Page 59 of An Uphill Battle

Cold air breezesaround my body and my eyes flutter open. Drake and I are in much the same position we were when we fell asleep—curled around one another on the rug in front of the now-dead fire. Blindly, I reach around until my fingers curl around the edge of the blanket draped over the end of the couch. I give it a firm yank and use it to cover Drake and myself before snuggling back into the heat his body provides and drifting back tosleep.

The next time I wake, the sun is high enough that it filters in brightly through the windows, making me squint as I gain mybearings.

“G’morning, sleepyhead,” Drake says from across theroom.

I stretch lazily before tying my hair up into a messy bun. “What time isit?”

He smiles at me, his eyes dancing with humor. “Oneo’clock.”

“What? You let me sleep the entire day away! What thehell?”

“You were pretty zonked out when I woke up. Figured you must’ve needed therest.”

Biting my lip, I answer him. “Guess I did. Did you makecoffee?”

“Does a cow have spots? Yes, I made you coffee, Azalea.” He turns to head for the kitchen, and I follow behind him. He passes me a steaming clay mug filled to the brim withcoffee.

“Thank you. Hey, I have a few more questions—things we didn’t get around to talking about lastnight.”

“Okay,shoot.”

I take a few gulps of my coffee, hoping it’ll bolster my courage. “Kasey. Were y’all... didy’all...?”

Drake tosses his mug into the sink with a loud clatter before rushing over to me. Tunneling his fingers into my hair, he angles my face so that we’re eye-to-eye. “Oh my God, no. No,Azalea.”

“Not even once?” I ask, sounding small and brittle. I hate it. I hate this thread of insecurity rushing throughme.

“Not even once. Not even a kiss. Kasey is like one of the guys to me. Swearit.”

“Then what...” I trail off, hoping he won’t make me ask any more questions abouther.

“Jesus, Azalea. One day, I went out with the guys, and she was our waitress. I was still so mad over everything with you, and then all of a sudden, there youwere.”

“Where? What?” I ask, confusion coloring mytone.

“Walking down the sidewalk with your girls. And you were smiling so big, like we hadn’t just imploded. You were laughing and checking out some group of guys, all but drooling, pointin’ them out to Seraphine andMagnolia.”

“No. No-no-no-no.”

“Yes. I have eyes, and I know what I saw.” I laugh at how sure she is, even though it’s totally not an appropriate time for laughter. “Somethingfunny?”

“No, D. Please listen. I swear on my life, I wasn’t drooling over some guys. I was drooling over their dog.” Drake shoots me an incredulous look. “I mean it. One of the guys had the cutest little pug dog. He was a chunky little thing with black fur and a gnarly little underbite. If you don’t believe me, the girls will back me up. Myla Rose even mentioned that she’s been trying to talk Cash into getting a pup forBrody.”

“Holy shit.” Drake breathes the words more than he speaks them. “You’re forreal?”

“Really real. That dog was so ugly, it wascute.”

“Well, hell.” He sounds so dejected, and it tugs on my heartstrings like noother.

“What does any of this have to do with Kasey,though?”

“Dammit, this was all so avoidable. She flirted with me the whole time we were at the restaurant, and she slipped me her number when we left. I wasn’t gonna call her, but the more I thought about you moving on, the angrier I got. I ended up calling her out of spite, and we quickly realized we had nochemistry.

“I mean, how could we? She isn’t you. After running into you and your parents, she asked about you, and I just broke down and told her all about us, and she came up with the plan to make youjealous.”

“Well, it freaking worked. Too well. Watching y’all together was likedrowning.”

“I’m so sorry we hurt you. She’s a sweet girl. Honestly, even though I doubt you wanna hear this, y’all’d probably be greatfriends.”

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