Page 30 of Bookish Boys Don't Date Social Girls
I smile. “No, not tonight. Another night.”
He pauses. He’s playing with a strand of the carpet. Rolling it between his finger and his thumb. Though he’s clearly considering the question, he still has no discernable expression on his face to let me know which direction he’s leaning. I want to scream my frustration, but I’m afraid I’ll throw up if I open my mouth. Nerves on top of a full belly isn’t a great idea.
Dylan’s desperate voice comes from Joel’s room, “Ava, can you please bring your tiny fingers in here to help us assemble this bed?”
I smile at her as she strolls by. Her expression looks like she’s about to enter a fairy grotto instead of a boys’ room.
Suddenly, Chris plops on the floor in front of us. I flinch involuntarily when he drapes his arm over my shoulders.
“How’s my favorite ex-girlfriend doing?”
I roll my eyes. He’s always given our two dates more weight than they deserve. We never even kissed. “I’m okay. How’s my favorite ex-date?” I give extra emphasis to the last word to underscore our lack of a previous relationship.
He slams a fist over his heart. “You wound me. I’ve been pining away for you since we broke up.”
“Chris, we only went on two dates. And it was almost two years ago. You’ve never even tried to date me again. Stop acting like it was more.” Usually, this act of his is funny, but right now, in front of Brent, it’s making me uncomfortable. Especially after what I heard David’s brothersay.”
Chris takes my hand in his and kisses the back of it. “But you’ll always be special to me, Sam. Thanks for the pizza.”
I smile uncomfortably as he gets up and disappears into his room. I shift my gaze to Brent. “That was awkward.”
He forces a smile too when he lifts his brows in acknowledgment.
“So, back to my question. Would you like to go out sometime?” My heart pounds loudly in my ears. I’m trying to look relaxed, but I feel stiff and wooden.
“I don’t think so, Sam. Thanks, though.” He flashes a smile and then rocks forward to stand. “I’m gonna go help Chris unpack. Thanks for the pizza.”
He doesn’t look at me, so he doesn’t see that I can’t even pretend to be polite. My stomach aches with the rejection, and I’m worried the food I ate will end up on the ugly tan carpet. I can’t even catch a breath. It’s like Brent kicked me in the chest with his rejection
Across the room, Ava’s gaze tracks from where Brent just disappeared into Chris’s room to lock with mine. Her furrowed brow tells me she knows something just went wrong. She mouths, “You okay?” I’m too gutted to even respond. I let my gaze drop away from hers as my heart breaks.
Chapter Fifteen
The girls come homewith me after we say goodbye to Joel. I’m glad Ava doesn’t have to go back to her emptier house right away, but I know she’ll have to face it eventually. I’ve been through it several times now, but when Bridget moved out, it left my wing of the house quiet and empty. I had a hard time adjusting.
My movements are sluggish, and it isn’t from walking up and down a million stairs. I’m struggling to stay engaged with my friends, and I’m battling against a misplaced sense of loss. The analogy is totally ridiculous, but I feel like I’m a cute summer blouse that was waving merrily in the breeze, drying on a clothesline, until someone tore me down, threw me to the ground, and jumped on me repeatedly. Now, I’m torn, stained, and discarded in the dirt. I don’t even think I’ve ever seen a clothesline in real life, so why do I feel like that exactly? I always thought I was a strong, confident person. Turns out I’ve just never had to face defeat before.
Because our muscles are sore from a day-long workout, we put on our swimsuits and sink into the hot tub. The jets are on and we’ve each found our favorite seat to settle into. We’requiet for a long time, leaning our heads back, eyes closed. I keep picturing the look on Brent's face when he turned me down. Pinched lips, eyes squinted and looking at the ground. Why did he look like that? Did the thought of dating me turn his stomach?
I sink a little deeper into the water. The evening air is just cool enough to make the heated water tolerable. My body relaxes though my thoughts won’t quit spinning. I need to stop replaying that conversation. Each time Brent pops into my mind, I force myself to think of something else. The book I’m reading. The series I abandoned when I realized I could be reading romantic comedies. Ines’s wedding. Anything to distract me from the sorrow and sense of failure.
Finally, Ava breaks the silence even though she still looks asleep. “Thanks for helping today, you guys. I know you don’t really know Joel, so it was cool of you to pitch in like that.”
“It was harder work than I expected,” Bek says. “That was a lot of stairs.”
Ava groans. “I know. I’m so thankful for this jacuzzi, Sam.”
“Me too.” I moan. “Tomorrow’s gonna suck.”
“The day after will be the worse,” Bek says. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to heft those huge bags of pet food at work.”
“Right?” Ava peeks through one eye and they grimace at each other. “Sam, are you okay? What happened with Brent?”
“What?” Bek sits up. “Something happened? When?”
“When you were in Joel’s room,” Ava says.
“Oh no.”
