Page 15 of Honest With You

“I’d like that.” She sounds unsure, but I’ll take it.

I smile at her and gesture at her phone. “Last time we didn’t exchange numbers. Think this time, I could get your number?” I wink at her playfully and my chest heats at the sight of her lips pulling up into a smile as she unlocks her phone and hands it to me.

I save my number and send myself a text so I have hers but because I can’t resist, I take a selfie of myself with her phone then proceed to make it her lock screen.

She raises an eyebrow at me, and I wink at her again, this time aiming my phone camera at her. I take a picture of her and set it asmylock screen.

I know that any minute now, my mom will come looking for us. She was in the middle of setting everything up when she sent me out here to get Ava, but I can’t make myself look away.

Ava’s staring at her phone, shaking her head in amusement. The twinkle in her eye and the way she’s biting her lip tells me just how much she likes the way I tease her. That’s also how I know she isn’t going to change it.

“Let’s head in. I’m sure dinner is ready.”

I get up first, grabbing a towel from the basket we keep out for guests. I look away, giving her the privacy to dry off. I stand and wait by the threshold as she slips her sandals on.

I look back down just as she stands next to me, tilting her head up at me in curiosity.

“You’re a lot more sure of yourself than you were at thirteen.”

There’s a hint of something in the way she’s looking at me. Something that tells me she’s feeling this attraction between us too.

I bend so we’re eye to eye, our noses almost touching.

“I’m sure of a lot of things, Ava and I’m usually right.”

“Is that so?” She sounds winded as she visibly swallows. “Like what?”

Keeping my eyes locked on hers, I lean close enough that our breaths mingle.

“I’m sure Ilikeyou. I’m sure I’ve liked you since we were kids. I’m sureyoulike metoo. And just like I did, you just figured that out.”

I straighten, letting my eyes dip to her mouth before they travel back to hers.

“I’m also sure I’m going to ask you out soon.”

With that, I stride back into the house knowing she has no choice but to follow me in.

Ismother a laugh, hiding it behind the guise of rubbing my nose.

Vanessa stares at me, whatever she was saying to me forgotten.

She’s trying to figure out what the hell I’m doing.

I awkwardly feign a cough as I hastily tuck the reason for my strange behavior in the back pocket of my jeans.

Honestly, her guess is as good as mine. I’m still reeling from that weirdly intense initial conversation with Jesse in his backyard two nights ago where he all but asked me out.

I’m also choosing to ignore the range of emotions I felt that night.

After sitting through a semi-awkward dinner with our parents, our dads retreated to the study to talk “business”, and his mom sent us back out into the backyard. I thought for sure he was going to start flirting shamelessly with me again, but he didn’t. Instead, he grabbed a few snacks to share and set up a blanket on the grass. We laid on it and talked for hours, just like when we were kids. Mostly about anime. Then he told me all about San Diego and all the fun places I needed to see.

For the rest of the night, no further mention of dates or liking each other. Both of us relying more on casual topics by some unspoken agreement.

I seriously thought I imagined it all, if not for the fact that I still had his picture set as my lock screen.

He sent me a pouty selfie just now, because I ignored his texts last night asking for my class schedule.

He’s up to something, and as much as I want to play along, as much as I do have to admit to myself thatI amattracted to him, I can’t date my dad’s best friend’s son.

---