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I stare down at it, and he shifts on his feet.
“You could message me now and let me have your number, if you want.”
I nod and fumble with my phone, sending a thumbs up to the number he put in there. I watch as he grabs his phone, an old piece of shit that I’m surprised still works, and smiles down at the screen.
“Got it. Thanks.”
“Yeah, well don’t expect me to message you,” I say as I stick the phone back into my pocket.
“So, no nudes then?” Jimbob says with a teasing smirk, and my cheeks positively flame. It is such an unexpected comment that I just stare at him in surprise.
“You want nudes?” I ask, and Jimbob looks suddenly shy.
“I’m sorry, that was…I think Ryan is rubbing off on me. I shouldn’t have said that.”
He looks embarrassed, and I frown at him. I don’t like that Ryan is doing any sort of rubbing on Jimbob. He needs to steer clear of him, but I just bite my lip and shrug it off.
“It’s fine,” I say, even though the thought of getting Jimbob to send me nudes makes my skin heat up to epic proportions.
“Want to go see if we can get a piece of pie from Mrs. Wednell?” Jimbob asks, almost like he’s trying to get my mind off the nudes he proposed. Not that I’ll ever forget it. I’ll remember it for a long goddamn time, but I just nod and let him lead me toward the booth at the other end of the market.
I try to avoid the smiles and the laughter and the small touches he bestows on me, but I end up leaning into it. Leaning into his goodness.
Like a moth to a flame.
And we all know what happens to that poor fucker when he gets too close.
But still, I lean into it unwillingly and bask in it.
Let me burn.
I’d burn so fucking good.
five
. . .
jimbob
“How wasyour casual stroll through the market with your boyfriend?” Ryan asks when I finally make it back to our stand. He looks a little frazzled but is still hard at work, handing out veggies and milk to the people in line.
Still doesn’t stop him from teasing me. He always makes time for that.
“Fine,” I reply, even though Braxton took off a while ago.
He’d gotten a call from his mom and then seemed to draw into himself, recoil. I wanted him to talk to me, tell me what was up, but he just walked away with a wave of his hand, not even turning around to look at me one last time.
I sure stood there like a lovesick fool and watched him until I couldn’t see him anymore.
Not that I love him or anything, but I am drawn to him. His surly manner, the way that he tries to hide his reluctant smiles.
I want to watch him beam.One day, I think as Ryan pokes at my chest and waggles his eyebrows.
“Stop standing there thinking about your crush and help me. You left me to go make out, and I had to deal with Ralph the entire time.”
I glance over at my grandpa, who is asleep in a folding chair, and let out a snort of laughter.
“Seems he’s napping.”
