"Aaron has a girlfriend, doesn't he?"
"Yeah, I guess. Why are we talking about this? Who cares?"
"I'm trying to figure out why she'd hang out with those guys. She doesn't even know them."
"She must, or she wouldn't have gone to the game with them. Or maybe JT asked her out."
"He wouldn't ask Brook. He likes biker chicks. Girls with tats."
"How do you know?"
"He lives in my neighborhood. I've seen the girls he's had over."
"Maybe he's trying something new, like you picking Christina." Danny laughs. "You should've seen the other girls' faces when you took off with Christina. They never in a million years thought you'd pick her over them."
Danny keeps talking but I'm not really listening, images of Brook and JT filling my head. He's not at all her type. His neck is lined with tats, half his head is shaved, and he's got piercings in his nose, tongue, and eyebrows. There's no way she'd agree to go out with him. And she has a boyfriend. She wouldn't go out with another guy.
"Are you sure she was with JT?" I ask, my hand gripping my phone so tight it's starting to cramp up. I take a breath, trying to relax. For some fucked-up reason, thinking of Brook with JT has got me worked up.
Danny glances at me. "Did you hear anything I just said?"
"Not really. Why? Was it important?"
"Forget it," he says, reaching for the beef jerky. "You got anything to drink at your house? I'm dying of thirst."
"Water. That's it."
He nods, turning down my street, not answering my question.
"Was she or not?"
"What are we talking about?"
"Brook and JT. Were they together or not?"
He pulls up to my house and parks in the driveway, then turns to me. "What's going on with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you keep asking about the new girl? You got a thing for her?"
"Hell, no. You really think I'd be attracted to that? A tiny little thing with hardly any breasts? Did you forget I was with Christina tonight? Her and Brook couldn't be any more different if they tried."
Is that why I picked her? Because she's so different than Brook, the girl I'm trying not to think about? If so, that's messed up.
"Then why do you keep asking about her?"
"I'm trying to figure out what she's like. And if I can trust her. I don't want her coming to my house, tutoring Jake, if I can't trust her."
"What does that have to do with her being with JT?"
"It doesn't. Never mind." I open the door but stop before getting out. "Was she still there when we left?"
"I don't know. Probably."
For a moment, I consider going back to the party. I want to know if she's there with JT, or someone else. Why I care is beyond me. I'm starting to think I'm losing it. It's probably my lack of sleep. I'll go inside and get to bed and tomorrow I won't even think of Brook.
"She looked fucking hot," Danny says, smiling to himself like he's imagining her.
