Page 43 of The Last Special Thing

His eyes swept the menu, then he leaned forward on his heels. “Peanut butter and chocolate smoothie.”

“What are you, five?” she teased.

“And for you, miss?” the woman across the counter asked.

“Green superfood fusion, please.”

“What are you, forty-five?” Art asked, mimicking her tone.

“Shut up,” she knocked playfully against him.

She tapped her credit card against the card reader. They collected their smoothies, then returned to her car.

They held hands as she drove him home. When she pulled up to the curb, Art got out. “I remembered I have some errands to run, and then I have work. Rain check on the rendezvous?”

“Do people say rendezvous?”

“Rain check on fuck-”

She reached over and jerked his door closed, her cheeks reddening.

Pulling out to the road, her smoothie remained three-quarters full. The Adderall must have killed her appetite.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Amelia had returned from Art’s apartment and walked along the edge of the S-shaped pool in her backyard. She contemplated whether to sunbathe or research UCLA’s welcome week schedule. On one hand, soaking up the sun after a gym session and dipping in the pool was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. On the other hand, she hadn’t reviewed anything UCLA-related in two weeks and should probably have a better idea of her transition plan. Both of her ideas were shoved aside as she noticed the slider to her room was open.

She strutted into the flat and found Lauren on her oversized plush bed. She dressed in her standard outfit: black Athleta workout leggings and a solid-colored tank top that crossed in the back. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with a sweatband on top. The resemblance between Amelia and her mom was uncanny.

In her hands, Lauren held the broken photo from Spring Fling that Amelia had forgotten on the floor.

“What’s up?” Amelia asked. Her eyes lingered on the photo before returning to Lauren. She hated it when her parents let themselves into her room.

“Who’d you bring to the gym today?” Lauren’s eyes lifted to meet Amelia’s.

Amelia’s chest deflated. It had only been an hour since they had been at the gym. She assumed the word would eventually get around. Amelia had never brought anyone to the gym aside from Madisson once. But Amelia thought she would have time to come up with a story first.

Amelia went with the facts and nothing more. “His name is Art.”

“Is Art a boyfriend?”

“Mom, I’ve had boyfriends before.” Amelia slumped.

Lauren tapped rapidly on the man in the framed photo. “You’ve had Weston.”

“What’s your point?”

Her mom licked her lips. “Weston wasn’t a normal boyfriend.”

“And why was that?” She was genuinely curious what made Weston so special to her mom.

“Weston’s the kind of guy you marry. Some boyfriends aren’t great, and then there’s the guy you marry.”

“Well, clearly Weston didn’t want to marry me.”

Lauren hmphed. “Maybe you should see if he wanted to try again?”

“No, mom!” She grabbed the photo from Lauren’s hand and slammed it face down onto the dresser. “I’m dating Art. You can’t make judgments about someone you’ve never met.”