After several more minutes of ridiculousness, Summer ends the call, and the girls’ attention drifts elsewhere.
Veikko lets out a grunt of pain while he walks to the kitchen. “Shit,” he grouses.
“What’s wrong?” Felix asks, getting up to join him.
“My hamstring. It has been sore ever since practice the other day.” He shifts his weight to one leg, trying to shake out the pain from his other one.
“I get that all the time from squatting in the crease,” Felix says, standing near Veikko and pulling a stool toward them. “Here, this stretch works wonders. Let me show you.”
Veikko stiffens as Felix grabs his leg and positions it straightened out on the seat, at a ninety-degree angle with his body.
“Hold your leg like this. Now, bend this way …” Felix steps close to Veikko, pressing against his side, to guide his movements. Veikko looks caught off guard. There’s an uncharacteristic flush in his sharp cheeks. As Felix positions him, Veikko keeps pulling at the crotch of his jeans to readjust them.
I guess stretching in jeans must be uncomfortable.
Even if I did succeed in winning Carmen over, I wonder how she’d react if I brought her around the house, and she had to put up with all these nutjobs.
Would she become friends with the girls? Would she laugh at Veikko and Felix’s antics? Would she and Sebastian bond over their interest in books?
A warm feeling scatters through my chest. I don’t know if I’ve ever imagined anything I’d like to see more than that.
My eyesopen to a dark room.
Something woke me up, interrupting a dreamless sleep.
Awareness switches on in my brain. It was a notification from my phone that woke me.
A notification in the middle of the night.
Carmen.
I instantly wake up, alert as I sit up in my bed.
A text from a number that I don’t recognize displays on my screen. Excitement scatters through me. My eyes tick down to read the message, and my chest swells.
Hey. It’s Carmen. Are you up?
A delirious rush of joy fills me. It’s … half past one in the morning, and Carmen texted me.
A nip of guilt pokes at me. I’m happy that she messaged me, but I shouldn’t be happy that she’s having trouble sleeping.
But that flick of my conscience isn’t even close to enough to douse the excitement. I feel like I scored a goal in a playoff game. Carmen won’t be alone in her sleeplessness tonight, because there’s no way I’m getting another wink of it before sunrise, no matter how long our texting lasts.
Yep, haven’t gone to sleep yet.
Total lie, but I don’t want her thinking she’s bothering me. She sure as hell isn’t doing that.
What’s up?
While waiting for her to respond, I add her number to my phone. A flutter sweeps to my fingers when I type in her name and finalize her as a new contact.
Carmen
Well, I was sleeping great tonight but decided to randomly get up to message you for no reason
A grin crinkles my eyes. I can hear her sarcasm through the text message, and it warms my chest.
Understandable. I’m very good company through texting.
