Page 71 of Clara Knows Best

“He said Idistractedhim. How did Idistractyou?”

He couldn’t bring himself to accuse her of kissing him back; it was too ungentlemanly. “Can I have more of those pain meds yet?”

“Have the whole bottle,” she invited, throwing it at him.

He caught it—no, it bounced off his chest. His reflexes had never been so slow. For that matter, he’d never had trouble opening a child-proof lid before.

“Yoli,” he said at last. “Would you—”

“Why don’t I take those?” Yoli suggested, easing it out of his hand. “You just work on that chocolate shake. Clara? A word in the kitchen.”

“You’re good people, Yoli,” he called after her.

24

“You’re freaking out. You want to tell me why?”

Clara supposed getting grilled by Yoli was good practice for when her parents grilled her later. “I told you why.”

“I’m not buying it. Clara Wilder, worried about what the town will think of her? Not hardly.”

Clara sank into a chair at the kitchen table and buried her head in her arms. Then she took a deep breath and sat up to face the music. “I kind of have a thing for Jesse Flores,” she whispered.

“Believe it or not, I figured that out for myself.”

Clara nodded grimly. “I’ve always had a crush on him, but it’s gotten worse lately. And when he kissed me I just—I kind of let go and just kissed him back as much as I could.”

“Yesss,” Yoli whispered. “That’s my girl!”

Clara looked carefully over her shoulder before continuing. “And he jerked away from me, and he lookedmortified, Yoli. Abject humiliation and regret.”

“You’re projecting,” Yoli whispered. “Youwere mortified.Heprobably just looked surprised.”

“He pushed me so hard I almost fell. Then he and DeWitt started pounding on each other.”

“He pushed you out of the way, you dope,” Yoli whispered gleefully. “He didn’t want you to be railroaded by DeWitt. Did he kiss you back or not?”

“I don’t remember,” Clara admitted doubtfully. “It’s kind of a blur.”

“Well, I heard the story from about thirty people, and I’m telling you, not only did he kiss you back, you have that man to thank for keeping you out of the creek. And another thing, you need to give him time to process this change in dynamic. But he can’t do it right now. He’s out of his head.”

“Change in dynamic? What do you mean?”

“Well, have y’all ever been make-out buddies before?”

“No.”

“Change. In. Dynamic.”

“But he doesn’t want our dynamic to change! I just feel like I’ve ruined everything,” Clara whispered in despair. “What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t thinking, and neither was he,” Yoli whispered back. “That’s what’s so awesome about it. Now, stop being a little baby.”

Clara straightened and took a deep breath. “You’re right. This is nothing I can’t handle. Thanks, Yoli.”

“Glad to help.”

“I just need to think of something good to tell my parents.”

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