you?” I ask.
“Better now that I’m talkin’ to you.”
My cheeks tug up into a smile that makes my muscles instantly ache because only Matt makes me smile like a schoolgirl. “Look at you being sweet.”
He chuckles. “I heard from Sophia that you’re comin’ home for spring break next month,” he says, mentioning my best friend in Texas.
I collapse against my bed, raising a fist into the air. “You heard correct.”
“And you weren’t gonna tell me?”
“I was planning on it.”
“You better have been plannin’ to tell me.”
My stomach clenches. “I get there on the twentieth, and I’ll be there for ten days.”
“Those ten days will probably feel like a second,” he drawls his words, each one making a statement that makes my heart race like a stampede.
“I’m sure we can find ways to draw out a few of those days.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asks, his tone playful. “What’d you have in mind, Olivia Reid?”
My heart beats so fast it feels like I just ran a mile. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“A man could go crazy waitin’ for you, Olivia Reid.”
I close my eyes and picture Matt. His boyish smile and bright blue eyes. I imagine his light blond hair and suntanned skin and the scent of his cologne because when I hear his voice, I can remember him like it was seconds ago that I saw him rather than months.
“How’s school going?” I ask.
“It’s goin’. Coach has us bustin’ our asses.”
Growing up in Texas, nearly no guys would swear around me or any other girl. It was one of the many manners we were all born and raised with. Though Matt isn’t the first boy to swear around me, there’s something about it that makes me feel unhinged, like we have a comfort that extends beyond the parameters of politeness.
“I have so much homework lately that I think it’s coming out of my ears,” I tell him.
“You’re losing your accent, Olivia Reid,” he tells me. “You’re startin’ to sound like a Yankee.”
Out in the living room, I hear Rose giggling.
“You’ll have to tell my friends here that because they all think I have a heavy accent.”
“Nah. You have the perfect balance, Olivia Reid.”
“What are you doing tonight? Are you guys all going out?”
“Yeah. I think Royce and I are goin’ to hit up a bonfire down at the river. A bunch of people are gonna have a campout. Might sleep in the back on my truck.”
“Won’t that be cold?”
“It wouldn’t be if you were here.”
Heat rises to my cheeks, his words painting an image of us surrounded by pillows and blankets with the Texas sky above us.
“Maybe we’ll have to test that theory when I visit next month.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I let out on a sigh.
“Okay, then. Well, Olivia Reid, I hope you have yourself a wonderful evening, and I look forward to seeing you soon.”
“Yeah…” I say, sitting up, not ready for the conversation to be over. I trip over my thoughts, thinking of things to ask him. Open-ended questions that will continue our conversation, so we both forget about everyone else and create our own little universe despite our distance. “We got a cat.” The words tumble out of my mouth and have me slapping a palm across my forehead.
That was not open-ended or a question.
“A cat?”
“Mmhmm. My roommate’s friend brought it over. Rose wants to keep it. She thinks it’ll be fun.”
“Man, cats make a mess. They’re meant to live outside and catch rodents and shit.”
“That’s what I told her.”
“You’re too sweet for your own good. You know that?”
There are noises behind him. Voices and laughter, and then a girl squealing and giggling. He must have covered the mouthpiece of his phone, muffling his voice as he tells his friend that he’s coming.
“I’ve gotta go, Olivia Reid. I’ll see you.” He hangs up, and I lie back, closing my eyes as I replay the conversation, the tone of his voice, the obvious intentions. Talking with him is bittersweet. Our calls are always fast and spaced by weeks, and they always remind me that we’re living separate lives.
A crash in the other room has me jumping up and heading toward the living room. “What happened?”
Rose turns with our floor lamp in her hand. “It’s okay. It still works.”
“How’d it knock over the lamp?”
“I moved and startled Elton.” She looks at the couch where I’m assuming the kitten has gone into hiding again. “He seems to be afraid of the color orange. He took one look at the orange