I perched on the table next to him as he put the tub between us. I dug in, but the tip of the spoon got stuck in the frozen ice cream.
“Can’t you wait a second? How long has it been since you’ve eaten?” teased William.
“Since my mom left, I’ve only been eating nuggets and frozen fries. Now’s not the time to be difficult.” We smiled for a second until Will asked, “How are you?”
“Fine. I’d missed a million calls from my mom when I got back. I spent the afternoon studying and getting the third degree.” He curved his lip up, listening to my griping.
“Well, at least she’s worried about you.”
“Are you okay, Will? I mean, after the day we had today,” I asked seriously.
He nodded but looked worried.
“Well, to be honest, I can’t stand fighting with James. I feel better right away, but I know he gets upset for a long time. Really upset.”
I saw him take a deep sigh, so I craned my neck to the living room to take a look.
James and Sammy seemed to be in the throes of sucking face. Sammy’s tiny figure made James look even more massive. They were seriously making out.
“He doesn’t look that upset.”
“June, you don’t know him.” He shook his head, laughing.
“Why’s Sammy here? I mean, why not Taylor or Tiffany, why her today?” My question probably deserved a goodMind your own business, meddler, but Will wasn’t of that mindset.
“Taylor?” He snorted smiling. “She wouldn’t even lower herself to mix with us mere mortals. But she’ll be a casualty. If one’s busy, another one is waiting in the wings.”
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t’ve asked. Like magic, I lost interest in the subject.
“But if you wanna know, I’m the one who told him to call her. Otherwise it would’ve been just you, me, and him.”
I looked away from the ice cream to gaze into William’s gray eyes. They glowed with an unusual curiosity. And I couldn’t forget how jealous he’d looked that morning. Before the fight with James, then the rough way he ripped the cotton ball from me. The worst thing was that he was right. James and I went from hating each other to crossing lines that I hadn’t even flirted with when it came to Will.
“I didn’t want him to be a third wheel,” he said. “Right, June?”
I stayed still, staring into his attentive gaze. The hum of the refrigerator filled the silence.
“Oh, yeah, you did the right thing,” I confirmed haphazardly.
But I had trouble chasing away the thought that had just started worming its way into my head. Was Will starting to see me differently?
“James has a ton of qualities, but he’s not always trustworthy,” added William, grabbing the tub from my hands.
“You mean . . .”
“Yeah, with girls,” he continued, putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
“But he’s loyal to his friends,” I ventured.
Will turned around, running his fingers through his hair.
“Yeah. He is.”
I felt a weird sensation. What did I feel guilty about? William and I weren’t together because he didn’t intend to be serious with me. What did he expect?
“Wanna watch a movie?” Sammy yelled from the living room.
“Do you want anything else, June?”
