Page 26 of Crazy for this Girl

“Then maybe you should,” I leer back through my teeth. “Because I wasn’t going to have some new kid last year hit on me all summer long like I was a piece of meat.”

Cal’s head snaps over to mine like I smacked him. “I wouldn’t do that to you! Are you—”

“You didn’t even know me!”

“I’m not an asshole, Laynee.” He points to himself. The red material of his shirt sticking to the muscles at his chest. “I thought I’ve proved that already.”

“I know that now, but I didn’t—”

“You didn’t even give me a chance,” he barks out. “You judged me before I hit your deck steps.”

“I could barely see you in the dark, and whatever, Cal.” I begin to swim back to shore, but he follows me, getting in front so he can block my path.

“No, it’s not whatever. I truly came over to talk to you and see who you were. I didn’t have another ulterior motive involved.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I upbraid, lifting my hands and dropping them along the surface of the water. “I don’t have a girlfriend. Who cares? I sure as heck don’t.”

“I do,” he gushes out. “You freaking lied to me.”

My brain scrambles for words to make him understand my point of view, but I come up with none. I understand that lying is messed up, but mine was to protect myself not to hurt him in anyway.

Shoot, I didn’t even think we’d become friends.

So, instead of trying to forge the right thing to say, I round his body because I’m not going to argue about one little thing that has no effect on our friendship.

“Where are you going?” Cal clips from behind me. “Laynee, stop.”

I glimpse over my shoulder. “I’m not fighting with you. I’m sorry that you’re angry about it, but I didn’t think it would mean that much. Honestly, I never really thought about it again.”

“We need to make a promise,” he yells out. And when I don’t respond, he comes back with, “I'd never lie to you, Laynee.”

It feels like my heart is being throttled in someone’s hand. It hurts that he’s so upset about one thing I said. That I betrayed him before we even started and now it’ll always be a nail pounded into our foundation.

“If I mean something, you’ll stop."

I do.

My body and brain connecting at the same time and agreeing that he does.

Cal has cemented himself in my life with his calm—most of the time—demeanor, his outlook on life and the way he’s brought so much color to my existence.

Slowly, I turn, finding him standing but feet away from me.

His face has diffused a little and he looks more sad than outraged.

“We’re friends,” he emits assuredly. "Best friends. We need to tell each other the truth. All the time. I don’t care if we think it’ll hurt the other person; we’re in this forever.”

The way he says forever does things to my body that it shouldn’t be doing.

It makes me too excited. It creates hope that, in a sense, should be there but not as if it’s only going to be us two until we die.

We’ll grow up. I hear Dad talk about buddies he had in the past that he hasn’t spoken to in years. Mom complains about girls who used to copy her hairstyles and clothes. What’s going to happen to me and Cal?

“Deal?”

I focus back on Cal, staring back at me with determination. If he’s like this now, I think we might be able to make that forever he talked about.

I bob my head. “Fine.”

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