Page 43 of Quarantine Crush
“Oh. Em. Gee! She did,” Hadley cheers. “The bitch finally made her move.”
I shake my head. “We did not have sex,” I hiss. My friends’ faces fall, but Nina smirks.
“You may not have had an assault with a friendly weapon, but you at least did some heavy petting, so spill,” she says.
“I don’t know what happened,” I finally admit. “One minute, I’m crying, and he’s comforting me; and the next, he’s pissing me off. Then, I started bludgeoning him with my pillow and screaming all this shit at him, and then the next thing I know, we’re falling, and he’s just likefuck itand kisses me.”
Hadley squeals, doing an excited shimmy.
“So what did you do about it?” she asks.
I grin. “I rocked his damn world!”
“Damn right you did! That’s my girl,” she crows.
“So why aren’t you in there, playing catch the banana?” Nina asks.
I wrinkle my nose at her weird sex euphemisms. “First, gross, you weirdo. And second, his dad called right in the middle of it. So now I’m sitting in my bathtub with the worst case of sad vagina known to man. What the hell am I supposed to do now?”
Nina shrugs. “You have a BOB. Use it. You can thank him for the inspiration later.”
“No way,” I gasp. “I can’t vibe with him in the next room. What if he hears?”
“First,” she says, throwing my words back at me. “Nobody calls it vibing, you crazy slut. And second, so what? If he hears the telltale buzz, maybe he’ll come in and finish the job. I mean, it’s only right since he’s the whole reason you’re in this position in the first place.”
I groan. “What about tomorrow? What am I supposed to do when I see him in the light of day?”
“That sounds like a problem for future Embry,” Hadley says. “For now, revel in the fact that you finally kissed Knox Jacobs! Not only that, but you totally knocked his socks off, right?”
I bite my lip as I think about the feel of his arousal against me. “I definitely did,” I say with a grin.
“Well, there you go,” she says. “Sometimes, we have to take in the small victories.”
“And as for tomorrow, group Skype?” Taylor suggests. “There’s strength in numbers.”
“Yeah, I doubt I’ll be able to write with all this taking up my headspace,” I say.
“Had, you free?” Nina asks.
“I can make time. I’m working from home now, so my schedule’s flexible,” she says.
Nina’s brows lift. “Would your boss attest to that flexibility?”
Hadley scowls. “He can kiss my hardworking heinie. I do whatever the fuck I want.”
Nina snickers.
“See?” Taylor beams at me. “We’ve got your back, girl. Now get some beauty rest so you can kick tomorrow’s ass.”
13
Knox
After I’m done defending myself against Dad’s interrogation, I flop down onto the couch, using my arm to cover my face. The balcony concert continues without me, so I lie in the dark and listen. When the violinist quits, someone brings out their sound system, and I’m serenaded by the world’s strangest mixtape late into the night. The shouted requests range from Frank Sinatra to Dubstep and everywhere in between. The music finally quits when the curses and threats from neighboring balconies become louder than the music itself. When it’s finally quiet, I lie awake, pulse racing and thoughts jumbled as I replay the scene in Emy’s bedroom.
The kiss, not the tears. Although, those are on my mind too. Who the hell did she buy that guitar for anyway? If I ever find out, I’ll kick his ass for hurting her so badly.
On the phone, Dad was up my ass about the whole Reed thing, but I wasn’t stupid enough to admit anything. And I especially wasn’t stupid enough to tell him about the fact that I’d just made out with the girl I claim is my best friend and nothing more.
