“Did you ditch work for this?” I asked. Telling her I would have done it all myself was on the tip of my tongue, but I held it back.
“I took a personal day. I had a bunch stored up.”
“It was nice of your mom to come help.”
“Yeah. My dad had to work today, but he said he’d come by tomorrow and do anything we didn’t get done.”
“Great.” I’d make sure there was nothing left.
“What about you? No studying today?” she asked.
“Nope. I’m officially graduated from dental school.”
“Dental school? That’s awesome. And now I’m realizing how little I know about you.” She smiled, and her eyes sparkled like they held a secret. “Well, I do know a few things, thanks to your sister. Is it true you asked Felicia Rae Gomez to Prom in a YouTube video?”
“That was… a bet. Actually, ‘dare’ is a better word.” I was going to kill Lauren.
“I think it’s sweet. I loved her inHaunted High Schoolback in the day. I even had a HSH bumper sticker on my car.”
My face, already hot from the sun, burned even more. “It wasn’t theHaunted High Schoolthing for me. She was the voice of Tez Dreamstore inAliens and Convenience Stores.” My explanation was making me sound even more like a nerd, but I couldn’t seem to stop. “Not that you’d know what that is.”
“It was a video game, right?”
“Yeah.”
Melissa nodded. “So, um, did she ever respond?”
“I got a letter.” Probably one written by her team, but it had been nice all the same. I knew exactly where it was in my box of memorabilia, but it wasn’t about to see the light of day anytime soon. “And no, I didn’t take Felicia Rae Gomez to Prom. Should I check with your mom and see if she has any fun stories about you?”
Melissa lifted her chin. “Go right ahead, tough guy.”
I stepped closer. “You sound a little nervous. Why is that?”
“No reason.”
“No fun stories about you she could share?”
“Not any good ones.”
Lies. All lies. Her face was telling me there were a lot of juicy stories her mom would be happy to share. What had Melissa been like back in high school?
I got lost in her big brown eyes for a moment. Realizing our little staring contest was getting a bit too charged for me, I ducked around her with my tools and got to work. I was letting down my guard again. She was all wrong for me, and I wouldn’t let my instincts be fooled into thinking otherwise.
11
________
Melissa
I tugged at the dead tree in the middle of the yard, but it wouldn’t budge. We’d have to dig deeper. Stinking dead roots.
I stepped back and let Parker shovel out more dirt. “Connor has never mentioned you,” he huffed out between shovelfuls. “Which is weird because you’re really good-looking.”
I blinked at him, trying to figure out if he was teasing me. But just like when he asked if my mom and I were sisters, it was impulse coming out of his mouth, and not flattery. Good thing his impulses happened to be flattering. Sort of.
“Does Connor always mention when women are good-looking?” I asked, trying not to laugh.
“Well, yeah. All guys do.” Parker and Clay exchanged fist bumps.
