Page 25 of Always Been You

Her jaw drops, and she glares daggers at me with her eyes. “I’d rather get poison ivy over my entire body and sprayed by a skunk,” she says.

Josh chokes a little at Hannah’s comment. I turn and look at him, and his eyes are wide. “Sorry Josh,” she mumbles.

He uses a napkin and wipes his mouth. “All good, out of curiosity. What did he do to garnish that reaction from you?” he asks.

She avoids eye contact, stabbing at the eggs on her plate. “Plenty,” is all she says. I lean in toward Josh and whisper, “She won’t tell us what happened, but it’s been like this for a while.”

He nods his head and whispers back, “I’m not sure if Grayson doesn’t know or was playing stupid, but when I asked him at your party, he didn’t seem to know what happened.”

We finish our breakfast with more casual conversation, thankfully the topic of my summer to-do list is dropped. When we are all done, I get up and start clearing the table. Josh moves to stand up to help, and I put a hand on his shoulder and push him back down. Leaning over, I whisper in his ear, “You cooked; I clean, that’s the rule, remember?”

He turns his head and pulls back so he’s looking me in the eye. I could get lost in his gorgeous green eyes. They have an inner ring of almost hazel close to his pupil. He takes a deep breath, and his pupils dilate. He closes his eyes for a second, like he’s gathering himself before he opens them again and looks at me.

“Can I at least make myself another cup of coffee?” he asks in a whisper. I nod. “That is acceptable.”

The girls help me, and we make quick work of putting the dishes in the dishwasher and putting the remaining fruit and condiments into the fridge.

“We should get going,” Hannah says once we finish. Josh is still sitting at the dining table scrolling through his phone, “Thanks for breakfast Josh, it was great.”

Zoey and Eliza say their thank you’s to Josh and we head down the hallway toward my bedroom. Once we are all inside, Zoey closes the door and leans against it.

“Okay babe, if you don’t try to jump that fine piece of man, I think I will. He made you breakfast, and when he saw that your friends were still here with you, he invited them to stay. He engaged in conversation with all of us and offered to help you with your summer checklist, not even knowing what’s on it. Which you should totally take him up on. That man probably has some mad skill in the bedroom.”

“I have to agree with Zoey on this, Liv. You should go after him,” Hannah chimes in.

“Put some feelers out, at least see where he stands on this,” Eliza says.

“I just got out of a relationship. I’m damaged goods,” I say, but I know the girls aren’t going to let this go, so I add, “I’ll think about it.”

We strip the air mattress, and all get changed into our clothes for the day. I throw on a pair of leggings with a deep red tank top and put my hair into a bun high on my head. The girls grab their bags, and we head back into the living room. I walk them to the door, giving them each a hug goodbye.

“Thanks, Josh,” they each yell out as they walk out the door.

“See you later,” he shouts back.

‘Jump him’ Zoey mouths to me before she turns and walks down the hallway with the girls. Closing the front door, I turn around and join Josh, who has relocated to the couch. Instead of sitting on the opposite side of the couch though, I sit next to him with one leg lifted and bent so I can face him and the other hanging off the edge with the ball of my foot planted on the floor and an arm bent on the back of the couch. My index finger runs across the material on theback of the couch as I gather myself. After a few seconds, Josh locks his phone, sets it down beside him, and turns to face me, mirroring my position.

“Thanks for that Josh, for making breakfast and inviting my friends to stay. You didn’t have to,” I say. His fingers start to run up and down my arm that’s on the back of the couch.

“I know, but I wanted to. It was nice to see you with them. You’re always so carefree when you’re with your friends. I like to see you that way.”

He continues to run his fingers slowly over my arm. It is sending sparks of electricity across my skin and it’s making it hard to focus. I close my eyes for a second and take a deep breath. Attempting to gather myself, slowly I release the breath.

“Any plans for today?” I ask.

“Meeting up with Caleb to help him with a few things, you?”

“Nope, thought I’d just relax and read today.”

“Well, have fun. I should get ready and head out.”

The week passes by quickly. Matt, Gi, and I head to my parents’ on the 1stfor their neighbourhood barbecue and gathering for Canada Day, Josh and Em are there too and we watch the fireworks and spend time catching up with people we haven’t seen in a while. The next week, I spend a few days with Gi, catching up, and doing some shopping. I spend a couple of days looking up some new things I might want to incorporate into my classroom next year.

Josh comes home from running some errands on Sunday and meets me in the kitchen, where I am grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge.

“Hey, how are you?” I smile at him.

“Hey, good. You?”

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