Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,81

and she said, “I don’t know. Cleveland State, I guess. Even if I get only a partial scholarship, I can still make it work, I think.”

Martha may have been okay with it, but Jordan wasn’t. She was furious all day. It wasn’t fair that anyone should have to miss out on their dream college because of something as stupid as money. Martha deserved better. She was still pissed off about it after school when she was walking to her car. Her phone rang. It was Scott. She’d completely forgotten about him.

“Hi,” she said, cringing as she picked up. “Sorry I haven’t called back yet.”

“You’re avoiding me, aren’t you?”

“No. Things keep coming up.” She climbed into her car and turned on the heat as quickly as possible. It was freezing.

“I was worried you’d figured out I was calling for inappropriate—”

Her phone switched over to Bluetooth, and she completely missed the rest of his sentence in the transition. “What?”

“What do you mean what?”

“I lost you for a second. You cut out at”—her heart was beating fast now—“‘inappropriate.’”

“Maybe it’s good I cut out.”

“Why? What were you going to say?”

“Never mind. How are you? So you were out of town this weekend?”

Jordan’s windows fogged up as she sat there. “Yeah. A quick trip with my friends.”

“Cool. Where’d you go?”

“Uh… California.”

“Whoa. Big trip. Weather must have been nice.”

“It was.” Jordan was confused about where this conversation was going. He didn’t seem to be calling about the park. And if he wasn’t calling about that, then what was he calling for?

“Hey, Scott. What were you going to say before? When you cut out?”

He coughed slightly, and she could tell he was embarrassed. “Nothing. Forget it.”

Her windows were completely covered in steam now. She couldn’t see anything outside the bubble of her car. “Please tell me.”

He sighed, like he was mustering his courage. “We hadn’t talked since the night I drove you home. But I’ve been thinking about you. A lot.”

Her windows got even steamier.

“Right before your roommate walked up, I was thinking how cool you are and…” He laughed at his own awkwardness. “Oh, screw this. Jordan, do you want to grab dinner this weekend?”

Jordan swallowed. Hard. “Like a date?”

“Yeah. Like a date.”

Jordan had never been asked out on a date before. Not in any real way. With Logan, things had happened slowly. Months of simmering tension until that one day when he looked over at her and wondered if he could hold her hand.

“I can’t,” Jordan said.

“Oh.”

It was almost painful to say no. She had to, though. Didn’t she? Even though they weren’t that far apart in age, she was at an age that mattered. She didn’t feel like a kid anymore, but technically and legally she still was. That’s when she remembered something. “I mean, I can’t go out this weekend. But I could in a few weeks.”

“Oh,” he said, relaxing.

“Yeah. I’m busy with something right now. In three weeks, I’ll be… not busy.” She gave him an exact date.

He told her he’d put it in his calendar, and she said she’d do the same. She didn’t need to, though. It wasn’t a date she’d forget. It was her eighteenth birthday.

After they hung up, Jordan sat there for a second. Her entire body felt like it was on fire even though her car’s heater was struggling against the cold. She let her mind run away with the fantasy of Scott. His beautiful blue eyes and his important suits. The fact that he was an adult and that he made her feel like she was one too.

Suddenly Jordan’s passenger’s side door flew open. She was so startled, she actually screamed.

Martha hopped in. “Sorry.” She rubbed her hands together frantically and blew on them. “It is f’ing freezing out there. Will you drive me to work?” Martha turned and made her hands into a begging gesture. “I’m worried I might literally die if I have to wait at the bus stop.”

Jordan nodded. “Sure. Yeah. No problem. Not a problem at all.”

“Is something wrong?” Martha asked, still blowing on her hands.

“No. Nope. Everything’s good. Great. How are you?”

“God, it’s steamy in here,” Martha said.

Jordan turned the ignition. Then she looked over at Martha. “Is that a new hat?”

Martha touched the knit cap. It was pink and frilly, not at all Martha’s style. It looked good on her, though.

CJ sat in her car for a full ten minutes before going into the rec center. She wanted to tell Wyatt everything about the weekend. About how seeing Stanford was