Tanner: I’ll explain tomorrow. And, what do I owe you for, not that I mind ;)
The winky face. The epitome of flirting over text.Why?I gawped at it.Why is he sending that now? He knows about me and Aaron.
Greta: Two weeks ago you farted in the car. While it was raining. Low blow, man.
I typed it out, shutting down the winking asap.
Tanner: I’m an asshole. I’m sorry. Want to meet at the Bean? Does noon work?
I sighed, rubbing my temples before responding. Aaron noticed, nudging my arm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good.” I sent a quick thumbs-up and set my phone upside down. “Tanner and I are getting coffee tomorrow.”
His entire body tensed, his gaze snapping to me. “Oh. Why?”
“No idea.” I gave him a bemused expression.What an odd thing, to ask why I would get coffee with Tanner.“He said he wants to talk. Plus, you know I love my caffeine.”
“Greta. Caffeine is a drug. It stunts your growth.” He flicked his gaze to my legs for a second. He met my eyes again and one side of his mouth turned down. “Drink milk. Water. Protein shakes. They’re so much better for you.”
“For starts, Hilly, my bones are doing fine. Look at these legs. Do they need to grow anymore? No. I’m already tall enough for a girl.” I raised my pale leg in the air. His gaze followed, sending a small shiver through me. I had long legs. They were skinny white legs that had barely learned how to function like a normal person. I fell more than the average person and running wasn’t even in my vocabulary. Me…running… The only thing to get me to run would be a bad guy chasing me. Or a tornado. Or if I was running to cake. I was a selective runner.
“You aren’t freakishly tall.”
“Uh, I never said freakishly. Thanks for adding that in there.” I pushed him so his head hit the back of the couch. I mumbled under my breath, “Dick hole.”
I did not expect him to burst out laughing. His shaking body made the entire couch move and I smiled at him. This wasmyAaron. The way-too-loud, boisterous, borderline-inappropriate baseball boy. He wiped his eyes and shook his head. “You said dick hole.”
“Yeah, I did.” I grinned again. “I insulted you.”
“But you said dick hole.” He chuckled again and the wariness present seconds before was gone. “Tomorrow is my last free day for a week. Hang out with me.”
“Was that a question or a statement?” I loved his smile. It made me want to pinch his cheeks and squeeze him. I didn’t appreciate his demanding tone, but he could get me to agree to just about anything with that grin.
“Don’t be a Pita.” He laughed at his clever nickname again. “Please hang out with me. We can go get your guitar and get cake. Chocolate cake.”
“Hmm. You run a hard bargain.” I pretended to think about it. “I guess.”
“I’ll pick you up at noon.”
“Uh, I’m meeting with Tanner then.” I rolled my eyes. Boys were annoying. “Were you tuning me outagain?”
“No, I heard you. I’ll pick you up at noon.” He stood, stretching his arms over his head. “I can’t wait to hear you play your show.”
“Are you leaving?” I saw it was midnight. “You can crash here.”
“Nah, I should head back. I have something I need to do.” He patted my leg a couple of times, lingering just long enough for me to suck in a breath. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” I attempted to say, but it came out in a throaty whisper. He opened the door but stopped. I waited. Three seconds, then more.
He didn’t do anything. He just walked out of the door.Puzzled.I felt puzzled and sad and giddy and tired. Too many emotions for this girl, so I locked the door. It wasn’t until I was lying in bed an hour later that I saw I had a text.
Aaron: The socks worked. I just ordered you a present.
Greta: Me? A present?! I love presents.
Aaron: I know you do.
Aaron: You’re good at this fake girlfriend thing.
