Bex. Guys like him don’t go for girls like me. “Sorry, long day.” I force a smile I’m not feeling, but that he deserves. “Have fun tonight. I know Riley’s excited about it. I’ve never seen her question her fashion choices so much as she has getting ready to see you.”
His Adam's apple bobs and all the humor in his face disappears.
I step around him, but stop and spin back around. “Oh, and pro tip? She hates kissing guys with garlic breath so chose dinner wisely. She also thinks sweat is disgusting, so don’t be offended if she asks you to shower before…you know.”
He cringes and refuses to meet my eyes. Weird, I would’ve expected a thanks for the tip.
I shove a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth and jog back to my room.
Riley comes out of her room as I pass by, her Versace backpack filled with what I assume is her sexiest pajamas and her face products and toothbrush.
“Have fun tonight,” I say and close my door before I can hear her giddy response.
Loren
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather go out for dinner?” I ask as we drive from Riley’s sorority house to mine.
She has her phone camera flipped while she plucks at her hair and taps her lips together. “No, I’m not dressed to go out.” She takes a quick selfie before setting her phone on her lap. “I look like such crap.”
It takes every muscle in my head to keep from rolling my eyes, but my momma raised me right so I reply appropriately. “You look beautiful.” And she does, I can’t deny that.
“What about sushi? The Cove delivers.”
I suck in air through my teeth. “I’m not a big fan of sushi.”
“Whatever is fine.” She gets back on her phone, looks like she’s posting her selfie on Instagram. “I don’t like to eat after five o’clock anyway.”
I stare ahead and allow the silence in the cab to simmer. What do we talk about? I think back to the few times we’ve hung out at parties, the times we’ve shared a few drunken kisses, and I wonder why I thought we had enough in common to hang out sober.
“Have you seen all these celebrities losing weight?” She holds her phone up to my face and I have to lean away to keep my eyes on the road. “Adele, Kelly Osborne, look at Khloe K.” She swipes her finger to show every celebrity photo. “Don’t they look so much better?” She pulls her phone back to her face. “I bet they’re all Keto,” she mumbles to herself.
“I think they all looked great the way they were.”
She laughs quick and hard. “Right. Okay. You’re funny.”
I park the truck on the street and open her door. She takes my hand and her touch feels all wrong. The breeze catches her perfume and swirls around me, the scent reminding me of old money and my grandmother.
She has been to my house before when we had our New Years Eve party, so she heads inside and straight to the stairs. “I’m going to drop my things in your room.”
The verbal reminder of her plan to spend the night sends a wave of dread over me. “I’m going to order food. You sure you don’t want anything?”
“I’ll just have a bite of whatever you get,” she says and takes off up the stairs.
She’s totally one of those girls who says she’s not hungry and then eats all my food. Great. I dig through the menus in our takeout drawer until I find the one for Michealindas.
I place our order and hang up, then find Riley in the living room with the remote in hand searching through movies to stream. “Food will be here in thirty.” The second my ass hits the couch Riley is on me, leg thrown over my thighs, she straddles my lap. I keep my hands on the couch.
“I know what we can do in the meantime.” She leans in, lips parted.
I turn my head. “I can’t until I eat. I’m starving.”
She rears back, her eyes blinking in shock. “You can’t even kiss me?”
I touch her then, but only to grip her waist and move her off of me and set her beside me. “My roommates are here and I wouldn’t want them to walk in and see us.”
“You’ve kissed me in front of your roommates before.”
“I have, mostly drunk. I feel like we should take some time to get to know each other, ya know?”
Her nose crinkles as