Page 53 of Pull
“Excuse me?” Hailey growls, partly in amusement, though there looks to be a hint of disbelief on her face.
“Can we please stop…” I whimper, trying to tug my hand out of Ben’s so I can flee, though he just grips tighter.
“Oliver is a ten, Dad,” Hailey’s arms fold over her chest and she pops out her hip in that way she does when she’s trying to win an argument. We’ve all seen it before.
“I’m glad you feel that way, sweetheart,” Ben gives her a condescending smile.
“I can’t believe you’re saying he’s not!” Hailey gasps.
“Hails, your man is very attractive. Okay?” I gripe. “Now, who wants a drink?! Or five. I’m buying!”
“Are you saying you want me to think he’s hot?” Ben’s head cocks.
Hailey freezes, remaining quiet for a moment before she answers. “No…”
“Okay then. Great,” Ben grins. “So we’re all on the same page. Now, how about some food? Oliver, you hungry? We’ve got steak, fish or chicken, of all different varieties. Come on.”
Ben finally lets go of my hand, motioning for Oliver to follow him.
“Um… thank you?” Oliver shoots Hailey a look, visibly glad he survived that little ordeal, though the nerves are clearly still there.
“You like scotch?” Ben asks as they leave.
“I’m really more of a gin man,” Oliver replies warily.
“See? It could never work between us,” Ben turns to give Hailey a wink before taking her new boyfriend off to do God knows what.
Well, we know one thing they won’t be doing… Going to the basement!
“I feel like he’s fallen off the deep end,” Hailey sighs, then looks at me. “I blame you.”
“Me?!” I laugh. Then she laughs.
Then we all laugh, and I say a silent prayer, thanking God for an end to that awkwardness. Because honestly, if human beings could die from embarrassment, I’d be in a body bag right now.
Jess and I decide to go check on Ethan, who’s currently being passed around between Laura, my mom, Rachel, Marie and a few other friends who are going completely gaga over our adorable child. Then we end up making out in a closet for a few minutes because, why the hell not?
Creeping back out to the party, visibly guilty and fixing ourselves up, we come face to face with someone I was entirely unaware Ben invited…
Tate.
“Hey, it’s the new and improved Lockwoods,” he grins, leaning in to kiss our cheeks. “Great party.”
“Did you just get here?” I ask and he nods.
“Yea, just now.”
I laugh. “You wanna go get a drink?”
“Sure,” he shrugs, then looks around and leans in, “But I’d rather go see the shed. If you know what I mean.” He winks.
I give him an odd look, but Jess beats me to the question. “What are you talking about?”
His brow arches. “You know… thefilm setting, if you will.”
Oh no.I immediately realize what he’s referring to and hold my hand up, motioning for him to shut up, but he either can’t understand what I’m trying to say, or he doesn’t care, because he keeps talking.
“I gotta hand it to you, you’ve got balls, Harper. I mean, sure, you don’t know for a fact that anyone you know watches gay porn, but if they secretly do? Your video would pop right up. I mean, it’s slaying Pornhub right now, and trust me, I watch a lot of it. So I would know.”
