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“Shoosh.” Parker pats the air in front of her. “Can we please get out of here so we can explain?”
Josie folds her arms. “I’m ready to hear it.”
I gesture towards the foyer. “Josie, let’s go. Besides, it was just a peck. It’s been totally blown out of proportion.”
Her brow furrows. “Don’t you think any kind of kiss between you and Parker is a big deal?”
I frown and nod.
She leans in close, whispering, “You gave up your first kiss?”
My eyes instantly water.
She gasps and tugs on my hand. “Let’s get out of here. Parker, are you driving us?”
“Yeah, sure,” he says, hurrying behind us.
We get into Parker’s car and it feels totally weird to be riding shotgun with Josie in the backseat. This only happens when my mom drives us somewhere. Now, supposedly, it’s my boyfriend driving us.
“Okay, where to first?” Parker asks, pulling the car into the strip mall parking lot.
“We need to get to the smoothie bar for this debrief,” Josie says.
“Okay, I’ve crashed your shopping trip,” Parker says. “How about smoothies on me?”
“Deal.” Josie slides out of the backseat, dragging her backpack behind her. “You have so much explaining to do. I feel like I’ve fallen into an alternate universe.”
I move onto the sidewalk, and Parker locks the car, leaving our bags in the trunk.
He mentions to Josie, “You could keep that in the car, you know.”
She hikes her backpack over her shoulder. “I know.”
I suck in a ragged breath and tension ripples through me with every step to the smoothie bar.
Inside, Josie blurts her order at Parker and then gestures at us. “Look at you two. There’s barely a gap between you.”
I take a large step to the side. “Better?”
Josie shakes her head. “How exactly did I end up playing third wheel?”
I smile at Parker. “You know, you could leave so Josie and I can talk.”
Parker steps closer and slings an arm around me. “And what kind of boyfriend would that make me be?”
Josie’s mouth falls open. “Boyfriend? You’re labeling this?”
I stammer nonsensically. “Ah, umm, we, uh...”
Parker hugs me closer and winks at Josie. “Kylie could do a lot worse.”
Josie’s palms raise and her jaw moves with questions that can’t come out of her mouth. I mean, I get it. She wants to ask about Lewis. She wants to know how I could possibly replace my obsession with him. Valid, because it’s incomprehensible.
Josie’s head shakes, and she slowly backs away to a table. When she sits, I tell Parker to order me the same, and step toward the table.
He grabs onto my wrist, tugging me back. “Are you trying to ditch me, girlfriend?”
“I need to explain to Josie what’s going on.”
