“Wish I could,” I say with a dramatic sigh. “But like I said, I have practice.”
“Not until three.”
Wait, what is she, a stalker? “Yeah, after we have lunch, I need to run a few errands. For, uh, my mom.” All lies, but what do I say? No, I don’t want to check out your thirty-person spa because you drive me nuts? That’s not cool.
“Oooh, like what sort of errands?” She seems truly interested, which is weird. Just two seconds ago she didn’t want to let me talk, and now she wants to know about my fake errands?
“Um, I gotta pick up a few things for her at the store.”
“Awesome! Maybe I can come?” Her expression is full-on hopeful.
Shit. Like, double shit. I can’t say no. How can I get out of this?
“Yeah, sure,” I agree, my voice weak.
“Yay!” She claps her hands like a little kid and eagerly leans across the table. “I’ve had my eye on you for a long time, Josh Evans. I’m so excited we’re actually going to make this happen.”
Make what happen? I asked her to lunch. That’s it. Yet she acts like we’re going to actually get together and become a couple or whatever.
Freaking Eden thinking that Taylyr and I together is a good idea. More like the worst idea ever. It’s all her fault I’m with Taylyr on this stupid date.
Can’t wait to tell her all about it later.
Chapter Nine
Eden
The FaceTime call comes around eight-thirty, and I let it ring a couple of times before picking it up. Josh’s face appears in the tiny screen, and he’s scowling, his hair tousled and damp, and I would bet big money he just got out of the shower.
That makes me think of Josh. In the shower. Naked. With hot water spraying all over his body and…yeah. I absolutely cannot go there.
“Joshy,” I say in the baby voice that annoys him. “What are you up to?”
His scowl deepens, and he runs his fingers through his hair, tousling it worse. He just got that stuff cut but maybe not short enough after all. “Reminiscing about my date today with Taylyr.”
My heart sinks into my toes, and my entire body goes shaky. “Oh really? So it was that good?” But she has an evil soul! I want to yell that so bad.
Of course, I don’t.
He remains quiet for a while, making me want to lose my mind before he finally speaks again. “It was that bad, Edes. Like super awful, spectacularly bad.”
My heart now feels like it wants to leap out of my chest in pure, radiant joy. I shouldn’t be so happy his date was a total failure. I shouldn’t.
But I am. Does that make me a bad person?
Probably.
“That’s too bad,” I say in the most sympathetic voice I can muster. “What happened?”
“She complains too much. About everything. And then she sort of invited herself to go with me while I ran bogus errands.”
I frown. “Bogus errands?”
“Yeah, I told her I couldn’t come over to her house to check out her thirty-person spa because I had practice. But she called me out on it because she actually knew what time I had practice, which is weird, Edes. You gotta admit that’s pretty weird.”
“She has a thirty-person spa?” That’s a lot of people in a Jacuzzi or whatever. Seriously, thirty?
Josh makes an irritated noise. “That’s not the point.”
“Okay, sorry. Carry on.”
He sighs. “So I tell her I have errands to run. For my mom.”
I start to laugh. “Your mom would never trust you to run errands for her. You’d screw it up, bring her the wrong thing.”
“I lied to her, Edes. I was trying to get out of spending more time with her, okay? So she asked if she could go with me, and I had no choice but to say yes. Then we drove around and I took her to Target and the grocery store.” He starts to laugh, that dirty laugh of his that always makes me laugh, too.
“What’s so funny?” I ask him when my laughter dies off.
“I bought some crazy shit. I was trying to scare her and make her think Mom and I are a bunch of freaks.”
“What did you buy?”
“The biggest bottle of Pepto Bismol I could find. I told her my mom and I had serious bowel issues.” He starts laughing again, sounding downright hysterical, and I can’t help but laugh, too.
“Joshua.” I’m trying to chastise him, but it’s too funny. “You really said that?”
“Yeah. I bought a pack of Depends, too, and when she asked me if they were for my mom, I just gave her a look.”
“What kind of look?”
“One that could mean they’re for my mom or for…me.” More laughing. He finds himself extra amusing tonight.
“What if she spreads rumors around school that you wear Depends?” I would be mortified if that happened to me.
“Who cares? Like anyone would believe her.”
I envy his confidence. “What else did you do?”
“Picked up prunes and fiber bars at the grocery store.” He nods, looking pleased with himself. “For our bowel problems.”
“What’s so scary is you seem to know what can help your supposed bowel problems,” I point out, not that he cares.
“Yeah, Mom says I have to eat the prunes.”
Gross. “Is she mad at you?”
“Not really. I told her the story, how annoying Taylyr was on our date.” He sighs and shakes his head. “I don’t think I want to go out with her again. No red rose for her.”
I’m frowning. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a Bachelor reference. Get it?” He shakes his head. “Never mind.”
“No, I get it, I get it.” Josh knows way too much about The Bachelor. “So she wasn’t a good match for you.” I decide not to tell him about Taylyr’s evil soul and Molly’s hatred for her. There’s no need to bring it up now.
“Yeah, you picked wrong.” He smiles, and I know he’s teasing me. “Though really she should’ve been the perfect match for me, don’t you think?”
“I did think, but maybe that’s where I made my mistake. Taylyr’s like all the other girls you’ve gone out with.”
“Yeah, she is. Though she complains way too much. And she’s a little more—intense.”
“Too intense?” When he’s quiet, I fill the silence. “You did mention that before.”
“Yeah. She’s not chill. Like, not at all.” He’s quiet once more, and I’m about to open my mouth when he starts talking again. “Not like you, Eden. You’re totally chill.”
I don’t know what to say. A week ago this would’ve been no big deal. I would’ve laughed and agreed with him. Now it’s just—confusing. His simple compliment is making me flushed and awkward and unsure. Like…what does he mean by that? Is there something more behind his words? Is he comparing me to Taylyr and letting me know he thinks I’m—better?
No. That can’t be possible.
“Maybe that’s just because we’ve known each other for so long,” he continues. He gets up from wherever he was sitting, and I can tell he’s moving about his bedroom, doing whatever it is he does when we FaceTime like this. We’ll talk for hours sometimes, either totally focused on each other the entire chat or we’ll walk around, hang up on each other, make fun of each other, whatever.
“Yeah. Probably.” I sound sad, so I clear my throat and force myself to be happy. “I’ve known you a long time, Evans.”
“Right back at ya, Sumner.” He reappears in the little square, and he has a baseball cap on, and he’s wearing it backwards.
My secret weakness. Boys are so cute when they wear a baseball hat backwards.
“I scored a new hat.” He flips it around so I can see the front. It’s black with the orange San Francisco Giants logo on it. “On clearance at Target.”
“I like it.”
He flips it backward once again. “Yeah, Taylyr said I looked dope in it.”
Ugh. Taylyr. “Did she really say dope?”
“No, I did.” He laughs, and
it’s not quite as dirty sounding as usual. “She said I looked good.”
I’m sure she did. “She likes you, huh.”
“Yeah. She’s pursuing me pretty heavily.”
“But you’re not interested? Really?”
“No, not really. Not at all. Like I told you, she complains too much. It’s annoying. And she’s persistent. Like, she doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“Neither do you,” I point out.
“And maybe that’s the problem. Maybe we’re too much alike, and she’s getting on my nerves because she reminds me of—me.” He mock shudders. “Yeah, I don’t want to do myself.”
“Oh my God, Josh.” I start laughing.
“What? I’m serious. I don’t want a girl who’s just like me. Opposites attract, right? Though I do want some common ground, I don’t want her to be my duplicate in female form.”
“This conversation is veering way off track.”
“Like usual,” he retorts. I study him sitting there with the hat on backward. He’s chewing on a straw, and I zero in on his lips. They’re full—like women pay good money to have their lips injected to look like Josh’s. And of course, completely kissable. Why haven’t I ever noticed this before?
You have noticed this before. You just always push those thoughts out of your brain because they’re wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
“I think I’m gonna go for Whitney,” Josh suddenly says, startling me from my Josh-has-kissable-lips thoughts.
“Whitney?” I ask weakly.
“Yeah. She’s hot. Flirty. I bet she’d be down.”
“Down for what?” I’m still focused on his lips. His upper lip is very full. Almost pouty. He’s chewing on the end of that straw, and it’s kind of…
Hot?
“Down for…you know, Edes.” He leans forward until it’s just his sexy lips filling the screen. “S-e-x. As in g-e-t-t-i-n-g l-a-i-d. Or you know, f-u-c—”
“Eden.” My bedroom door slams open, and in strides my mother, acting like she doesn’t have a care in the world. I shriek when she enters, worried she might’ve heard Josh starting to spell that last word, but she’s either completely oblivious or a great pretender. “I’m going to the grocery store, and I need your help.”
“Hey, Mrs. S,” Josh calls from my phone.
Mom walks over to my desk and leans into the screen, smiling. “Hello, Josh. What are you up to?”
“Talking to Edes. Telling her about my crap date I had today.”
Mom frowns and sends me a look. “Crap date with who?”
“Some girl. She doesn’t matter,” Josh tells her.
“Mom, I hate to interrupt your conversation with my best friend, but why do you want me to go to the store with you?” I ask.
“It’s going to be busy since it’s almost Thanksgiving, so I need you to keep me on track.” Mom works from home. She’s a graphic designer and super creative, and most of the time she gets so involved in her work, she sits for hours hunched over her computer. She’s a bit of a daydreamer and always lost in thought, so she’s probably being 100 percent truthful when she says she needs me to keep her on track.
She’s pretty forgetful a lot of the time.
“Did you make a list?”
“Sort of.” Mom frowns. “Help me with the list before we leave.”
“It’s so late, Mom.” I’m whining, but the last thing I want to do is go to the store.
“Better we go now than tomorrow. The day before Thanksgiving is always a nightmare.”
“If I was there I’d take you to the store, Mrs. Sumner,” Josh says.
“Suck up,” I tell him, making him smile.
“I’m sure you would, Josh,” Mom says. “Hey, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? Are your brother and sister coming home?”
“No, not this year. We’re supposed to go over to my mom’s boyfriend’s place.” Josh makes me a face. He’s not a huge fan of his mom’s boyfriend. “I don’t want to go.”
“Oh, you should come to our house for Thanksgiving dinner,” Mom suggests. “We’ll have a lot of family over so it’ll be complete chaos, but you’re more than welcome to join us if your mother doesn’t mind.”
Noooo. No, no, no. I don’t want Josh here. We’d hang out together the entire time. I’d have to fend off endless questions from various family members asking if Josh and I are a thing. Listen to him laugh and say, no way would I ever date Eden. She’s my best friend.
Before, this would be no big deal. Now, I don’t know if I could take it.
And that’s weird, right? It’s totally weird. I need to get over this newfound Josh crush. I’m just thinking about him like this because we’re always talking about sex. And this makes me think of having sex with Josh. Like, he’s going to ask me to participate in the pact we made, and I’m probably going to enjoy myself because hello, I’d bet he’d be a great kisser and he has nice, big hands and …
“Yeah, I’d love to.” Josh sounds sincerely thrilled at the offer. “Thanks, Mrs. Sumner. I’ll talk to my mom.”
Oh my God, I really need to control my thoughts. Like big-time control them. I swear I feel faint.
But I stare at his face on the phone and I realize, I don’t want him to hook up with someone else. I want him for myself.
“Tell her to call me if she has any questions. And I don’t want her offended or think we’re stealing you away,” Mom says, knocking me from my thoughts.
“She won’t think that. My mom loves Eden,” Josh says, his voice deep, making me shiver at his choice of words. Ugh.
What the heck is wrong with me?
I think I have Josh fever.
“You never know.” Mom turns to look at me. “You ready, Eden?”
“Gotta go, Josh. Talk to you later.” I end the call before he can say another word. I’m torturing myself right now, I swear.
“Eden Marie Sumner, that was very rude,” Mom says. “You hung up on him.”
I shrug and grab my hoodie, tugging it over my head, desperate to change the subject and leave this house. “We hang up on each other all the time.”
“You don’t mind that I invited Josh over for Thanksgiving, do you?”
“No, of course not.”
“Who’s the girl he was dating?”
I slip on an old pair of Uggs. I’m all class going to the market tonight, looking like I just rolled out of bed. “They weren’t really dating. More like just one date. He didn’t like her. Said she complained too much.” I am way too relieved that he doesn’t like Taylyr.
“What’s her name?”
“Taylyr Howard.” I hesitate and decide to go for it. “With two y’s.”
Mom frowns. “Two y’s? That’s ridiculous.”
And this is why my mother is so cool. She gets me. “Tell me all about it.”
…
Josh
“Thanks for letting me come over so late,” Abraham tells my mom as he enters my house. It’s past ten, and Abraham called me on the landline—a rarity—asking if he could stop by for a little bit.
“Are you okay, Abraham?” Mom asks, sending me a concerned look.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just—anxious.” His hand is in his hoodie front pocket, and he’s jingling his keys. It’s the most obnoxious sound in the world.
“Let’s go to my room,” I tell him, pausing by the kitchen. “You want anything to drink? Or eat?”
“Nah.” He follows me into my room, and the moment I close the door, he’s collapsing on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I messed up.”
“What do you mean?”
“With Nicole. I kept texting her, like ten times, asking what she’s doing and she never answered me. Not once. I don’t know how to play it cool with girls I have sex with.” He turns his head, his gaze meeting mine. “I’m a total failure.”
I withhold the sigh that wants to escape me. He’s being pretty dramatic. “You’re not a failure,” I reassure him as I lean against the edge of my dresser. “But I can’t l
ie. Now you might seem…desperate.”
“Great.” He covers his face with his hands and moans. “I’m a desperate failure.”
Guess there’s no talking to him tonight. “You’re not. Just…relax. Focus on something else.”
“I can’t think about anything else. All I can think about is her and what happened between us last night.”
“What exactly happened?”
Abraham drops his hands from his face. “What do you think? We did it. Twice.”
“Twice?” Seriously? He must finish quick.
“Well, she gave me a BJ and then we had sex. And uh, it um—happened. Twice.”
I get what he’s saying. “Gotcha.”
“And it was amazing. That girl rocked my world.”
“Uh huh.” I hesitate. Wait a minute. “What about Eden?”
Abraham frowns. “What about her?”
“I thought you said you liked her?”
“Oh, I was full of crap. Trying to get you jealous so you’d go for Eden instead.” Abraham covers his face once more. “Damn it, I wanna talk to Nicole. Just for a few minutes at least,” he complains, his voice muffled.
My head is buzzing. Like full-blown buzzing as if it’s filled with a million angry bees. “What did you just say?”
Abraham drops his hands yet again and sits up. “That I want to talk to Nicole again?”
“No, the other part,” I say through clenched teeth. Is he for real?
“That I faked liking Eden so I would make you jealous and push you to go for her? Yeah, that’s all true.” Abraham shrugs. “Didn’t work. You still went out with Taylyr.”
“Yeah and that date was a disaster. I have no interest in seeing her again.” I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that Abraham faked liking Eden to push me into making a move on her. Is he for real?
Apparently.
“That bad, huh? She’s too much like you.” Wish I would’ve had Abraham around earlier to tell me that. “Plus, she can be bitchy sometimes. You need to forget any other girl and pursue Eden.”
“Are you serious right now? I can’t ‘pursue’ her.” I even added air quotes with my fingers like a complete jackass.
“Why the hell not? She’s everything I said she was. Gorgeous, funny, fun. You two are totally into each other.”
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