AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Eh, I don’t know about that,” I said, lifting it to my mouth. I took a big bite. It wasn’t bad…for cardboard. “It’s all right.”
“See?” She aimed a fry at my face. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
I handed her the burger back. “So, how’s your week been?”
“Busy.”
“Mine too,” I said, brushing my hands off.
“Yeah?” She inclined her head, and I readied myself for what I knew was coming. “With Bridget?”
I cleared my throat and surveyed the strip mall across the street, while the side of my face boiled at what I could only guess was the same temperature as the surface of the sun from her glare. “No, uh, she’s…”
It was amazing how I’d never felt guilty about living my life the way I wanted to until now. Until Gemma’s eyes sparked with a combination of anger and desire.
We had met only weeks ago, interacted a handful of times. We were barely friends, more enemies than anything, and the friction between us threatened to strike up the kindling we seemed to be stumbling around in. Funny thing was, I’d always had a weird obsession with fire. I’d burned lots of holes in rugs as a kid. And I had trouble keeping my hands off the tiny flame next to me now.
“Bridget’s no one. Just a friend.”
She clucked her tongue, shoving a couple fries into her mouth in an obvious attempt to stop whatever words were about to come out.
Minefield averted.
“So, are you coming golfing tomorrow?” I asked to change the subject.
“Golfing?” She crinkled her nose in that cute way she always did and took another bite of the burger.
“Frank and Caroline invited me. I figured you too.”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “You figured wrong. I’m not much for golf.”
“Why not?”
“Swinging a stick around, trying to hit a tiny ball, isn’t my kind of thing.”
“Bigger balls are more your thing?” She glowered at my terrible innuendo, and I inched closer to her, the toe of my Oxfords nudging her instep. “It’s relaxing.”
“Yoga is relaxing. Golf is boring.”
Trying a different tack, I leaned my elbows back on the step behind me. “How’s your art class?”
She polished off the burger and stuffed the garbage into the paper bag. “Good. This week, we learned how to use the supplies and started with the basics. Next week, we’ll try charcoal drawing.”
“How often are the classes?”
“Every Monday and Wednesday.”
“And what do the kids call you?”
She perused my lounged position, her eyes trailing down to my legs and back up to my face as if studying a new species of animal. “Why are you so interested?”
Why was I interested? I doubted she’d sit here while I enumerated them.
“I don’t know. I thought maybe big kids might be able to come to this class too.”
“Big kids like twelve-year-olds, or big kids like you?” She stood up, her denim shorts revealing so much of her legs. Right there. A few inches from my eyes. Instead of wrapping my hand around her calf and burying my face against her skin, I stood up too.
“Big kids like me.”
