Page 15 of Owen Gardner is Losing It

“We can’t let that happen,” she said. “How do you think it’s going between you and her, by the way?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea what to talk about with her.” I turned on the lamp on the workbench so we could see better. “I’m the worst at talking to girls.”

“You were doing just fine with Lena,” she said, meeting my gaze.

“That’s different. Lena’s…” I couldn’t think of a word. Actually, I was thinking about the way her thighs looked peeking out from her skirt. “It’s just easy with her.”

“Uh huh,” Abigail said, staring upward. “Look, do you think that cord is long enough?”

I glanced up at an orange extension cord dangling from the rafters above us. “Yeah. Did you see the way Beth pulled her underwear down to show Xander her tattoo?”

“Yes. Yes I did. Not to change the subject, but you’re like a foot taller than me. Can you reach up there?”

I didn’t even have to stretch to reach the thick cord hanging above our heads. “I’m just so–ugh.” I pulled some of the cobwebs off the heavy extension cord before tucking it under my arm. “I’m almost regretting this entire night.”

“Don’t give up just yet. I think Beth is into you,” Abigail said as we made our way back out of the shed. I looped the extension cord around my shoulder as she latched the door behind us. “You can’t let Xander distract her. And neither can I.”

“Then we have to keep them apart,” I suggested.

“Exactly.”

On our way back up to the cabin, Abigail and I devised a plan: she would work on keeping Xander preoccupied, and I needed to step up my game with Beth.

“Should I ask her who her favorite hobbit is?”

“No. Should I play some Coldplay to start a flirty pseudo-argument with Xan?”

I scrunched up my face. “I feel like he and Beth will just tease you about your music taste and it’ll be another thing for them to bond over.”

She stopped in her tracks and turned to me, shaking her head. “This is hopeless, isn’t it?”

I wanted to believe it wasn’t.

But the longer the night went on, the more complicated this got. At what point would I decide tonight’s not the night and throw in the towel?

Chapter seven

“Stay Away” - Rooney

Abigail immediately put our plan into action. After rigging up her iHome to play music from a tree stump just a few feet away from the fire pit, she disappeared for a few minutes, only to re-emerge from the cabin in a different shirt and a cold beer for Xander.

I only noticed the shirt because Beth leaned in close to me on the hay bale we were sharing and asked, “Jeez, isn’t she cold? I wonder why she changed into a tank top.”

“Huh,” I said, knowing exactly why. “Maybe she spilled beer on herself or something.”

Beth watched Abigail interact with Xander for a couple of minutes before turning back to me. “Are her and Xander, like, a thing?”

“No,” I said, breathing out an involuntary chuckle.Wait a second, you fucking idiot.“I mean, well… it’s complicated. They’re not like, together-together, but they’re more than just friends, you know? Nobody can get between them.”

To make myself stop rambling, I took a long swig of my third beer of the night. I glanced around, trying to assess whowas around the fire. The group was smaller, as it seemed more people had moved inside. Xander was standing next to the fire, prodding it with a long stick as he stared at the embers below. Abigail was beside him, using her hands to tell some dramatic story that made Xander roll his eyes and smile. And just beyond them, there was Lena, whose hands were tucked neatly beneath her thighs in the same spot she’d been sitting in for the past hour.

“Are you okay?” Beth asked me, sounding farther away than she was.

“Yeah, why?” I asked, struggling to focus on her face. My head was getting a little fuzzy. Feeling a surge of courage, I placed my hand on the hay just behind her, trying to subtly shift closer. Judging from the way her eyes widened, it was clear my move wasn’t as subtle as I’d hoped.

“We should play a game!” she yelled, turning toward the rest of the group around the fire. “Anyone up for a game of Never Have I Ever?”

Someone muttered “oh boy” on the other side of the fire, while a few other people emphatically voiced their support of this suggestion.

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