Page 13 of Call My Bluff
“Is Jexie still there?” Noah repeated, slower this time. “You know, Jake and Lexie?”
Comprehension dawned, and Olivia felt her face wrinkle in disgust. “Jexie? Seriously?”
“Yeah, isn’t that what we do these days? We smash people’s names together when they start dating?”
“Ugh, please don’t,” she groaned. “They’re still two separate people.”
“Are you sure about that? The other day, I caught them eating from the same sandwich,” he replied, and Olivia chuckled without meaning to.
“Okay, that is kind of gross,” she conceded. “But honestly, I’m just glad she’s happy.” She pushed off Lexie’s bed and padded down the hall to the kitchen. Then she opened one of the upper cabinets and pulled down a box of popcorn. She turned it upside down and frowned when only one plastic-wrapped bag fell onto the countertop. “So, do you know where they’re going?” she asked.
“Of course I do! You know, being the best friend and all,” he answered.
Olivia rolled her eyes. She could almost hear him preening. She tilted her head and clamped the phone between her ear and shoulder while she used both hands to free her snack from its package. “Uh-huh. So, what’s the big surprise, Mr. Best Friend?”
“Oh, I can’t tell you that,” he said quickly. “I’ve been sworn to secrecy—crossed my heart and everything.”
Olivia huffed as she yanked open the microwave door and stuffed the folded bag inside. Then she shut the door and entered the perfect cook time; no true connoisseur ever used the “popcorn” button. “They’re already gone, genius,” she shot back. “How am I going to ruin the surprise now?”
The line went silent as he apparently thought this over. “Fair point,” he conceded. “In that case, he’s taking her out to the middle of nowhere to watch tonight’s meteor shower from the back of his truck, complete with picnic basket and extra blankets. Totally making every other man on the planet look bad.”
There was a teasing note to his voice, but Olivia got the impression he was secretly impressed by his friend’s ingenuity.Shecertainly was! Lexie was going to be bursting at the seams by the time she got home.
But that wasn’t the detail Olivia chose to dwell on just then. “Wow! You cavedso fast!” she taunted. “I’m gonna have to tell Jake to revoke your security clearance.”
“Wait, wha—”
“Crumpled like a house of cards!” she went on, raising her voice to be heard above the increasingly loud pops of the microwave. “I didn’t even have to beg! Some secret keeper you are.” She grinned, glad he couldn’t see her.
“Wha... Okay, first of all, that wasn’t fair,” he stammered.
Olivia couldn’t help but laugh at the tone of his voice.
“And secondly, I am anexcellentsecret keeper! You have no idea the kinds of gems I’m hiding in this brain of mine. I am avault!” he insisted.
The sounds of exploding corn kernels began to slow, and Olivia pulled open the microwave door once they stopped. She waved her hand in front of the appliance, trying to dissipate some of the steam that burst from the opening. “A vault, huh?”
“Yes. Once something goes in here, it doesnotcome back out!”
“With some obvious exceptions, though, right?” Olivia teased.
“Shut up.”
“Hey! Gentlemen do not tell ladies to shut up,” she pointed out, and Noah made a sarcastic sort of noise.
“Ladies don’t trick gentlemen out of classified information,” he grumbled.
She carried her snack down the hall to her own room, then she sat on the bed and crossed her legs beneath herself. She knew she shouldn’t encourage him like this, but he was just so much fun to mess with.
“Hey, what are the chances you want to come watch this meteor shower with me, since you’re awake anyway?” he asked. “Our backyard is pretty dark; no streetlights or anything. I’ve seen a few already.”
Olivia sorted through her bag of popcorn, searching for a kernel with the perfect butter-to-corn ratio, while she briefly imagined sharing a warm blanket with Noah under the stars. The offer was tempting—more tempting than she wanted to admit... which automatically made it a bad idea.
“Come on, Pix. I don’t bite,” he added after a moment. “Well, not hard, anyway. And not without permission.”
Olivia huffed and pulled a fleece blanket across her lap, as if that would weigh her down. “Give up, Campbell,” she said. “I’m already in my pajamas. I’m not changing again for you.”
“Well, then don’t!” he protested. “Pajamas are always welcome here. Besides, I’ve got a bag of can tabs for you to pick up.”
