Page 67 of Better Than the Movies
“Here.” He handed me the cigar and lit the other one. I took it and leaned back in my chair, casually stretching out my legs and looking up at the stars. It felt important to lean into the cigar attitude.
I took a drag. The cherry was nice, and the thing wasn’t quite as nasty as a cigarette, but it still tasted like butt.
Wes was watching me with a half grin on his face, which made me say, as smoke poured out of my mouth, “It sure feels good to be back in flavor country.”
He started cackling.
I added, “Love me a good stogie.”
That sent him over. It was impossible not to join him as helaughed with his head all the way back. When he finally stopped, he took a puff and said, “You can put it out, Buxbaum.”
“Oh, thank God.” I put out the cigar, carefully stubbing it out against the edge of the firepit. “That was a super relaxing ten seconds, though. Really helped me wind down.”
“Uh-huh.”
“By the way, I heard that Alex Benedetti has a crush on you.” I’d overheard that in chemistry, and my initial response had been that they could be a good match. They were both attractive athletes. So surely they were meant to be, right?
I pictured Alex hanging out here with Wes instead of me, and I didn’t like it. I’d started looking forward to our weird camaraderie, and even though I was struggling to accept it, I kind of thought he was a nice person.
He puffed on his cigar, his face unchanged. “I heard that too.”
And…?“She’s cute.”
He dipped his head. “Yeah, I suppose. She’s just not really my type.”
“What? Why not?” Alex was a stunning cheerleader with a thousand friends, the kind of girl I assumed guys like him tended to drool over. In addition to that, she was genuinely nice and really smart. Like, I-heard-she-wanted-to-be-a-dentist level of smart.
“I don’t know. Alex is great but…” He looked at me and shrugged like that explained everything.
I grabbed the hair tie from my wrist and pulled back my hair. I felt like I owed Wes since he’d spent so much time helping me withMichael. Yes, there was still a shot of him winning The Spot, but something about the night air in the Secret Area made me want to do something nice for him. “I know chemistry plays a big part in attraction, but she is gorgeous. I can’t believe you aren’t jumping at that chance.”
“Sheisgorgeous.” He flicked ash off the end of his cigar and gave me the kind of eye contact that forced you to listen. “But, like, what does that mean, really? Unless my goal is just to sit and stare at her like someone would stare at an ocean or a mountain range, pretty is just a visual.”
I widened my eyes and covered my mouth with both hands. “Oh, dear Lord, tell me more, Wesley.”
“Shut it.” He flipped me off with his free hand and said, “I’m just saying that I like a girl who can make me laugh, that’s all. Someone I have fun with no matter what we’re doing.”
I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. Tilted my head, furrowed my eyebrows, and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re different than I always thought you were.”
His eyes were twinkly-warm as he said, “You’re shocked I grew out of the gnome-decapitation phase, aren’t you?”
“Kind of.” I giggled and shook my head. “But I also thought that you would jump at the chance to, um, to ‘hit it.’?”
That made him smirk and look at me with one of his dark eyebrows raised. “That is disgusting, Buxbaum.”
“Right?”
“Is that the first time you’ve ever said those words?”
I just laughed and nodded, which made him big laugh.
We sat out there after that, just talking about nothing, until he finished his Swisher.
“Are you going to have another one?” I asked.
He tossed the butt into the fire and stood, grabbing a big stick and messing with the wood. “Why—you want one?”
“God, no.” I lifted my hair to my nose and said, “Those things make my hair smell like a dumpster.”
