Page 7 of Mud, Love, and Chemistry

“Well, it’s probably pretty hard to type one-handed,” Lisa says before licking her ice cream.

I give her an incredulous look. “What do you mean one-hand?” Then realization hits me. “Ew, Lisa. He’s not doing that.”

She shrugs. “Wouldn’t surprise me after that picture you sent.”

My phone dings, pulling my attention away from my lewd friend, and I see a message that makes my stomach flip. “He wants me to call him.”

“Do it!” they all shout in unison.

With a sharp nod, I step outside into the hot July afternoon. A welcome change from the frigid ice cream parlor. I know it’s hot out here, but the ice cream keeps me cool, and honestly, it tastes better without the staleness of the air-conditioning tainting it.

Speaking of... I swirl my now melting ice cream around my tongue.

Tapping my phone screen, I scroll down to Sam’s contact info. My finger hovers over the “call” icon as my breath begins to shake. What am I so nervous about? It’s only a phone call. “Ugh, stop being dumb,” I say to myself and hit the button.

My foot taps the ground wildly as I listen to the ringing. I bite down on my bottom lip, only to immediately remove it and spit dried mud onto the ground.

“Hello?” Sam’s smooth voice comes through the phone.

I stand straight up, my whole body going rigid. “Sam, hey. It’s me, uh, Brynn.” I’m still picking pieces of mud from my tongue between my words.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am. Sorry. I got mud in my mouth right as you answered.” I mentally slap myself for how stupid I sound. I’ve had mud in my mouth all day. Why is it an issue now? Nice one, Brynn.

“Wow. I didn’t know they made mud-flavored ice cream.”

I laugh. “Ew. That would be the worst. Don’t worry, mine is good old butter pecan.”

“Yeah, I saw your picture,” he says, low and full of confidence.

I take a lick to cool myself before I can speak. “So, what’s up? You still at the Mud Down?”

“No, me and Walt are back at the hotel. He’s in the shower, so I thought this would be a good time to call since I’m alone.”

My heart races. Why does he need to be alone to talk to me? What is he going to say? “Oh, cool.” Cool? Cool? That’s all I have to say? I’m such an idiot.

“I, uh, wanted to call and ask...” He takes a breath. A deep one from what I hear through the phone. “I know we just met, and… This is going to sound so dumb, but do you want to hang out tonight?”

My racing heart jumps into my throat, pounding in my esophagus so hard I can’t speak. I try to clear my throat, but it doesn’t work. I’m silent for several seconds.

Sam sighs. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be weird, but I thought maybe you’d like to?”

“Yes!” I all but shout the word, surprising even myself. Thankfully, there’s no one out here except me. “I’d love to.”

“Really?” The delight in his voice is palpable.

“Yeah, really.”

“Awesome. Uh, I don’t know what there is to do in this town, but I thought we could grab something to eat, maybe go for a walk.”

I crinkle my nose. “Well, I kind of wanted to eat pizza with my friends and compare our battle wounds from the Mud Down. It’s tradition.”

“Oh, okay.” Sam’s delight is replaced with savage disappointment.

I chew on my lip, not caring one bit about the mud anymore. “How about we hang out after my friends and I get pizza? That way I’m not ditching them completely.”

“Yeah, of course.” I can hear the smile on his face. “Let me know when you’re done and I’ll come over.”

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