AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I paused in front of the mirror. A huge, ear-splitting grin covered my face. Something about her pulled all of my strings. There was nothing I enjoyed more than getting under her skin.
I hit Dial, pacing the room, and slid my left hand into the pocket of my jeans. It kept ringing. What the fuck? The fucking balls on her.
The click of the connection on the other side cut off my thoughts.
“You know I can revoke your phone privileges for calling me, right? No one calls anyone anymore. Strictly impersonal texts. Maybe some memes. You crossed an invisible line with this whole calling thing. Like, when you were a kid and you didn’t show up to someone’s house at suppertime. It’s just not done.” Sid’s voice was light, with hints of laughter behind it. Her feistiness had my mouth tipping at the corner.
“Were you really going to ghost me on this call?” I tried to sound serious, but I couldn’t help the small laugh.
“I wouldn’t call it ghosting, but sure, yeah, I was thinking about not answering,” she said playfully.
“Ouch, that hurts.”
“Don’t worry. A little humility will be good for your big ego.”
“Uh-huh,sureit will.”
“What do ya need, Jax?” There was rustling in the background, and I could barely make out the squeak of her bed when she sat on it. Suppressing a groan, I took a long breath in. The image of Sid lying on her bed had blood flooding to my dick.Get it together, man.
“Okay, I’m going to be up-front with you. I don’t normally call anyone. I wasn’t kidding when I said you’re stuck in my head, and I need to concentrate, so I just wanted to talk to you. You know, to see if that helps.” There was such a long, awkward pause I thought she might have hung up. Her breath was soft through the speaker, and I sat back on my bed. She hadn’t hung up, so I would wait her out.
“What’s your favorite food?” she asked.
I did a silent fist pump victory dance. “My hometown pizza. Hands down, the best. You can’t convince me otherwise.”
“I bet there’s a bunch of people in Italy, Boston, and New York that would disagree with you.”
“They’d be wrong. They don’t know what they’re missing.” My cheeks hurt from smiling, but it was just her. It was what she did to me.
“For me, it’s warmed-up chocolate croissants.” She moaned a little, and I tensed as a shiver ran through me. This girl was going to be the death of me.
“What’s your favorite movie?” I asked, adjusting until I was lying flat on my bed.
“Hmmm, I’m not sure I have a favorite movie, but I’m dying to seeHamilton.” I noted that fun fact and filed it away to look up later.
“If you weren’t the next sports star, what would you be?” She was getting into this.
“Easy. Homeless.” That startled a laugh out of her, which had me chuckling. The more we talked, the more relaxed I got. “Here’s one: Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses?”
“What?” Her surprised laughter rang through the phone. “I don’t want to fight either.”
“Not an option. Come on, Trouble, answer the question.”
“Trouble, huh?” She paused for a second but continued. “Hmm, if I have to choose, I’d pick the giant duck. At least it would be faster than thousands of tiny bites from tiny horses.”
“Oh, morbid. Didn’t expect that.” I found myself sprawled out on my bed, listening to her talk about her plans after school. She was strong and determined, and it was sexy as hell. Sid was unbelievably easy to talk to. It was like slipping into a dance we’d done so many times our bodies had it memorized. Her voice was soft, and I tried to talk as little as possible to not distract her, giving just enough so she knew I wasn’t bored.
I didn’t notice the time until she yawned. She was barely awake on the other end. It had been a good five minutes since either of us had spoken. Realizing she might have actually been asleep, I whispered, “Sidney?”
It was past 2:00 a.m. “Uh-huh?” Her voice was sleepy but clear.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”
“Are you trying to be my friend, Jax?”
I couldn’t stop my grin. “No, not really.”
TWELVE
