I smacked the side of my head as Melissa reappeared, bearing gifts.
“Beating yourself up while I’ve been gone? It can’t be that bad.”
“Ha-ha.”
She placed a small plate in front of me with three perfectly cut brownie squares on top. “Be careful, they’re still hot.”
I didn’t listen as I shoved one into my mouth. “Shit,” I yelled around the molten lava now burning up the roof of my mouth, but too hot to chew or swallow.
“I told you they were hot,” she shouted before pointing at an unopened can of soda she’d set on the table in front of me.
Frantic, I leaned my head back and opened my mouth wide while I breathed quickly in and out, hoping to cool the bite off. When I finally took a chance on chewing, I was relieved to find it no longer felt like I was trying to eat something straight out of a volcano.
Melissa was grinning from ear to ear. “Now I know what I must have looked like when I had brain freeze earlier. That was pretty entertaining.”
We hunkered down for a while, going over notes for the test and quizzing each other. I tried to let her know that I was interested in her, but her reactions to me were always hit or miss. Sometimes she would reach over and touch me when she didn’t have to, and other times she kept her distance when I was certain she’d come close. I tried not to read too much into it, but I couldn’t help myself.
An hour and a half later, I said, “I’d better get going. Thanks for helping me.” I pushed back from the table and stood up, stretching my arms out over my head.
“You didn’t need my help. You just wanted to come over,” she said playfully.
I leaned down and picked her up while I hugged her tight. When our heads pulled back slowly, our faces were so close that I could have kissed her if I’d had the nerve. She tensed slightly in my arms, and I allowed the moment to pass. The last thing I wanted was for her to be uncomfortable around me.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said lightly, not wanting to push her.
“Okay. Thanks again for the Slurpee and for hanging out tonight. I had fun.”
“Me too.”
Frustrated, I pulled her apartment door closed behind me. That hadn’t gone how I expected. Then again, I wasn’t sure what I thought would happen.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed Jack and Cassie pulling in at the same time. Jack didn’t see me from the driver’s seat of his lifted vintage Bronco, and I headed home, hoping he wouldn’t be much longer. I wanted to hear all about his date with Cassie.
• • •
When I got home, I hung the keys to the Honda on the key organizer beside the front door and tiptoed to the bathroom. Gran and Gramps had already gone to bed, and I didn’t want to wake them.
The front door opened and shut when I’d almost fallen asleep. A little drowsy, I rolled out of bed and shuffled down the hallway to meet Jack outside his room.
“You’re still up?” he asked.
“I was waiting.”
He snorted. “You’re such a girl.”
“I feel like one right now. I want to hear everything,” I said, not caring what he thought about me.
“Let me grab some water, and then I’ll come in your room.”
I yawned and headed back to my bedroom, where I sat on my bed to wait for Jack. He came in carrying two glasses of water, and handed me one.
“Thanks.” I placed the water on my nightstand. “So? How was it?”
“Epic.” He plopped down onto the bed next to me.
“Epic? How? Why?”
“Shit. First of all, listen to this.” He shook his head. “I got into a damn fight at the restaurant. That dickhead Jared came up and tried to start something. I was going to let it go, but then he started saying stuff to Cassie, and I lost it. I just wanted him to shut his fucking mouth.”
“Jesus, Jack.” I rubbed my hand across my forehead. “You sleep with a guy’s girlfriend, and then you hit him?”
“Yeah, and I couldn’t stop hitting him, but only because of what he said to Cassie. But before that, everything was great. And after that it was great too.”
“Cassie wasn’t pissed? She seems like the kind of girl to get pissed over something like that.”
Jack nodded. “I think under normal circumstances she might have been. But this wasn’t normal. He was a dick. She didn’t say so, but I think she was happy I hit him.”
“How’s your hand?” I glanced at his left arm. His throwing arm.
“Hurts like hell. But I hit him with the right, so it’s all good.”
“I saw you guys come home,” I said with a smile of my own, and he cocked his head to the side.
“What?” He gasped. “Were you with Melissa while I was out with Cassie?”
“Yeah, but nothing happened. I can’t tell if she’s into me or not,” I said, hoping he’d have some insight.
“I can ask Cassie, but Melissa seems stubborn. Like she might be a tough nut to crack, little brother.”
“You might be right. Good thing I’m a patient guy. Cassie’s cool, though?”
Jack breathed out a long breath, and then smiled. “She’s beyond cool. She’s so normal. She doesn’t care about the baseball aspect at all. I mean, she cares, but only because I do. She doesn’t see me the way other girls do, you know? She’s smart and opinionated and gorgeous. She has all these rules that she lives by, and I’m going to prove to her that I can live by them too.”