Memphis
Her words renderme useless for about two seconds, long enough for the girl to swipe Waylynn’s card. I wrap my arm around her neck and haul her back so she’s covering half of me. My forearm is resting above her full breasts, and my fingers are dangling just barely off the side, grazing her. The curve of her ass and full hip are pressed against me, but I won’t grind on her, no matter how badly I want to.
“That wasn’t very nice, sweetness.” I inhale her strawberry scent, softening my words of censure with a gentle tone.
Once she takes the receipt, I walk us right out the door and into the sweltering heat outside. She comes willingly. “It wasn’t meant to be mean,” she replies shyly, as if she took my words to heart.
I need to find a way to tell her—no,showher that she doesn’t have to be nervous about me being mad at her, but I also need to know why she’s always worried about it. “It wasn’t mean,” I agree, “but it does have an effect on me.” I fight the urge to pull her hand down and let her feel just how much, but we’re in public, and I’d probably be jumping the gun on the intimacy steps. I’ve barely been able to kiss her, and I want to enjoy each and every moment of the journey.
My phone vibrates, and I sigh before releasing her to pull it out of my pocket. “Guess who’s calling?” I deadpan. “Hello.” I’m a little cross with my brother at the moment. You’d think knowing she called me sir on purpose would make the word less effective, but it fucking didn’t. Instead, it felt like she was giving me something, which made it just as potent.
“Where are you guys? It’s been forever,” he whines.
“We’re waiting on the pizza.”
“Oh, what did you get?” He sounds happier now.
“Green pepper and feta.”
“Holy shit! Please tell me you’re joking and that’s not Waylynn’s pizza pick.”
“You said anything,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but you know I hate peppers, and is that the crumbly cheese?” He makes a retching sound. “I think I just threw up in my mouth.”
That makes me smile, but the fucker deserves it. I’m standing here with a semi because he told Waylynn I like it when she addresses me as sir. “We’ll be home soon,” I say, about to hang up.
“Wait, will you order me a pineapple pizza? I’ll pay for it,” he rushes to say, but I hang up anyway.
“What’s so funny?” Waylynn is watching me with a soft smile of her own.
“Oz hates green peppers,” I divulge.
“That’s why you said peppers. Does he hate feta too?”
“Yup, with a passion.” I grin.
“Now that’s mean,” she says, but she’s still smiling.
“I know.”
Oswald
I debate makingthe ramen so I won’t be as hungry when they get back, but something tells me Memphis was just trying to fuck with me…at least I hope he was.
I thumb through my phone, feeling bored. They have been gone a while, and they don’t even have the pizza yet, which means I have to continue to wait. I know better than to open my social media, but I do that shit anyway. The number of likes on the post of the girl in my shirt pisses me off. The fact that it pops up in my feed without me looking for it makes it worse.
I shut down the app and almost drop my phone on the couch, but I get an idea instead. It takes me a minute to find his number because we’ve only texted a few times, but when I see KJ’s name, I tap on it.
Me:Tell that girl to delete those photos.
I keep my phone in my hand after hitting send, waiting for a reply, before remembering he’s at practice. “Damn it.” I really do toss my phone down and reach for the remote for the TV instead.
The option guide is slow as hell to pop up, only giving me the choice of a streaming service and some other weird channels we never watch. Thank fuck Bates’ family never changed their passwords for Netflix and we can still watch.
It only takes me a minute to find a movie I haven’t seen yet to distract myself, but it doesn’t stop me from looking at the time more than I should.
I jump up when I hear Memphis’ voice through the thin walls of his apartment. It’s risky for us to have Waylynn here tonight. For me, it’s because I’m skipping out on practice, but the gamble is much more of an issue for Memphis. Maybe we should let her drop the class. It would make shit easier.
