“Can you just ignore it?”
“That’s Beth’s ringtone. Jack must’ve gotten home.” Ford moves to get off me, but I stop him. I don’t want to stop. “Not yet. Let me see what she wants.” I reach down, pick up my sundress, and fish my phone out of my pocket. “Hey, mom.”
“Hi, I was just calling to see where you are.”
“I’m at Ford’s.”
“Are you going to be much longer? I’m ordering pizza for dinner,” she says.
Ford’s phone chimes with a text, and I glance up at him. He pulls it out of his pocket. “Jack,” he mouths. I squeeze my eyes shut, frustrated. I feel Ford’s lips on my cheek, and his hand sweeps across my forehead, smoothing it. “No, we’ll be there shortly. Would you like us to stop and pick up anything on our way home?”
“If you wouldn’t mind, could you get some soda? Just a couple of two-liter bottles for the little boys and whatever you’d like to drink.”
“Yeah, we can do that.”
“Thanks, sweetie, don’t take too long. I’ll order the pizza as soon as I hang up with you.”
“We won’t.”
“Okay, love you.”
“Love you too, bye.” I click off my phone and slump against the sofa. I don’t want to look at Ford because I don’t want to see the disappointment on his face.
“Hey,” he cups a hand around my cheek, tilting my head, so I look at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” He brushes his fingers along my jaw, sending little pulses down my spine like Morris code, and I lean into his touch wanting more.
“When you touch me like this, it makes me feel whole.”
“Hannah, I could live wrapped up in you and be happy for the rest of my life.” Ford leans his forehead against mine.
I wrap a hand around his neck, rubbing my thumb along his chin. “Do you ever get scared, having feelings this overwhelming?”
“Sometimes, I think they might consume me.” I wrap my arms around Ford, crushing him to me, and holding him with all my strength. “Stay with Jack tonight.”
For looks up at me, his eyes hooded. I’m not sure what he’s thinking. “Okay,” he breathes.
I let out the breath I’ve been holding. “Thank you.”
“Only because Jack and I already talked about it. Hannah, you know we can’t—”
I run my fingers through his hair. “I know, but it makes me feel better knowing you’re not alone in this big house.”
Ford pecks me on the mouth, then runs upstairs to change out of his swim shorts and grabs some clothes for tomorrow. We flip all the lights off and head out through the garage. He grabs the box of cookies off the table as we walk through the kitchen. “We’ll eat these for dessert.” “Are you sure?” I ask.
“I’ll never eat all these cookies, and my mom will just throw them away if she sees them.”
“Okay.”
He stops at the garage door and arms the security system.
When Ford pulls out of the garage, the same little beat-up Toyota truck we saw Friday at lunch is parked across the street from Ford’s house. We glance at each other, but neither of us says anything, deciding to ignore it. “So I remember you didn’t go to homecoming last year, but I don’t remember why.” It’s better to think and talk about other things besides that stupid website.
“Me, Jack, and Ty went to a University of Washington football game the Saturday of homecoming. Tyler’s brother goes there, and he got us tickets.”
“Oh, that’s right, I remember Hank and Scotty watching the game with my dad. They spent the whole time hoping they’d see Jack on tv. Did you get asked to any other school dances by girls?”
