Page 23 of Top Shelf

I shake my head.

Get it together, Calway.

Just as I’m about to put it back down on the end table, it vibrates in my hand.

It’s a text from her.

Are you busy on this Friday night?

I swallow.

Fuck, fuck, fuckety fuck.

Nope,I write back, like a goddamn idiot.How about you?

Nope,she writes.But I need to get away from my mother. Was thinking of going up to Andy’s. Wanna join?

I tap my finger against the side of the phone for a minute.

I just started an episode of River Monsters. Want to come here?I write back.

What’s the harm in that? After all, the last time we were alone on a Friday night, I basically set my own life on fire.

The three little dots appear, then they go away. Then they appear, and I feel my stomach turn.Fuck.I shouldn’t have done that. I should have just said no. I should have said I was too tired. I should have said…

What can I bring?she writes back.

And then, ten minutes later, Sadie Blackwell is pulling into my driveway.

Odie howls like a buffoon as she gets to the door, and I tug on his collar as I open it up.

“Sorry,” I say, “this is Odie.”

She smiles and bends down, scratching his head and immediately becoming his best friend.

“Hi, Odie,” she says, “aren’t you the sweetest boy.”

She stands up and hands me a bottle of whiskey—my favorite—and looks around.

“You didn’t have to do this,” I say, nodding toward the bottle. She shoots me a look.

“You didn’t have to invite me over,” she says.

“Hey,” I say with a shrug, “what kind of fake boyfriend would I be if I didn’t invite my lady to my humble abode?”

She laughs and shakes her head, covering her face with her hands.

“And you didn’t have to dothat,either,” she says. I smile and take one of her hands from her face.

“Hey,” I say, “you can stop feeling guilty for that now. I’m happy to do it.”

Her eyes widen.

“You…you are?” she asks. I clear my throat. This is getting slippery.

“Of course,” I say with a nonchalant shrug, and I lead her into the house. “Anything to keep that douchebag out of your hair.”

Her eyes drop, and she nods.

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