by JB Salsbury
Chapter Eight
Bex
Breakfast in the house on the weekend is a big affair. Aggie makes waffles, bacon, fruit salad, and we fire up the espresso machine for day drinking. I find Riley sitting at a table surrounded by Becky, Lily, and Lynn, all of them leaning in to her as she talks while stabbing at her fruit salad.
Coffee in hand, I take a seat down the table from her crew of gossipers. I’m meeting the Herping Society at eleven in Sierra Madre to herp at the mountain base. Exhausted after Loren’s early morning visit my brain is slow to calculate how much time I have to get ready and factor in the commute so that I make it on time.
So far I haven’t heard even a whisper about Sweaty Loren Garlic Breath, which makes me curious. Her and the surrounding sisters are discussing their hair and makeup plans for the upcoming formal. Curious, I scoot over to join the conversation. The chatter stops and they all look at me as if I came in like a battering ram.
“’Sup.”
Becky and Lily roll their eyes while facing me, not at all afraid to flaunt their displeasure with my presence.
“You look like shit,” Riley says. “Did you stay up all night watching Snakes on a Plane?” She looks to the other sister’s for backup and on command they all laugh.
I can’t tell her the real reason I was up all night, so I lie. “Actually, I couldn’t sleep because I was so worried about you after I picked you up from your date.” I realize what I’m doing, challenging her to fess up about how disgusting she finds Loren, renounce him in front of me and the three sets of listening ears that will spread whatever she says faster than TMZ.
She pushes around a few chunks of pineapple. “I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to barf all over him, so I came home. He understood.” Her gaze snaps to mine and they scream for me to keep my mouth shut or else.
Horrified, I turn forward and stare blindly at the kitchen wall. She didn’t bad mouth him; she protected him, which means…she really likes him. Shit.
“I’m going to be late.” I abandon my coffee at the table and head back to my room, slam my door and lean back against it. If Riley really likes Loren, she’ll mercilessly pursue him and I’ve yet to see a man withstand Riley’s charm when directed his way. He says he’s into me, that he feels a connection he’d like to explore, but pitted against my cousin in a race for the same man, the outcome is a given.
Why do I even care? This is what I expected, so why is the reality of it a deep ache in my chest?
I dig the heels of my hands into my puffy eyes. “This is hopeless.” Whatever Loren thought he was feeling last night will surely disappear soon.
I can’t see things going any other way.
Loren
Sunday nights in the house are always pretty mellow. For those of us who procrastinate, we’re usually doing homework we put off all weekend. Rowan gets excited about going back to class on Monday and since she doesn’t even know the meaning of procrastinate, she prefers to blow off energy in the kitchen whippin’ up a kick ass Sunday meal that rivals suppers on the farm. Not that I’d ever admit that to my mom.
After little sleep, and working all day at the surf shop, I smell the fried chicken and cream gravy from my room, by the time she calls us all down for dinner I could eat the walls I’m so hungry. The dining room table seats ten, so we settle around it like the misfit family we are while Emery and Carey bring in the food.
“Babe, this smells fucking amazing,” Carey says, kissing his girlfriend on the lips.
Spider and Emery, the married couple in our house, bring out drinks, non-alcoholic, since we all have to be up early. Kaipo’s plate is already overflowing before any of our asses even hit the seats.
“Where’s Levi?” Emery asks as she sets a glass of water down for me.
“Thank you.” I stay standing behind my chair until both women are seated, an old habit from home. My dad would kick our asses if we took our seat at the table before mom did. “He’s working. He said go ahead without him.”
Once Emery is seated, I take my chair and fill my plate. No one talks outside of groaning in pleasure at Rowan’s food, and she fends off multiple marriage proposals while Carey gives us all the evil eye with his cheeks stuffed.
Emery and Rowan tend to be the only ones who talk during dinner. They sit across from each other and I sit on the other side of Spider, so I can overhear their conversation, not that I’m really listening, until I hear a familiar name.
“…with Evan all day.”
I freeze mid-chew.
“She texted me when she got home, said it was really fun,” Emery says.
Evan? She? That must mean they’re talking about Bex. I take a drink of water.
“She really likes him.”
I choke and sputter and water pours down my chin.
Spider slams me on the back. “You all right, man?”
I wipe my mouth and clear my throat. “I’m fine, yeah, wrong pipe.” I wave him off and hope to God my little episode doesn’t throw Ro and Emery off their conversation.
“I’ll call her later and see how it went,” Rowan says.
“Who are you guys talking about,” Carey says and I could hug him for asking.
“Bex.”
Her name brings back the feel of her bare skin under my palm when I touched her leg, the scent of all that hair when the breeze blew it across her face. I wanted to kiss her so badly. Fucking garlic. I stare down at my meal. “Is there garlic in this?”
Rowan shakes her head. “No.”
Phew! I know I promised I’d go to the formal with Riley, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait six more days to kiss Bex.
And I need to get more information about this Evan guy. Will she take him to the formal? While I’m tolerating Riley in my arms on the dance floor, counting down the seconds until I get to be with Bex, will I also have to tolerate watching her in another man’s arms?
I push my food away, having lost my appetite. What is happening to me? I’m not usually this obsessive about women.
“Are you okay?” Rowan asks. “You look like you’re going to hurl.”
“I like Bex,” I blurt.
Like I hit pause on a movie, everyone at the table stops, and I hear silverware hit a couple plates. I don’t need to have a sixth sense to read the unspoken energy from my roommates, so I answer the question they’re all asking.
“I’m kind of seeing Riley.”
Emery emits hostility so fiercely it raises goosebumps on my left arm closest to her.
“It’s not like I wanted this, it just happened.”
A frigid wave of anger wafts toward me from Emery and I refuse to look her in the eye. The woman is a Marsha Brady shell with a Morticia Adams soul.
“Does she know?” Rowan says.
Carey throws a protective arm over his woman, but his eyes dance with humor as if he can’t wait to hear my response.
“Yes, but she made me promise to keep seeing Riley because of that stupid sorority formal. So I have to figure out a way to avoid Riley until the dance because she’s always kissing me and…” I heave out a sigh. “She’s expecting sex.” I shake my head. God, I sound like such a pussy.
“Can’t you just tell Riley you’re not interested in her in that way?” Rowan says.
“Yes, I want to, but Bex thinks it would be a dick move to dump her days before this big formal, since she’s the President and hosting the stupid thing.” I put my head in my hands and grip my hair. “I don’t know what to do. I’m confused, I mean, Riley is gorgeous, and sexy… I’d be stupid to not want to be with her.” When I look up I find Rowan, sweet Rowan, glaring at me. And the vibes from Emery, who I still refuse to make eye contact with, have gone from chilly to deadly. “I shouldn’t have brought this up. It’ll work itself out.” I grab my plate and water glass. “Thanks again for dinner, it was really great.” I scurry out of the dining room and get started on cleaning the kitchen, another habit from childhood. You cook or clean, you don’t do
both.
Whispers come from the dining room, but I’m grateful I can’t hear what my roommates are saying about me so I don’t even try to eavesdrop. I’m scrubbing out the mashed potatoes pot when they filter into the kitchen, silently dropping off their dishes. I avoid their eyes after my confession. The guys seem to understand my dilemma, offering me silent support, but the women seem unconvinced of my intentions with Bex.
I don’t really blame them.
I leave the remainder of the cleaning to Kaipo and the boys and head up to my room. I sit at the edge of my bed and hit Bex’s phone number.
“Hello?” She sounds cautious, but happy. Is she happy because of Evan?
“Bex, it’s Loren.” I, on the other hand, sound accusatory. I try to breathe deep and find my chill, but the thought of Bex giving some fucking guy the pleasure of her smiles, her laughter, her lips, makes me murderous.
“Oh, hey, what are you doing calling me?”
Ex-fucking-scuse-me? “How quickly you forget last night—”
“I didn’t forget—”
“You gave me your number.”
“Yeah, but I figured you’d text me. Calling is for emergencies or, like, grandparents.”
This woman makes me feel like a fumbling fourteen-year-old with his first crush. “This is important.”
“Everything okay?” She’s back to sounding cautious.
I look to my closed door and lower my voice just in case. “I came to you last night and told you I’m having…feelings. For you.”
“I remember.” Her voice is quieter too.
“Then I find out that only hours after I spill my guts you go out with Evan? Your fake boyfriend?” I do air quotes around the word even though she can’t see me.
“Oh my God, are you jealous?”
“Yes!” I slam my lips closed.
Seconds that feel like minutes create dead air between us.
“Do you want him? Because he’s not a jock?”
She sighs, and I wish we were together so I could hear the sound and feel her breath against my skin. “Evan—”
My jaw clenches at the sound of her saying his name.
“Is a lot less complicated.”
“I’m complicated?”
“The situation is complicated, yeah.”
“Because you’re insisting I not break things off with Riley. Do you know how many times I’ve been interested in a woman, and she’s told me that in order to have a chance with her, I have to date one of her relatives? None! Not a single woman has ever expected this of me.”
“You said when you left last night that we could be friends until after the formal.” Her angry voice vibrates through the phone.
“That was before I knew you’d be out with fucking Evan.” I lower my voice even more, my muscles tense. “The thought of you kissing someone else...”
Her breath hitches on the other line and the sound releases a little air in my own lungs. “I didn’t kiss him. I only saw him for about ten minutes the entire day and we were with a dozen other people. Not that I owe you an explanation.”
I swear I hear her breathe the word asshole.
“I thought…” I glare at nothing across my room. “Weren’t you on a date?”
“He runs the Herping Society. We were on a herp, all of us together, it’s not romantic.”
“What is herping?”
“We were looking for reptiles—snakes, lizards, toads. All of it very sexy.” I don’t know if she rolled her eyes on that last part but I imagine she did.
The band around my ribs releases and I take a full breath. “Did you find anything?” She probably thinks I’m asking to be polite, but the truth is I’m actually interested. I want to hear all about the things that get her excited, I even want to hear mundane parts of her day. I just want…her.
“I did,” she says excitedly, as if I’m the first person to ever care enough to ask. “I found an Alligator lizard. I named him Wiggles. I wanted to bring him home, but that would’ve just been selfish.”
I find myself smiling.
“That and I signed a contract limiting me to a three reptile maximum in my room so…” Her words trail off as if she’s getting self conscious about what she’s saying.
“Go on, I’m listening.”
“Naw,” she laughs awkwardly. “You don’t want to hear about all this. You don’t like snakes.”
“I don’t like snakes coiling around my dick and balls looking for a snack, other than that, they don’t bother me. I like hearing you talk about things you’re passionate about.”
She groans. “This isn’t cool. Even right now I can hear Riley in the hallway and I’m talking to the guy she’s dating.”
“As friends.”
“You think she’ll be okay with that? That we’re talking as friends?”
“I don’t know her well enough to find out, and I don’t plan on getting to know her well enough. Tell me again why I can’t just break things off with her before the formal and take you instead?”
“Because my entire sorority will hate me, and they already think I’m a freak. You don’t know what it’s like to have this many women despise you, they’re vicious. It’s better for us to be friends after you amicably part ways with my cousin.”
I don’t tell her we’ll be skipping through that “be friends” part really quickly. “The fact that I’m agreeing to this insane idea just proves how much I want to be with you.”
“You’re not bullshitting me are you? Because that would be really…” she breathes. “Mean.”
“I have to wonder if you own a mirror, Bex. Have you never seen how sexy you are? You’re funny, outgoing, you’re so different from other girls.”
“I hear ‘funny with a pretty face’ and those aren’t exactly compliments for girls like me—”
“My momma raised me right so I’m not going to go into details on this, but let me just say…you have the kind of body men dream of. I don’t know what you see when you look at yourself, but I know how my body reacts when I look at you. I’ll leave it at that.”
“You’re insane,” she says, breathless.
Is she turned on? I am.
“If I’m going to maintain my gentlemanly nature I’m going to have to let you go.” My jeans are already getting tight behind the zipper.
She giggles lightly. “Okay.”
“I know I’m not in any position to ask this, but until we’re able to spend some time together, really see where this goes, can you lock Evan in the friend zone?”
Her laugh is heartier this time and makes me grin. “I suppose.”
“Brat.”
“Jock.”
“I’ll see you around, Bex.”
She hangs up and I’m left staring at my phone, counting down the days until the Valentine’s formal is behind us.
Chapter Nine
Bex
The following day I meet up with Rowan and Emery for our traditional Monday afternoon tea at the campus coffee shop. Rather than lug my ass all the way across campus, this time I drove to the nearby parking garage so I don’t have to work up a sweat to get there. I tell myself I wanted to avoid the walk because it’s warmer today than usual. I use the same excuse to justify why I’m wearing my skinny jeans and floral camisole. I took the time to defuse my hair, leaving my curls soft and shiny and falling loose around my shoulders.
Rowan and Emery spot me as I cross to them from the parking garage to the patio table outside Bean Madness. I wave, the Alex & Ani bangles on my wrist making that awesome tinkling sound that makes me feel dressed up.
I’m not totally lying to myself. I know my chances of bumping into Loren are thin, but after our talk last night, I woke up energized and excited at the possibility of seeing him.
“You always look great, Bex,” Rowan says as I sit across from her. “But today you look hot!”
“Did you go shopping?” Emery asks. “I’ve never seen you in anything other than your sorority sweatshirts.”
I shrug, but can’t wipe the satisfied grin from my face. “I decided to switch things up.” Truth is, I usually only dress up when I’m forced to meet my parents for a meal, holiday, or special occasion. I’d rather put forth the effort than have to listen to my mother harp on me for hours about the importance of presentation and our family reputation. Gag.
“Decided?” Rowan leans in smiling. “What prompted this decision?”
Emery leans in too. “Was it Evan?” She lifts a brow as if daring me to agree.
I narrow my eyes at my only two real friends, looking back and forth between them. “What do you know?”
They both act surprised and oblivious.
It’s my turn to lean in. “Let’s cut the shit. Did he talk to you guys about me?”
Rowan looks like she’s about explode while Emery looks like she’s watching paint dry. Rowan is the first to burst. “Yes! He announced it to the entire dinner table that he likes you! Why didn’t you tell us?”
My face heats. It was easy to discount what Loren said to me about the way he feels when it’s just between me and him, I could convince myself I dreamt it. But now that he’s told his roommates, it’s harder to deny. “I wasn’t sure I believed him.”
“Why is he still going to the dance with your cousin?” Leave it to Emery to ask the difficult questions without a single apology.
“Because I am begging him to. Trust me, it’s better this way.”
Rowan chews on her straw. “I don’t think he sees it that way.”
Of course, because he’s a guy, and maybe guys date each other’s ex’s, but women don’t do that. It’s going to be hard enough to justify being friends with him after he cuts Riley loose let alone date him.
Kaipo’s booming voice comes at us from across the quad, “Where my bitches at!”
Rowan shakes her head and Emery scowls before asking, “Why does he insist on doing that in public?”
“He thinks he’s hilarious,” Rowan says seconds before the big man sits at our table with us.
