“I’ll have a Coke.” My voice is a little high, but nothing too bad. As soon as he leaves, I grab Gwen’s arm. “What the heck was that?” I giggle.
“Hopefully not just a pretty face.” She snickers with me. Brandon returns swiftly with our drinks. I’m pretty sure Gwen’s has alcohol after the face she pulls when she takes a sip.
“I’m driving,” I state, and she doesn’t argue.
“Is that your phone?” She tilts her head to the side. “It’s gone off like five times,” she exaggerates.
I usually have it on silent and can feel it vibrate, but I switched it to ring the other day so I wouldn’t miss any calls or messages from Rafe.
“Crap.” I lean over and pull it out of my pocket.
“Who is it?” Gwen’s brow is pinched with concern.
“It’s Rafe. I’ll tell you about him when I get off the phone.” I give her a warning glare, which makes her grin.
“You bet your sweet ass you will,” she singsongs when I pick up.
“Hello?” I hear breathing but nothing else for a long moment. “Rafe?”
“Who is that?” he asks, and I shoot Gwen a murderous scowl. He must have heard her comment.
“My friend, Gwen. Sorry I missed your call.”
“Where are you?” he questions before I can even finish speaking.
“Buffalo Wild Wings.”
“You should tell him to join us,” Gwen calls loudly. I make another face at her, but there’s a chance he heard her again, and I don’t want him to assume I don’t want him to come.
“We’re grabbing a bite, if you’re free.” Gwen rolls her eyes at me and shakes her head. “What?” I mouth.
“Lame.” She doesn’t even keep her voice down.
“By the mall?” Rafe inquires, his voice stiff.
“Yeah,” I tell him, and the line goes dead right after. “Hello?” I look at the phone and confirm the call is no longer connected. “I think he hung up on me.”
“He probably just didn’t say bye.” Gwen shrugs and takes a drink from her straw. “Better talk quick, he might show up any minute.” She waggles her brows at me.
I peek over at the door, wondering how long it will take him to get here. “Okay, but when he arrives, you have to promise to be good, nice.” Gwen’s chin lowers. “You know what I mean. We’ve only been out once, and I think I like him, so don’t tell him any embarrassing stories about me or anything,” I plead.
She waves off my concern. “Tell me about him.”
I already know what I need to say first. “He’s a little older than me.” Gwen rolls her wrist, telling me to get to the good stuff, but I need to make sure she understands. “Late twenties.”
“Well, well.” She sounds a little surprised. “He must be gorgeous.”
“He’s… Yes.” I nod eagerly.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asks, fully engrossed in our conversation. Brandon walks by, and she doesn’t even notice.
“I was going to tell you about him tonight,” I defend. “But there’s not much to tell. He took me to the fair and dinner.”
“Sex?” she questions, getting right to the point.
“No,” I hiss and look around. “But…”
“You let him stroke the kitty,” Gwen singsongs, pointing at my face. “I can tell just by that blush.”
