Page 18 of Rumor Has It

“Hey,” she says. “How’s it going this morning?”

“Not bad,” I say, shrugging. “I slept pretty well despite Wanda.”

As my best friend, I’d already filled her in on Colin, the opossum, Theo at my place, and the awkward cuddle wake up we experienced the morning after the bar. In fact, she’s the first person I tell everything to, and I’m shocked she hasn’t had more to say about this weekend’s shenanigans.

“I bet you did,” she says, her tone implying something I can’t put my finger on.

“What do you mean by that?”

Kelly Ann steps toward me with her palms up in some kind of vague gesture promoting her innocence.

“I just mean if I were sleeping next to my best friend in the whole world, who happens to be wrapped up in a package as good looking and sweet as Theo Jameson, I’d probably sleep like a baby, too.

“Oh no, not you too,” I say, rolling my eyes as I make my way over to the coffee machine. I pull my mug from the cabinet and slip it under the maker as I push a couple of buttons that magically make the coffee fall into my cup.

“What do you mean me too?” Kelly Ann asks. Her eyes get big and then narrow very quickly, as if she’s surprised. Though, I’m surprised she doesn’t already know, considering it’s in the wind.

“Emma came at me with the same vibe,” I say. “My friends have lost their minds.”

“Oh, if Emma saw the same thing I saw, you think we’re the only two who saw it?”

She has a point. Who else thinks Theo and I are a thing now? I’m counting in Garrett, even if it’s technically not confirmed, because I’m not imagining my house being a little too quiet yesterday. And Emma is Wade’s cousin, so I damn sure know they talked about it. Wade and Garrett graduated together ahead of us, so between those two connections, Wade is definitely on the list. Jesus, this is getting out of hand.

“Nothing is going on,” I say firmly. “We’re friends.”

“Yeah, and so are we,” she says. “So dish. I know something is up. Maybe it’s not the whole juicy shebang but there is something.”

Kelly Ann crosses her arms over her chest, waiting for me to confess. The only thing missing is her tapping her foot to make me feel like I’m eleven again and standing in front of my mother, swearing I didn’t break my dad’s brand-new flat screen. Except I did. And I mowed a lot of lawns that summer.

I let out a very long, deep sigh. “Look, it’s nothing, okay? It’s just like, I’ve had a couple of thoughts. Musings, if you will.”

“Spill the sweet tea, sis,” she says, leaning in closer to me.

I try my best to explain the fleeting little moments that have caused my thoughts about Theo to momentarily spiral out of control and into somewhere much dirtier. The doorframe lean, the simple words, “I’m easy,” the accidental morning cuddles, and maybe the fact that when he took his shirt off, I liked it. Even though I’ve seen him shirtless more times than I can count, I don’t know, it just felt different.

“Whoa,” she says. “That’s not sleeping-together major, but it’s definitely something.”

“You think so?” I ask. “I just thought it was maybe some weird side effect of being rejected by Colin mixed with running into Lindy, and then how nice Theo was being about all of it.”

“Why would Lindy bother you?” she asks.

“Well, it didn’t at first. But on the way home from the bar, Theo finally told me why they split up,” I say, and pause for dramatic effect.

“Well?” Kelly Ann exclaims under her breath, still trying to keep it hush-hush in case someone walks in.

“It was because of me,” I say. “She told him he had to choose.”

“And he chose you,” Kelly Ann says, her eyes getting wider with every passing second.

“Yeah,” I say. “He chose me.”

THIRTEEN

THEO

With a lot of luck and calling in two different favors, I secured the part for Ellie’s car same day and had just enough time to install it too. So maybe four or five epic fires are going all at once, but her car is no longer one of them.

I was glad to have the distraction of Ellie’s car for most of the day, honestly. Dad called me into the office first thing this morning to talk about Poppy. As any good father is, he’s hopping mad and wants to send out a hillbilly kill squad for Doug. After reminding him that it would be awfully difficult to be a good grandfather from behind prison walls, he settled down and resolved to focus on making sure Poppy had a lot of support around her. Though I did promise to sugar Doug’s gas tank, should I see him here. I won’t actually do that and he knows it, but it’s enough to let him know I stand with him in solidarity in thinking that Doug is a rat bastard.

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