I type back:
No problem! See you at 11!
You don’t need to use exclamation points in every text
I stare at my phone, heat creeping up my neck. Great.
Sorry!
I mean sorry
Force of habit.
…
The three dots appear as he types, disappear, appear again. Finally:
It’s fine. Just very you.
Veryme. As he keeps on saying. What does that mean?Very me? Is that good? Bad? Why am I analyzing this like it’s a coded message? I have never before cared if somebody thinks something is “me” or not, but for the second time Alfie has described something as “me” and I am embarrassingly desperate to figure out what that means.
“Very you,” I mutter to myself, falling back onto my bed. “What does that even mean?”
My phone buzzes again.
Alex the greatest VBFF
Don’t forget to wear something cute to your meeting tomorrow
I grab my pillow and scream into it.
Sixty hours. I just have to get through sixty hours with Alfie Spencer, his one-word texts, his mysterious comments about my personality, and his stupidly perfect face.
6
ALFIE
“Brother,” I answer, already sensing a headache forming behind my eyes. I’m tidying up my room before leaving for this meeting with Janine when something possessed me to finally answer his calls. Maybe after running into Ethan this morning, I feel like I can handle all kinds of weird.
Earlier this morning, I’d been taking advantage of what I thought was an empty house. Freddie was at work, Troy at Camp Pinehaven, and Ethan supposedly back with his family for summer. With hot water running down my back and steam filling the bathroom, I’d felt the tension from my research melt away.
I’d strolled out of the bathroom without bothering to grab a towel. The freedom of having the house to yourself, there’s nothing quite like it. I was halfway down the hallway, humming a beat that had gotten stuck in my head, when I collided with something solid.
“Holy shit!”
“Oh my god!” Ethan slapped his hands over his eyes. “Dude!”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I grabbed the nearest object, a sweatshirt, and covered myself.
“Plans changed! I’m back already, baby!” Ethan was still covering his eyes, though I swear I saw him peeking through his fingers. “Why are you naked?”
“I thought I had the house to myself!” I backed toward my room. “You could’ve warned us you were coming back!”
“I did! Check the group chat!”
“Stop peeking!”
“I’m not peeking!” But he definitely was peeking. “Though I gotta say, hitting the gym’s really working for you.”
