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I felt a smile creep onto my face. “Give yourself closure. I like that.”
“See? I’m not so bad to talk to after all.”
I looked down at my lap, sheepishly. “I should have never judged you as harshly as I did.”
He shrugged. “It happens. Just promise that you’ll get to know me. The real me. Not the version you conjure up in that head of yours.”
I held out my pinky. “I promise.”
Chase smiled his wide grin, and locked his pinky with mine.
5
Big Nose Kates
“Gimme a sec!” I shouted over the incessant banging coming from the other side of the door.
“Come on, Merritt! Just let me see!” Shelly whined.
Glancing at the time on my watch, I continued to fuss with my chest in the black tank top I had chosen to wear.
“This sling is way too tight,” I said as I swung open the door. “Can you adjust it for me?”
Shelly’s eyes lit up, staring directly at my overly pushed up C cups. “Holy boobs! You look hot!”
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the mirror. “They only look this big because they’re being squished together by this stupid thing. Loosen the back a little?”
“I think you should leave it exactly the way it is.”
“I really don’t feel like pulling an Elizabeth Swan in the middle of the bar tonight.”
“Why not? I bet Chase would cut you out of it.” Shelly wiggled her eyebrows.
I shot her a look.
“Fine! You never let me have any fun.” She loosened the strap much less than I wanted, and I knew that was all I was getting out of her.
“Chase is more Will Turner than Jack Sparrow, by the way.”
The doorbell, followed by Shelly’s high-pitched squeal, signaled that Brody and Chase had arrived. I had a knot in my stomach all day, and it only twisted tighter as I got ready to leave. Shelly would never let me out of going tonight. I took a deep breath as I surveyed myself in the mirror one last time before shutting the light.
“Doesn’t she look hot?” Shelly asked as we entered the living room.
“Stop.” I jabbed her in her ribs while I watched Chase’s eyes survey my exposed legs in the short denim shorts I had chosen to wear. The humidity during summers in New York caused my hair to expand five inches all the way around my head, so I had to draw the attention elsewhere.
Brody laughed as he gave me a hug. “Merritt, I miss your face! I was happy to hear you would be coming with us tonight.”
I had known Brody since he moved next door to me in third grade. He and Shelly liked each other much more than friends from the instant I introduced them. He was the Cory to her Topanga, and I couldn’t have picked a more perfect match for my best friend. He balanced out her fiery personality with his levelheadedness, and he was fiercely loyal. Everyone who knew him loved him, and he was the only student to successfully befriend people from each social circle at Tottenville High School.
“You don’t come around anymore.” I made an obvious glare at Shelly.
He smiled and hung his arm around Shelly’s shoulder. The scrawny dark-haired boy with freckles and missing teeth had turned into a tall and toned man with piercing blue eyes. “We didn’t want to be a bother to you. You needed your rest. How about I make you ladies breakfast in the morning?”
“Your pancakes should make up for the empty space you left in my heart.”
“She doesn’t smile at me like that when I bring her pancakes.” Chase nudged Brody with his elbow.
Brody laughed. “Breakfast foods are the way to Miss Adams’ heart.”
