“No?”
“Well, we’re thinking four ninety-nine, actually,” he admitted. He really did look like a little kid with those freckles. “Again, though, we’re only in the early stages. It’s going to take a lot of development, since it has to work with different operating systems and stuff. Luckily, we’ve got a programmer on our team.”
“And you’re funded already?”
“We had a connection,” he explained. “Taz, my suitemate? He’s the real driving force behind all this.”
“So to speak,” I quipped. Blake looked confused. “Never mind.”
“Anyway,” he went on, “his dad runs Hermandos Foods, which invented the Zapwich.”
“Seriously?” Zapwiches, which were like frozen calzones, had been a staple of my childhood, when I’d been allowed them. “I love those things!”
“So does everyone. Which is why they are big money.” He held up two fingers, rubbing them together. “We came up with I’M DRIVING in a programming class we took fall semester, me and Taz and our other friend Lucas. The assignment was to create an app that made something safer.”
“Like driving,” I said, as if I was a person who did this, and worried about such things, instead of, you know, driving itself.
“Got an A, of course,” he continued. “But what we were really working toward was the pitch to Taz’s dad over winter break. He loved it: totally in. So now, it’s just a matter of development, getting it up and running. Our long-term plan, though, is to be bought out so that I’M DRIVING becomes standard onallphones.”
This was more than he’d said to me all night, so I took a second to catch up. “Wow,” I said again.
“I know.” He leaned back into the pillow behind him, picking up the remote again. “It’s kind of crazy, being nineteen and knowing you’ve probably already made your first million. Definitely makes college seem like less of a priority.”
I didn’t even know what to say to this. I mean, we were well-off, as was Nana Payne, from my grandfather, who,although not the inventor of an iconic frozen food item, had also been a successful businessman. Even so, though, we never talked about money this confidently, or at all, really. It made me uncomfortable, and not just because I’d spent the day cleaning motel rooms. Although that really made me aware of it.
“This game’s done,” Blake announced, glancing at the TV. “You up for some beer pong?”
“I’m not much of a drinker,” I told him. “But I’ll cheer you on if you play.”
“Yeah?” He seemed surprised by this, even touched.
“Sure,” I said.
He smiled, then got to his feet, picking up his cup. Before moving, though, he waved a hand in front of him, signaling I should go first. That’s sweet, I thought. As was the touch of his hand, which I felt briefly on the small of my back as I started toward the kitchen. Was this what it really felt like to have a boy interested in you? Girl falling in love at the lake was my mom’s story. But maybe it could still be mine as well.
“Great minds,” Blake said, waving a hand between us. “It’s hot as balls in there.”
That wasn’t exactly how I would have put it, but he wasn’t wrong. Hannah and Rachel had returned, the beer pong game began, and I watched as Blake lost three rounds in a row. Meanwhile, a bunch of servers and waiters, off their shifts from the Club restaurant, began to show up, taking the room from crowded to outright packed. Unlike atMimi’s, the A/C couldn’t keep up. I’d basically had to leave before I melted.
Still, I hadn’t expected Blake to follow me outside, as this was technically his party. Then again, he had downed several beers in a short period. He probably needed air even more than I did.
“Having fun?” he asked. “I mean, aside from the hot-as-balls part.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“You sure you don’t want a beer? We have plenty.”
I shook my head. “No thanks.”
“Why not?”
“I’m sorry?”
He cleared his throat. “Sorry. It’s just in college, when people are sober, there’s usually a reason. Religion. A problem. Parents super strict. Or something.”
“Nothing like that,” I said, and he nodded. I thought maybe I should explain more, tell him about my mom. But something stopped me. “Just not my thing.”
“Ah. Got it.” He snapped his fingers. “Speaking of parents, I wanted to show you something.”
