I tip my head back, laughing. “That’s not so bad, but I’m definitely getting her to give me the details. That’s for the info, Becca.” I hurry to catch up to Kinsley, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. “Don’t worry, Sunny. I go commando sometimes, too. It’s very refreshing.”
She gasps, her hand covering her mouth before she instinctively pushes me away from her. “I can’t believe she told you! I’m going to kill her.”
Becca finally catches up, but she doesn’t stop to listen to the earful Kinsley has for her. “Text me about the game. I’ll pick you up.”
Aggravated with the both of us, Kinsley stomps off toward my truck. Only she’s going in the wrong direction. “Other way, killer,” I tell her. I make sure I stay a few steps behind her, hoping she cools down by the time I get her all to myself. We have a lot to talk about, and I don’t waste any time on stuff that doesn’t really matter.
Just as she climbs into the passenger seat, I stand next to her, helping her click her seatbelt into place. With my best puppy dog face, I reach for her hand. “Don’t be mad, Sunny.”
She tries hard not to laugh at me, but I can see a crack of a smile forming on her lips. “Will you please get in the car,” she pleads, but even I know she’s not actually mad anymore.
She’s still quiet when I pull out of the parking place. This isn’t how I wanted today to go. “Are we good? Or do I need to tease you some more to get you to talk to me?”
All at once, it comes pouring out of her. “So I forgot to wear my cover up. Big deal!” As animated as she’s ever been, her hands fly into the air as she explains the situation that earned her the title of flash. “I was a cheerleader in middle school for a hot minute. Basically until I met Mandi. Anyway, we wore maroon granny panties over our regular underwear to cover us up. It’s a safeguard so when we did jumps, and our skirts flew up, there wasn’t a show. Only I forgot to put mine on one day, and it just so happened to be the very same day I wore my first thong. I bared my naked ass cheeks to the entire gymnasium. All while they chanted, “flash, over and over again. I even chanted along with them at first because I thought they were talking about one of the guys on the court.”
It’s actually a lot worse than I thought it would be. I can only imagine how mortified she must have been once she realized what was happening. “I’m a little bit sorry I missed it. Does that make me a creep?”
She covers her face with her hands, sliding down in the seat like she’d rather melt into the floor boards than sit next to me. “I’m really glad you weren’t there. It’s bad enough half the student body was.”
I reach over and squeeze the spot on her thigh, right above her knee, that makes her squirm. “You’re feisty when you’re mad, you know.”
“My brother and sister would agree. I should probably apologize for yelling at Becca.”
“It’s actually cute. And I wouldn’t say that about most chicks. Usually, it’s enough to drive me nuts, but not you, Sunny. You make me hot.”
“Ohmigod. You did not just say that.” She sits back up, holding onto the dash she’s laughing so hard. “Wait, you were supposed to turn down Sycamore Street to get to my house.”
I glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She’s going back to my house. We need to talk and there’s something I want to show her. “I thought we could hang at my house.”
“Oh, I don’t know why I assumed we were going to mine,” she says, quietly.
I pull into my driveway, and help her out of the truck. She hops down, hesitantly. “Don’t worry, it’s fine. I want you here.”
Holding her hand, I take her through the front door, even though we never use it, but she’s a guest and should be treated like one. First, her eyes take in the staircase that wraps around the foyer and then they end up on the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling above our heads. It’s always reminded me of something that belongs in a Las Vegas hotel instead of inside a house.
“This is really nice, Rhett.”
“Thanks. My mom’s an interior designer. She redecorates constantly. Sometimes the walls change colors while I’m at school. Once I thought I walked into the neighbor’s house by mistake.”
She follows me into the kitchen where mom has a plate of chocolate chip cookies waiting along with a note. “Want a Coke?”
“Sure.”
I set a can in front of her, and when she picks it up, I notice the slight tremble to her hand. “Why are you nervous, Sunny?” My parents are at the club until the game starts. It’s just us.”
“Sorry, I’ve never done this before. Other than Becca’s house, I don’t really go many places.”
I nod my head toward the living room. “Come on, then, I want to show you something in my room.”
“Your room?” she questions. “Am I allowed up there?”
I chuckle, she’s adorable sometimes. “Yes, you’re allowed in my room.”
She follows me up the rest of the stairs, and I lead her to the last door on the left. “This is me.”
With my hand still on the knob, I wait for her to go in first. She shuffles in and stares at my bed in the center of the room. “That’s where you sleep?”
My bed is round and looks more like a giant bird nest than an actual bed. That’s why it’s not shoved up against one of the walls. “Yup.” The only pictures I bothered to hang on the wall are black and white photographs I took myself. There’s a desk in front of the window with a built in bookshelf next to it and that’s about it. It’s minimalistic to say the least.
She looks over her shoulder after she takes it all in. “This is really cool. Did you design it?”
I kick my shoes off and flop down on my bed. Patting the spot next to me, I invite her to sit down next to me. “My mom likes to decorate. She gave me a catalog to look though for the tenth time in a year, insisting I needed to fix up my boring room. I was happy with the way it was, but if she wanted a challenge, I’d give her one. I thought I was pushing my luck when I picked out some expensive, outrageous shit she would never go for. Turns out, she actually liked it. So, now I have this palace. It’s growing on me, but I’m not sure it would have been my first choice. The bed even spins.”
“I would kill to have that kind of design freedom. I could think of a million things to do to every room in the apartment, especially to Carson’s room. He’s a nice guy, but his tastes are so boring.”
I’m not sure I like the fact that she’s been inside Carson’s room to know what his belongings look like. But I squash that fun fact and concentrate of the two of us. “I bet you’re really good at design. I saw how content you were when I took your picture.”
“I love it,” she says.
It’s really quiet, so I grab the remote lying next to my pillow and press a button. To anyone, the picture on the wall looks like a black and white piece of art. But once the button’s pressed, it changes from art to a flat screen TV. Jeopardy lights up the screen, my favorite game show of all time. If only Turd Ferguson was on today.
“You watch Jeopardy?”
I pretend to be offended. “I’m not just a pretty face, Kinsley.”
This time, we’re both laughing. “Okay, sorry,” she says.
“I’m just messing with you, but how about a friendly wager.”
“What kind of wager?”
I come up with a ridiculous game on the fly, but I get the impression my girl needs an ice breaker—something to help her relax while she’s with me. “For each question I get right, I get to kiss you.”
“And what about the ones I get right? Do I have to kiss you?”
“You don’t have to, but I hope you want to.”
She thinks about it for a second, even tilting her head to the side the slightest bit like she’s trying to figure out if there’s a catch. Eventually, she says, “So either way, we’re kissing.”
“Yeah, unless we both get the question wrong—then we suffer. But it’s Teen Jeopardy week, so we should get some right at least. I mean, I’m pretty smart, but you’ll have to try hard to keep up with me,” I joke, playfully.