Pretty Sweet - Christina Lee Page 0,17

people on the phone anymore. I usually only spoke to professionals or my mom. “Hello.”

“Oh, honey, you don’t have to take me out to dinner.”

Her endearment warmed my heart. That wasn’t something my mom and stepdad did—call each other sweetie or sweetheart or things like that. I remembered my dad doing it, though. He would call Mom honey, and she’d roll her eyes and make a comment about how silly it was, but she’d liked it. You could see the spark in her eyes when he said it. “I know I don’t have to. I want to.” Oh God. What if she didn’t want to. Maybe she only invited me to dinner that night to be nice, and now she thought it was odd to hang out with a twenty-one-year-old. “Unless you don’t want to.”

There was a pause, and somehow, I knew she was feeling sad for me.

“It’s really not a big deal,” I added. And it wasn’t. I could find something to do around the house or call Jesse…

“Oh, hush, of course I want to. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to keep an old woman busy.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not old. And I’ll come pick you up. Jake can come too if he wants.” Ugh. I was such a dork. Why did I want straight boys? Or a straight boy? It wasn’t like I had a habit of it.

“He’s actually not in. He’s with his friend Tucker, doing something or another tonight. Oh, I have an idea! How about I order a pizza and you can come over here. It’ll be like a goodbye to this house and the start of something new. We can eat dinner and drink wine and…I don’t know, have a pajama party. Do makeup and watch movies. That sounds silly, but I miss fun nights with friends. Jake’s dad was… No, I don’t want to talk about him. I’m not giving him the time of day.”

That basically sounded like the best night in the history of the world. “Perfect! But I’m bringing the pizza. We’re celebrating you, so I should bring it over.”

“You’re like my son. Caretakers, the both of you. You bring the pizza, I have the wine.”

We spoke for another minute, deciding on a take-and-bake. I packed a bag with my makeup, PJs, and a packet of Oreos. It didn’t take me long to grab the food and make it to Jake’s house—well, Bonnie’s house too for another week, and then it would be Jake’s house again. At that point, I’d likely never see it again. Silly as it was, the thought made me sad.

Bonnie came out when I parked in front of the house. It was around seven, and she was already in pajamas.

“I’m much more excited than I should be. I feel like a kid again,” she said as I handed her the pizza and then got my bag. Warmth spread through my chest. Her excitement made me feel good. She deserved all the happiness she could find. Not for the first time, I wondered about Jake’s dad.

“I’m stoked too. I never did this when I was a kid. Jesse and I would do stuff like this when he lived with me, but it hasn’t happened as often lately.”

We went into the house and chatted for a few minutes while Bonnie warmed up the oven. I kept looking around the space, seeing Jake in it—grabbing something from the fridge or lounging on the couch. The house had such a masculine vibe to it, simple and homey.

“Do you mind if I go change?” I asked.

“Of course not.”

I went into the bathroom and put on my checkered pink and white pajama bottoms with a white shirt. Bonnie had wine out for me when I got there.

“To new beginnings.” She held up her glass.

“To new beginnings.” I clinked mine with hers.

I wanted that so badly. In a lot of ways, moving to Portland had been my new beginning, but I wanted more. I’d had to fight Mom like crazy to be able to come. I’d enrolled without her knowing. My senior year had been shit, and I’d wanted out of there.

We chatted and drank wine. Ate pizza and drank wine. Sat in the middle of the living room floor while I did her makeup and drank wine, the slow beginnings of a buzz tingling beneath my skin.

“Do you have a curling iron? I can do your hair.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go get it.”

She disappeared into the other room as