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Carmen paused before looking away, her forehead wrinkling. “That’s good, because I can tell she likes you.”
The wistfulness in her voice had me rethinking everything. Wait, was she jealous? I’d been trying so hard to please her friends. To get them to like me. It hadn’t even occurred to me that Carmen’s anxiety was anything other than embarrassment over Kimber’s brash way of speaking. In all my eagerness to smooth things over, I’d been basically flirting right back. Knowing it made Carmen jealous was… awesome, but I couldn’t focus on that right now, and I certainly wouldn’t knowingly do it again.
I gave a light tug on her coat until she had to look up at me. The wind had picked up, and I tucked a flyaway strand of her dark hair back into place. “Let me rephrase. I like Ally and Kimber because they’re your friends. And I like their teasing, except for the part where they think you’re okay with them flirting with me. When we go back there, you need to call dibs on me.”
Carmen immediately balked. “I can’t call dibs. Why would I do that? It’s unfair. And unnecessary.”
“Says you.”
“Says everyone.” She rubbed her neck and turned to look at a group of teenagers throwing food at each other. “Actually, I’m fine. I don’t even know why I walked off.”
But she wasn’t fine, so I waited until she looked at me again, which she was clearly reluctant to do. She was red all over and blinking hard.
“Carmen.”
She shook her head and looked away, hugging her middle. “Okay, here’s the truth. I don’t want to lose you again. You’ve become very important to me in a ridiculously short amount of time, and it’s scaring me.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Then how do we do this?” Carmen whispered.
“We don’t lose each other. And you call dibs.”
“No dibs. I promise I’d be okay if you were actually interested in Kimber.”
I tamped down my frustration. Whatever attraction she held for me didn’t matter. Because for whatever reason, she didn’t want to give into it, and I certainly wouldn’t try to tempt her into thinking otherwise. Nope. Captain Friend. That was me.
“Well, thanks for your permission. But the reality is, I’m not going to date any of your friends whether you’re okay with it or not. Not Kimber. Not Ally. Not your coworkers. Not your strange neighbor with the pink hair. Not the ladies in your felting group. None of them. I have no interest. In them.”
Carmen sighed, and I couldn’t tell if it was out of relief or frustration. Maybe it was both. I didn’t miss the smile that ghosted over her lips before she hid it. “You can’t talk like that, Isaac.”
I leaned in, cupping her elbows with my hands. I certainly would. I’d tease her until the end of time. I just wouldn’t take her in my arms and kiss her senseless. Even though I thought about it every moment, including right then, taking in her rosy cheeks and her slightly pouty mouth and her brown eyes that watched me so carefully. “Carmen, you’re going to call provisional, I’m-confused-and-this-doesn’t-make-sense dibs. It’s not selfish. It’s information they need. Are they your friends or not?”
“They’re my friends.” Her hands squeezed my forearms before she released me and pulled away. “And you’re right, they deserve better.”
“Okay then. I’ll wait here and look busy for a few minutes while you explain.”
“Gee, thanks.” Carmen looked flustered and overwhelmed, but also relieved. She liked having a plan in place. I added it to the mental list.
She seemed to gather herself, and then she marched away from me, muttering to herself, but in the direction of Ally and Kimber waiting for us at the picnic bench.
Chapter 19 - Carmen
“You’ve liked him all this time?” Ally gaped at me.
I rubbed my eyes. “No. We were just friends as kids. And we’re still just friends.”
“Except he’s way hotter now.” Kimber grinned. “Hence the dibs.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” I muttered. “I’m just a little bit more territorial than I thought I’d be over our friendship.” I was ninety-nine percent sure Kimber and Ally were exchanging looks over my head, but I was doing really well with my mix of denial and honesty. It allowed my mind to not explode. Confusing emotional reactions were not allowed to drive the bus.Idrove the bus. And the bus was a mature friendship with rules and boundaries and mutual respect.
“Holy crap, he’s coming back. Everyone act natural.” Kimber shook her hands out and then pressed them flat against the picnic table before changing course and tucking them into her armpits. Ally just laughed at the panicked look on my face. Yep, we were doomed.
“It’s no use. There’s no way to make this natural, ladies. He already knows I’m a jealous idiot.” I snuck a glance at Isaac for myself, dying inside at his knowing smile.
“At least you weren’t the one practically licking his face.” Kimber sighed. “Again, I’m sorry about that. He was insulting my cake’s honor and I needed to defend it. And, okay, I was being a little bit flirty. He has a really nice mouth. I wanted to touch it.”
She was not wrong there. I leaned over and gave her a side hug. “I’m sorry, too. From now on, I will be upfront and perfectly honest about any guy I bring along with me. I won’t skate around the how-do-I-feel-about-kissing-him question. It’s a good measuring stick.”
