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I remember my promise to Liv, and consider saying yes. God damn Liv and her silly promise. She’s right, though – I need to get over Jake, have a life again, and Harrison is a nice guy. “You know what, Harrison? Yeah, I’d like to have dinner with you.”
His eyes return to me, his dimples digging in deep as he smiles. “Great. How about tonight?”
I think about my plans with Brady before I answer, figuring if Brady meets me at three, then surely we would be back by seven. “Okay,” I agree. “I have somewhere to be until around seven. Meet me here at seven-thirty.”
His smile stretches across his entire face. “I’ll be here.”
The rest of my shift flies by, and I only spill one more drink. Harrison and I spend a lot of time flirting. It’s not all verbal. Sometimes it’s a quick glance, and other times it’s an accidental brushing up against one another on purpose. I surprise myself when I realize I like Harrison. He’s funny, handsome, and incredibly sweet. He might be exactly the guy to make me forget about Jake. And maybe even Brady, though I’m not holding out hope on that one.
Brady
“You’re going to work at a coffee house. No one cares what you look like.”
I wait impatiently on my sister’s bed for her to get ready. She ignores me and goes about doing something to her eyes with a tool that looks like it should be used for torturing someone rather than improving their appearance. The day has dragged on long enough. I can’t wait to see Tori. She’s slowly turning into a drug I can’t conceive living without. If I can make this friend thing work, then I won’t have to. Liv sets the torture device down and talks while applying black goop to her eyelashes. Her face in the reflection is hilarious, and I laugh out loud. She narrows her eyes in the reflection and then spins to face me.
Her death glare alerts me to her irritation. “What’s so funny?”
“Does it help when you do this?” Attempting to imitate her, I open my mouth, widen my eyes, and push my chin into my chest.
She doesn’t laugh, and chucks the tube of goop at my head. “As a matter of fact, it does, asshole.”
“Whoa! Sis, such language. I’m offended.” Tug is right. Liv is easy to annoy, and since I’m bored it’s also entertaining.
She huffs a laugh and sticks her tongue out at me. “Right, I happen to know that not much offends you.”
I pull my knees up, adjust the pillow behind me, and lie back on it. “Aw, yes, the downside to being my little sister. I bet you’ve heard some wild stories over the years.”
“You have no idea.” She rolls her eyes and waves a hand in the air. “Between that and most of my girlfriends only wanting to hang out with me so I’d hook them up with you, it’s amazing I still love you.”
Her words sting a little. “They’re not all true, you know.”
She makes an “ick” face, wrinkling her nose. “God, I hope not! Some of them are pretty raunchy.”
I laugh and pick up the tube of black goop, tossing it on her nightstand. “Well, those ones might be true.” Since I’m bored, I decide to snoop in her nightstand drawer, and now I wish I hadn’t. It’s full of condoms. Images of Liv and sex pop into my mind. I shake my head frantically, trying to clear it.
Liv’s side-splitting laughter only makes it worse. “Guess that will teach you to stay out of my things.”
She’s got that right; it will also give me nightmares. She finally walks away from the mirror. I think we are going to leave, but she sits down on the bed next to me and looks at me seriously.
“What are you doing with Tori?”
I figured this question was coming. I was prepared for it. “I’m taking her to T.J. to hang out. I’ve been craving carne asada from this little place down there and I don’t want to go alone.”
“And you can’t take Jesse or one of your other friends?” She’s probing to get me to crack.
I sigh and turn to my side, propped up on my elbow. “What do you really want to ask me, Liv?”
“Are you making a play on my best friend?” She’s blunt as ever.
Truthfully, I have no idea what I’m doing with Tori. I only know that I want to be near her as much as I possibly can. “Tori? What? No. We’re just friends. If you and Tug were around, I’d take you with us,” I reassure her. “Look, maybe if she and I hang out again, she’ll stop hating me and things will get back to normal. She’ll be your annoying little friend again.”
“Well, all right.” The tone of her voice is clearly skeptical, and it should be. “That would be nice. I hate how things are with you two. She blames you for her breakup with Jake.”
“I did kind of make that happen.” I shrug and look at the time – not because I want to know the time, but more likely because I want to know how long this little inquisition is going to last.
She smiles. “You may have arranged it so she’d find out, but he was the one who cheated on her.”
I shrug. “If it makes a difference, I think she hates him equally.”
