Page 79 of My Debacle with De Lorenzo

“Watson and Holmes?” She looks a little disheartened. “You guys have cute nicknames for each other?”

“We used to pretend to be detectives when we were kids. The names just stuck.”

This is really bothering her because she refuses to let it go. “The two of you only broke up because you moved here, so I’m guessing you still have feelings for her. Do you...love her?”

“Yeah, I love her. I’m always going to love her. She’s my best friend, Bella, but there’s nothing more than that. My old neighborhood is an hour and a half away from here. That’s not a major obstacle. If I wanted to make it work, I could.” I risk another glance because this whole conversation feels weird. “Can we drop this now? How I feel about Fran shouldn’t matter anyway, because you and I are not...”

“You’re right.” That’s enough to snap her out of it, and she shakes her head like she’s upset with herself for getting carried away. “We’re not. I’m sorry for overreacting. I admit I got a little jealous, but I’m good now.”

“Are you sure? Because I don’t want any awkwardness between us.”

“Yeah, I’m good.” She swirls more spaghetti around the fork and continues eating. “So, what do you want to do today?”

“I’ve got the house to myself until my parents get home, so I sort of...wanted to get you naked.”

“I like where your head’s at, but I have another idea. Do you want to go on a little adventure first?”

“Yes.”

I don’t even have to know what it is. As tempted as I am to get her naked, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by these spontaneous outings and I’m curious to see what she has planned. On Wednesday, we were still texting each other at eleven at night. I said I wanted to see her. She told me to come over. When I got to her house, she snuck out with a flask of hot chocolate and a small bag of marshmallows. Now, if that wasn’t cute enough, she came out wearing panda pajamas, fluffy slippers, and still had curlers in her hair. I don’t know what it was about that whole look, but I couldn’t stop staring at her. Then we climbed into her neighbor’s daughter’s treehouse and sat there talking until two in the morning. We could barely function at school the next day, but it was worth it. So, I’m pretty sure she’ll make today exciting too.

I pull off to the side of the road because I don’t know where we’re headed yet. “What did you have in mind?”

“So, I want to make today the best day of your life.”

“You know, you could do that by just getting naked.”

“I know, but humor me a little. Name the place you hate the most and I mean trulyhatewith a passion.”

No thought required on that one. “The grocery store.”

“The grocery store?” she echoes, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “What kind of privileged life have you been living that the grocery store is the worst place you could think of? Why do you hate it so much?”

I’m silent for a long time as I contemplate my answer. “You know what I hate? The audacity. They think because they sell necessities, they can charge whatever they like. Get the fuck outta here with them high prices.”

She giggles, then immediately turns her expression serious to match mine. “Yeah! How dare they? Those corporate leeches are the worst.”

“You think I need their lean cut beef or their Cape apples? I’m here to tell them I do not.”

“You tell ‘em, boy!”

“And then how they gonna have all these Christmas specials, invite the whole damn country, but they only have fifty parking bays?”

“Hi, my name’s Karen, and Idemandto speak to the manager.”

That breaks my straight face, and we laugh for a solid minute. I grasp her chin and pluck a quick kiss on her lips. “You have the cutest laugh.”

Her face flushes, but she doesn’t respond to the compliment. “Okay, so today we’re going to change the association you have with grocery stores. Let’s do something that will stop you from hating them so much. Is it all grocery stores or one in particular?”

“One in particular...but then my hatred slowly extended toallstores, shopping malls, retailers in general – I hate all of them. Just coming to pick you up from work grinds my nerves raw.”

“Okay, so let’s change that feeling. We’ll go to that particular one and make some new memories there.”

I freeze, my heart plummeting into my stomach. Actually, I think it stopped beating altogether because my blood runs cold. “I, uh, I don’t...I don’t...I-I don’t want to go there.”

“Dylan, are you alright?” She reaches out to touch my cheek, her concern evident in her voice and the wrinkle on her forehead. “You’re ash-white...and you’re shaking.”

“I’m fine.” I shut my eyes, take a deep breath, and pull my shit together. “I’m fine. Let’s go. We’ll go...and we’ll make this the best day of my life, right?”

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