Let’s do something today. I’m free!I texted Angela.
Girl, it’s hot as fuck out. Pool party at mine?she wrote back.
Yes! It was supposed to be 106 out. Not too hot that you wanted to hide inside all day, but hot enough that you wanted some relief.
Be there at noon? I’ll bring chips and salsa,I wrote back.
Bring Ethan and Cody. You owe me bitch,she replied.
What? Invite Ethan and one of his biker buddies to a pool party? That meant I would have to be in a bathing suit in front of him and he would be shirtless in front of me…
Maybe next time?I tried.
Nice try. They better be with you. I got a babysitter and everything. Love ya.
I blew air through my teeth. Dammit, I really did owe her. Like big time. She got me the job at Mickey’s and Cody was a cute dude who worked for Ethan. She deserved to be happy, I couldn’t cock block her because I was running from love, right?
I decided to let the universe choose. I was going to go out and make coffee and if Ethan was out there and didn’t seem busy, I would casually ask him to the pool party. But if he was still asleep, it was a sign!
Brushing my teeth and putting on jean shorts, I shuffled out to the kitchen.
And there he was making scrambled eggs.Shirtless. In low slung basketball shorts with messy hair.
Why did the universe hate me?
“Want some?” He looked up at me with those pouty fucking lips and I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing.
“Yes,” I panted, before I realized he was talking about the eggs. “Yes. Eggs. Please. Yeah,” I mumbled and walked over to the coffeepot.
I poured him some black coffee and then made mine as we both sat at the small dining table. When he set the eggs before me, my eyes went to the flower on the plate. Sitting on the edge of the plate was a delicate pink baby rose.
The fucking flower … what was it doing there? I glanced at his flowerless plate and felt totally frozen. Was this a date? Flowers on plates meant something.
“It’s just a flower,” he said, observing me.
I released the breath I had been holding. “I know.”
“My roses are coming in out front. Thought you would enjoy one. Girls like flowers, right?” He seemed confused by my reaction.
Most girls did. What was wrong with me? In a panic, I picked it up and tucked it behind my ear, Hawaiian style.
“It’s beautiful.”
There was no way in hell I could ask him to the pool now. He’d think we were totally dating, or sleeping together later, or something serious. Oh my God, he probably thought I was some normal chick that had moved in with him and we could become friends with benefits. He had no idea the kind of deranged shit I’d been through the past few years.
“You’re not used to people doing something nice for you, are you?” He was looking at me like I was an animal in a cage and I wanted to die of mortification.
Fuck!I wanted to shovel some eggs down my throat and drink my scalding coffee and bounce, not get a therapy session with this shirtless Greek god over here.
I tried for a little honesty: “Not really.”
We ate in silence then. Eating, sipping coffee, and just being. It was nice to not have to think of anything to say. I didn’t feel a weird pressure I usually felt to keep a conversation going with someone new. I just tried to stop thinking about the flower.
“How’s school?” he asked after a while.
A grin broke out on my face. “It’s time-consuming but … I love it. Did you know that tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body?”
Now it was his turn to smile. “I did not.”
