AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But I guess I was glowing even more than usual. I was beyond sunshine. Maybe I was like a supernova, which is an exploding star that I learned about on one of those trippy science shows about the universe.
In other words, I wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding it. And I didn’t want to hide it. I understood it could get Wesley in trouble if it got out.
“Whatever it is,” Courtney said, “you can trust me. I won’t tell a soul.”
She crossed her heart with her finger and then put it up to her lips in a “shushing” sign.
What’s the point of having close friends if you can’t trust them?I thought. I didn’t want to keep Courtney at a distance. If I wanted to stay friends with her, I couldn’t very well keep the biggest thing that was happening in my life from her.
“Okay,” I said, “but you can’t tell anybody.”
“It’s just you and me, girlfriend,” she said, “I promise I won’t tell a soul.”
She repeated the gesture from before and I told her. Everything. How I lost my phone and tracked it down to Wesley’s house and how we saw the Dyer home on the news and went to go save it. I told her about helping Wesley in the rain and getting soaking wet, so the only logical solution was for us to get naked in bed together. And then, things just... happened.
Well, that was a slight lie. Nothing ever just happens. I wanted it to happen and so did Wesley and so we made it happen.
I could tell that sharing that part of the story relit my glow. It was so intense I half expected Courtney to have tan lines by the time I was done.
But I couldn’t go on from there. To continue telling what happened would ruin the story, I thought, so I just stopped.
“Wow,” Courtney said. “Just wow.”
Her expression was intense, but difficult to gauge. Was she happy for me or was she going to tell me I made a mistake? The same mistake I’d made with Bradley.
Then she showed her hand. Literally. She used it to fan herself off.
“That’s seriously hot,” she said. “How was he?”
I blushed. And then I hiccupped. It was an intense hiccup that rattled my entire body.
“That good, huh?” Courtney asked.
I tried responding with words, but all that came out was another hiccup. I nodded instead. And I smiled. Oh, how I smiled. It was painful, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“What do…” HICCUP “…you…” HICCUP “…think?”
The happiness was contagious. Courtney was giggling and smiling almost as hard as I was.
“Look, office romances kind of have a bad rap,” she said, “but if it works, it works. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.”
“Neither…” HICCUP HICCUP “…have…” HICCUP
She put a hand up to stop me. I held my breath.
“You’ve never seen yourself this happy?” she asked, and I nodded in an affirmative. “That can’t be a bad thing.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her, but of course it could have been and that’s what I was afraid of. For one thing, I’d only given her half of the story, but the other thing I left off is the danger of such a high. I was liable to come crashing down. This is why people had to be careful with drugs — anything that makes you feel good could make you feel downright terrible if it goes away.
“And it’s not just you,” she said. “I was talking to Abigail about it. You didn’t see Wesley come in?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t seen him at all since I left his house. I didn’t even realize he’d come in.
“He was practically walking on air. We’ve all seen you happy before, but I can’t remember a single moment in all the time that I’ve been here where he showed even an ounce of happiness. He sucks the joy out of the room like a vacuum. If you could have that effect on him, well… all I can say is I’m impressed.”
I let my breath out, hoping that it had been enough to suffocate those nervous hiccups.
“It was nothing,” I said. “He’s just the kind of guy who thinks you need a reason to be happy.”
