Stop being such a perv,” I stammer, trying hard to keep my cool.
“Oh, I’m the perv?! That’s rich. At least I’m not the one stalking the new girl across the street.”
“Who said anything about stalking? I told you. We are just going to play some ball.”
“Whatever you say, Logan.” She giggles, flipping her hair dismissively in my face, before heading towards the kitchen. As soon as I start closing the door, I hear her yell out, “Mom, Logan has a crush on the new neighbor.”
Girly squeals and laughter erupt from inside my house, and I cringe, rooted to the spot.
“Your sister is a ball breaker, you know that, right?” Quaid says, skipping down the porch stairs.
“She's not the only one. All four of them give me grief. Just be happy you're an only child.”
“I don’t know. I think it would be nice to have a sister or two,” he mumbles, and I see his eyes travel next door to his empty house.
“You say that because you don’t have them. Trust me, it gets old after a while,” I try to placate.
“Whatever. Come on, man. Let’s play some ball.”
“You think she'll talk to us?”
“Only one way to find out.” He winks and starts charging down my front lawn, ready to put on a show to grab our new neighbor’s attention.
I hope this works.
Quaid
I forgot how much Logan sucks at playing ball. Even with easy throws, he fumbles the damn thing every time.
“Jesus, you suck, dude,” I grumble under my breath so no one hears me bad mouth my friend’s awful athletic skills except for him.
He throws me the bird, and I can’t help but smile widely at his comeback.
“Just throw the damn thing, will you?”
“Fine, but I gotta tell ya, you’re making yourself look bad. But hey, no complaints here, ’cause I'm coming off great,” I tease him, only to gain another upright middle finger thrown in my face.
Even though I’m busting his balls, I count my blessing that Logan is so shitty at football. Otherwise, he would realize that I'm not at my best right now either. I'm way too distracted looking at her.
I've never seen anyone this pretty. Sure, Logan's sisters are cute, but this new girl…there is just something about her. She looks way too exotic to be living on our street. She should be living in some foreign paradise like Brazil or Fiji, or someplace equally paradisiacal, not here in old boring San Antonio, Texas.
My mouth runs dry when she finally sees us, and the little way she starts biting on her lower lip makes my insides go all gooey and soft. That little action alone has me so hypnotized that I’m not even aware of what I’m doing. When I realize the ball has left my hands, going right into Logan's face, I wince at what’s about to happen. I don't even have enough time to warn him before the ball crashes right into the center of his face, knocking him down. I immediately run over to my best friend, who is now lying flat on the grass, and I pull him up by the hand.
“You suck at this.”
“Don't I know it.” Logan laughs out. “But at least I got my looks,” he adds, rubbing his forehead that undoubtedly must hurt like hell, judging by the lump that’s growing on it.
“I must have hit you pretty hard, because you’re talking gibberish. I’m the cute one.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” he taunts, busting my chops.
We’re both laughing like hyenas for our less than cool mishap, when a whistle interrupts us. A man standing next to the beauty that Logan and I have been mesmerized by is waving at us, calling us over.
Hmm.
The term ‘stranger danger’ rings in my head, but my teenage libido is already moving my feet at lightning speed, crossing the street with Logan right at my side. The minute we reach them, the girl’s dad offers us a job to help them carry the various boxes in their U-Haul into their house. After some negation with Logan, he offers us ten dollars a pop and some pizza for our trouble. Little does he know both Logan and I would do the job for free if it meant getting to spend time with his daughter.
Valentina.
That’s her name.
Valentina.
The way it rolls off the tip off my tongue leaves me even more fascinated by her. And by the way Logan is blushing anytime he says her name, he’s just as stupefied by it. I’m still in a daze