Page 35 of I Wanna Text You Up

“Sad? I know. I cry like everyepisode.”

“That is not what I was going to say at all. Wait, that chick…is that LorelaiGilmore?”

I pause the show and stare at him. “You know who Lorelai Gilmoreis?”

He lifts a shoulder. “We had TV and they showed these things called reruns. It was on one of the three stations wegot.”

“Andyouwatchedit?”

“What? She’shot.”

I fall into a fit of laughter. “Total duderesponse.”

“She’s got fire, kind of like you, lots of spunk—I likethat.”

“Like me? You like my spunk?” I can feel my lips twitching at thewords.

He narrows his eyes. “Don’t be a perv, but yes, I like yourspunk.”

“I like your spunk too,Caleb.”

“Zoe! It’s not as funny when you say it. It’s more…real!”

“What? You can be all pervy but Ican’t?”

“I wasn’t being pervy at all. That was you! You sure do like to leave your mind in thegutter.”

“I can’t help it,” I say, tapping my temple. “It’s like a twelve-year-old boy up inhere.”

He shakes his head. “Oh, I can tell. I can fuckingtell.”

I give him a gentle kick. “You like it, andme.”

Caleb glances over at me with a look in eyes that’s something a little more than friendly. “Ido.”

I rest back against the couch, not asking him to clarify what he meant because part of me doesn’t want to know. As silly as it is, I like this flirty thing we have going on. On one hand, it feels strange because he’s Delia’s ex, but on the other hand it doesn’t, because it’s just who I am. It feels natural, and if I’m supposed to be treating him like any other roommate, this is exactly what I’d bedoing.

Right?

“I’ll be leaving early in the morning,” hesays.

“Because it’sSunday?”

“Yep. I’ll be back late tomorrow night…Ihope.”

“Do you want aride?”

“No, I gotit.”

“Do you want to tell me where you’re going?” I try topush.

“Not yet.” His response is stoic, but that word he put there—yet—it implies that maybe one day hecouldtell me where hegoes.

Huh.

“Are we really going to keep watchingthis?”

“Yes, Caleb, we’re really going to keep watchingthis.”

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