Page 51 of Tempt Me

I missed her warmth. “It was naive of me. I know that now. She asked me if she could drive it, and, of course, I said yes. We rode around for a couple of hours. She even took it on 101. Afterward, we ended up at this beachside restaurant. I paid, of course, and we walked on the sand holding hands and then made out against the pier.” Her windblown auburn hair had been soft against my cheek.

“Oh, girl.” Jamila shook her head.

“Look, I thought it meant something, okay? So that Friday, after class, she looked all sad, and I asked her why. She said she needed to go up to Sacramento to help her mother run some errands. Christmas shopping and whatnot. She said her mother had cancer. And that her car died. She couldn’t afford to fix it right then. So I said, borrow my car. I mean, anyone would say that, right?”

“Nope.”

I sighed. “Well, I did. I was happy all weekend that I’d helped her—and her mother. When she came back on Monday, she was so thankful and sweet. We made out again right there in the hallway at school. She’d forgotten to bring the keys, and I was so over-the-moon I didn’t think about it.”

“Girl…” This time, Jamila smiled indulgently.

“I know, I know. It sounds ridiculous now, but I didn’t think anything of it. I was helping my girlfriend. It got to be exam week, and life was nuts. I knew hers was, too, and I let it slide. I figured we’d get together after exams, and I’d get the keys back from her then.

“But after exams, she ghosted me. By the time I figured it out, it was too late. I went to her place, and she’d left. The car wasn’t in the parking lot. It was just…gone. And so was Ruby.” My heart had crumbled like her pie crust when her landlord said she’d moved out. There was no room for sadness about the car.

“What did Audrey and Charles say?”

“You think I told them?”

“How could you not? That was five months ago.”

I shrugged. “Every time they ask about it, I make an excuse. I don’t feel like driving. I let my friend borrow my car. Both true. Since I’m always doing stuff like that, they just roll their eyes and drive. Sometimes I ask my brothers to drive me or call an Uber.”

“Tell me you filed a police report.”

I winced. “No. I guess I hoped she’d return my calls or texts. I figured when the registration came up for renewal, it’d be her problem, then she’d bring it back or contact me or something, but she never did.”

I put a hand over my face. Jamila would never let anything like that happen to her. No one would ever try. Not with such a strong, confident woman. The kind of woman I could never be.

16

I felt solight after telling Jamila how I’d been duped, I was floating. I didn’t feel the not-quite-plushness of her living room rug.

“Baby girl, your heart is too soft.” Turning to face me, Jamila picked up a lock of my hair and twirled it around her finger. I savored the gentle tug.

“Ruby needed help. Well, I thought she did.”

“You’re always trying to help people—even me.”

“Helping others makes me feel good.”

She smiled, but it was a little sad. “Did she make you feel good?”

“Yeah. I believed her about her sick mother. I hope it was true and that I helped.”

“No, baby. Did she make youfeelgood?” She gave a harder tug on my hair.

“Oh.Oh.You mean, did she get me off? No, we only made out.”

Jamila’s fingers stilled. “You can get off while making out. If you do it right.”

I was still processing that when she asked, “What about with your no-expectations hookups after college? Did you get off with them?”

I shifted against the carpet. “Usually. Not always with the guys. It can be hard for me to…um, relax sometimes.”

“You were pretty relaxed when you kissed me in Austin.”

I buried my face in my hands. “Ugh, I wish I had one of those neuralyzers fromMen in Black.I’d make you forget that night.”

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