made me talk more. “I don’t understand what happened. I mean, I played the girlfriend role at the bar as part of our plan. Then you break a glass, which happens a lot. Clyde’s just a ding-dong who gets worried over stupid things. Did he say something to you?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Oh, so youcantalk. You just chose to make me sit here the entire drive home like I did something wrong.”
“Shit.” He closed his eyes, sucking air into his lungs. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry I made you feel that way.”
Well, damn.His apology seemed sincere. “Thank you.” I unbuckled my belt and opened the door. But I paused. “Do you want to come on up? You know a good marathon ofBob’s Burgershelps.”
His thought about it for a second, then nodded. “To be honest, that sounds like a damn good idea. Yeah. Let’s watch for a bit. The guys are all out tonight and I like hanging out with you.”
My stomach did the weird swooping thing again as we headed up the stairs. Nothing about what he’d said stood out, but I became anxious. We entered the apartment and I called out for Callie. There was no response and, for the first time in my life, being alone with Aaron in the apartment worried me. “Guess it’s just us.”
“Why don’t you make us a drink? I’ll get the show started.” He walked past me and the combination of his sweat and cologne was intoxicating. I searched the fridge for some beers and was thankful that we had a six-pack in the back.I’m going to need a drink or five.
An hour later, I lay on my couch with Aaron’s head a foot away. The L-shaped sofa was perfect for a bunch of friends to hang out, but it also provided close interaction if two people chose to lay their heads together. We always had. Today was no different, beside the rate of my heart and the questions in my head. We always talked throughout shows or movies, making fun of storylines or talking shit. This seemed normal. But now…Is this fake? Is this a photo op? I have no idea.
“Dude. You never explained how well you played today.” I flicked his ear, getting a grunt in return. Whatever had bothered him before was gone and the regular Aaron was back. “How did you play?”
“Seven for ten,” he said without an ounce of cockiness. “I had about six put-outs at shortstop and stole two bases. I played well.”
“Hell yeah, Hilly.” I held out a hand for a high-five and he obliged. I considered it a win when he gave me a small smile. Something had been bugging him and it had worked itself out, thank god. “You’ve really found your groove, huh?”
“I don’t know about that, but I feel confident out there. My life is a hot-ass mess and I channel all my frustration and energy into the game. I’m a huge believer that when you love something and put the time and effort into it, it’ll reward you. Maybe that’s just happening.”
I grinned, tilting my body onto my side so my elbow sat inches away from his. “I like that. You can be wise at times, A-a-ron.”
“It can happen.” He chuckled and shifted so he faced me. “I posted another picture of us today.”
“Yeah? Which one?”
He showed me his phone and I saw an older picture of us from freshman year. I wore his hat backward, my hair in braids as I hung on his back. His smile was as big as a banana, mine annoyingly happy as we kicked ass at a ping-pong game. “I remember that day. It was fucking awesome.”
“Yeah, I do too. Do you remember how pissed Zade got at us?” He laughed, slowly blinking at the memory.
“Oh, my god. He totally got pissed. He broke the paddle.”
“I loved making him mad. He’s such an over-reacter.” He moved the phone, but I stopped him when I saw a little number in the corner. I snatched it from him.
“Jesus, Aaron. Our selfie’s received a thousand likes. Ridiculous. Only you would get that many.”
“You aren’t bad on the eyes, G. Lots of people like your stuff, too.” Sleep clogged his voice.
I took the pillow by my feet and hit him in the face. “Wow. You’re so charming.Not bad on the eyes.”
“You know how you look. You don’t need any affirmation from me.” He smirked, pulling the pillow from my hands without effort. “Now shut up. I want to watch the next episode.”
“It’sBob’s Burgers. You’ve seen every episode. Youquoteevery episode.” I rolled my eyes. My phone pinged, and I opened a message from Tanner.Tanner.I blew out a long breath and pushed my hair behind my ears. He’d upped and disappeared after the glass-breaking incident and I wanted to know why.
Tanner: We need to talk. Can we grab coffee tomorrow before your shift?
I typed out various responses, the previous year coming back to me. I’d crushed on Tanner, with his bronzed skin, perfect arms and contagious laugh. Crushed hard. We’d played a game all year, him pretending to ignore my signals and me pretending he was into me. It had been ugly. Nothing had happened, nothing remotely physical, but it’d still hurt for a while. He saw me as a sister. That was what he’d told me with a straight face. He wasn’t attracted to me that way.Nope.To say shit wasn’t awkward would be a big fucking lie. We used to text inappropriate things all the time. Now, they were few and far between.
Greta: Sure. I think you owe me. Plus, what the fuck happened tonight?
