Page 84 of The Fake Out Flex

Of course Evie's got no idea that's a topic I want to talk about even less than my less-than-stellar dating life.

My shoulders tense. "She's fine."

"I heard she's living nearby. Up in Cedar Crest Hollow?"

Mom is still friends with Evie's mom, so it makes sense she'd know that.

"That's right."

"It's beautiful up there. I haven't driven up the mountain in ages. Maybe we could go sometime? I'd love to see Dawn."

"Uh, sure. You all done?"

Evie nods, and I scoop up all the wrappers and toss them into the bags.

Not exactly being subtle that I don't want to talk about my sister, but I can't help it. The topic of Dawn always puts me on edge. I failed to protect her once. I can't let her down again. Even if it means withholding the truth from Evie.

I take the bags into the kitchen, and when I return, we lie on the floor to watch the game. Yes, she has a couch we could be sitting on, but why waste a perfectly good floor? It totally takes me back to old times.

At the end of the night, Evie walks me to the door.

"Thanks for the burgers," I say.

"Thanks for sharing your fries with me."

"No problem." I waver for a moment. "I've been thinking, since we've already broken our no-numbers-exchanged pledge and have been texting each other to make plans…"

"The pledge we made seven years ago when we were next-door neighbors and didn't need phones to communicate with each other?"

I grin. "That's the one. Since we already have each other's numbers…"

"Yeah?"

"And since our schedules for the next few weeks are brutal and we won't be able to see each other, what if…"

Come on, man, just spit it out already.

"What if we have some chat dates?"

Evie scrunches up her nose in confusion. "Chat dates?"

"Yeah. See, there's this neat function on your cell phone. Apparently you just press a person's name from your contact list, and then somehow—don't ask me how because it's well above my paygrade—a few seconds later, you hear that person's voice on the other end of the line."

"I've never heard of this before."

"Apparently it's something people used to do all the time in the dark ages."

"You mean the '90s?"

"Exactly."

Evie taps her chin. "Chat dates, eh?"

I chuckle nervously. "Are you up for it?"

"Yeah." A smile blooms across her face. "I'd really like that."

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