“I know, it rolls right off my tongue. Wavy baby.” Oswald sighs softly. I have to admit, it does sound sweet the way he says it, and I like the baby part more than Wavy.
“Come here.” Memphis slips from the booth and motions for me to come nearer to him as Oswald rises from the seat. When I get close, he leans in so his mouth is near my ear. I fight to suppress a shiver as his warm breath fans over my neck and he mumbles, “Let’s make him walk back.”
When I look up, Mickey is staring at me and Memphis with her head tilted to the side. She’s probably wondering why the brother of the guy that just called me his girl is whispering into my ear and I’m looking like I’m about to faint.
Even though Oswald isn’t really my boyfriend, I feel ashamed of my reaction, and it gets worse when Oswald reaches for my hand as we walk past the waitress. She probably thinks I’m cheating on him.Great.
DISTRACTIONS
Oz
Waylynn is jittery after lunch.It’s like she can’t wait to get out of the truck. The moment we make it back to school, she’s angled toward me, ready to go as fast as possible.
“Waylynn.” Her body stiffens when Memphis curls his hand over her thigh just above the knee. “Unblock our numbers before you go.”
She lets out a heavy breath as if she was expecting him to say something else, then leans to the side to pull her phone from her back pocket. Her thumbs move over the keyboard too fast for me to register her password. Once she pulls up the contacts in her phone, she freezes, then looks up. “How do I do that? I’ve never unblocked a number.”
“I can do it for you.” I extend my hand, and she pulls her phone closer to her chest. “I’m not going to go through your messages or anything,” I tell her, but I have to admit, I’m more curious now than I was before.
“I could do it. I just don’t know how.” She sluggishly brings her phone down and places it on my palm. The contacts are already open, so I scroll through slowly, noting a few guys’ names and several doctors.
Once I reach my name, I tap the icon and get to work unblocking my number. “I didn’t see Memphis,” I say, expecting her to tell me what she put him under.
“Um…”
“Give me that.” My brother keeps his right hand clutched over Waylynn’s leg and reaches for the phone with his left hand. “You didn’t even put my name in?” he mumbles under his breath.
“I wasn’t positive it was you.” She runs her hands over the tops of her thighs, and I swear her fingers knead and linger where his were before he started thumbing through her phone. He better not have hurt her by squeezing too hard.
Memphis stops what he was doing and slowly turns his head to look at her. He doesn’t even have to say anything else, and she cracks under the pressure of his stare. “I figured it was probably you,” she admits, and her voice is soft, sweet.
Memphis turns his attention back to her phone, and when he hands it back, I get a second to glimpse the screen. His name isn’t shown under the contact, Sir is. I’m going to give him shit for that as soon as she gets out of the car. My brother has always had a controlling streak, but there is something about Waylynn that tips it over the edge into something more.
“Thank you for lunch. I should get to class,” she mumbles, and I decide we’ve steamrolled her enough for now and let her out of the truck. I watch her ass bounce when her feet hit the ground. I don’t even try to hide the fact I was checking her out when she turns to grab her bag. At least she’s not running from us today.
The urge to lean down, pull her against me so I can feel her curves under my hands, and kiss her is strong, but I’m not sure our girl is ready for that yet.
“I’ll talk to you later,” she mumbles and dashes off.
“I’ll text you tonight,” I holler after her loudly enough that several people notice, which was my intent. I may not be able to kiss her yet, but there are other ways to show people she belongs to me. She looks over her shoulder, and I can just make out her little smile.
“Sir?” I question when Memphis meets me in front of the truck.
“She is my student. She shouldn’t even have my number unless I make it available to everyone.”
“But Sir?” I dig again. I have to give him shit, since no one else is brave enough to.
“Shut up. Wavy baby is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.” He’s being defensive, so I know I hit my mark.
I chuckle and start walking backwards. “I’ll text you when practice is over so we can eat.”
Memphis doesn’t respond, but I know he hears me.
I hit the sidewalk at a slow jog. My calves are tight for the first hundred yards from this morning’s workout, but it fades into a comfortable burn after a few seconds, allowing me to pick up my pace so I won’t be late to my next class.
* * *
Bates
