I nudge his hand off my thigh from under the table as the timer runs out. Frustrated, I slide the box that contains the cards over to Wes. He rubs his hands in excitement, ready to get every card right. Now, it’s my turn to distract him.
I might be a brazen woman when it’s just me and Wes alone in our apartment, but in front of my parents, I’m not as much.
I’m glad I decided to take off my boots when I cross my legs and let my toe run up the side of his leg, trying to mess with him. Being the focused sports star he is, my efforts do little to break his concentration, so I know I need to pull out the big guns.
Everyone is staring at him as he attempts to get people to say the correct word. Dad is shouting, Mom is laughing, and Nicole is amused by the action all around us.
When I hike my skirt up, Wes stutters and loses his train of thought as his eyes follow my hand when it travels up my thigh just as he looks down to flip to a new card.
The timer runs out. The girls lose, and yet I’m smiling smugly, victorious in my own right.
After the game is over, with the guys pulling out the victory, we all head off to bed. I try to get Wes alone, but with everyone around and the fact that both Chad and Wes have to sleep on the couch, I’m not able. I hold my phone, wondering if I should text him, but knowing my brother is inches away from him, I can’t risk it.
I hear the two of them playing poker and laughing over ridiculous stories. For a guy who was adamant about not returning to his hometown, he is blending in effortlessly, as he should. This is how it always was and how it should be.
Listening to Wes’s voice and the joy he has, being with his best friend, is the only sound in my head as I fall asleep.
Chapter Eighteen
My mom loves shopping Black Friday sales in the stores, and to my surprise, Nicole talked Chad into going with them. While I enjoy a good sale, I prefer to research for the best prices on the internet. The mall is just a magnet for people to buy things they don’t really want anyway.
Chad grumbles as they load every coupon that came in the paper the past week into a bag and head out in my mom’s car.
Wes and I smile, knowing we’ll have the day to ourselves since my dad has a script to read.
With my dad upstairs, Wes sneaks in a quick kiss in the kitchen. “So, what are we going to do today?”
I step back and cross my arms, mocking him at what he told everyone else he’d be doing today. “I thought you were going to be lazy and veg on the couch, watching football.”
“Only if you’ll be lying with me. Otherwise, let’s go somewhere, just the two of us.”
I smile as I curl back into his arms. “What do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been home in years. Let’s drive around.”
“For someone who hasn’t been back to LA in years, you certainly seem like you are fond of this place.”
“Maybe it’s being at your parents’ house, but I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would. Makes me want to go out and reminisce about the old days.”
“Oh, you mean, the days when you tortured me and made sure I didn’t have a life?”
“Come on.” He pulls me closer, kissing my lips. “We weren’t that bad.”
I laugh in his face. “Yes, actually, you were.”
“Okay, fine. Let me make it up to you today.”
“And how do you expect to do that?”
“I’ll show you my secret places. Places I would go when your brother wasn’t around and I had nowhere left to escape.”
Hearing him talk about this like it was totally normal to not want to be in your own home breaks my heart. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
He lowers his head into my shoulder and kisses my skin. “Doesn’t seem so bad if you’re by my side.”
I hug him tighter. “I’d love to see your special places.”
We get ready, and I peek into my dad’s study to tell him we’re heading to get food, offering to bring him back something, but knowing he won’t want anything with all the leftovers downstairs. He tells us to have fun, and I hide my laugh when I think of the exact fun I wish we could be sneaking off to do.
When we get in his car, Wes pulls away from my parents’ house and heads toward Manhattan Village. He leans over to turn the radio to a smooth listening station, winking my direction when he does.
“Oh, you’re really trying to play this little day up, aren’t you? Are you thinking you’ll get some if you play music I like?” I ask playfully.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” A cheesy grin spreads across his face.
“Everytime You Go Away” by Paul Young plays, and he dramatically sings the lyrics to me while also trying to keep his eyes on the road. I laugh out loud at his antics, especially with how he’s really getting into the act.
After a quick lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, we pop in and out of a few stores in the outdoor shopping complex he wanted to check out. I roll my eyes as he picks out and pays for an expensive pair of sunglasses.
“How do you get your money?” I ask him as we walk toward a yogurt shop. “Does your dad pay your bills or something?”
He opens the door for me to walk through. “I refuse to take a cent from that man. My grandmother signed her savings over to me when I turned eighteen. That’s how I was able to move her to a home close to Berkeley. I used every cent to pay for her care, and what’s leftover is what I’m living off now. Once I graduate, I’ll put a down payment on a home of my own.”
I feel my entire body sigh. “That’s really sweet.”
It’s my turn to order, so I do. I have so many more questions, but I put them on the back burner.
We take our frozen yogurt and sit on a bench outside. Side by side, we watch the people strolling by.
He nudges my leg and gestures to the man walking his poodle. “What’s his story?”
“What?” I ask, confused since I’ve never seen the man before in my life.
“If you had to guess, what do you think his story is?”
I smile, seeing he wants to play a game of sorts. I glance back to the man while I take a bite of my yogurt, thinking before I turn back to Wes. “His name is Reggie, and he’s a chef in the five-star hotel down the street. He walks his dog every day as a way to decompress after having to deal with horrible customers.”
Wes slowly nods, giving his approval of my creativity on the fly.
There’s a woman nearby, who’s shopping at a newsstand a few feet away from the man walking the dog, so I slyly point in her direction. “Her name is Katrina. She’s a maid in the hotel where Reggie works. She’s had a crush on him for well over a year, yet she doesn’t know how to tell him. So, every day, she happens to be on the same route where he walks his dog on the off chance that he’ll notice her.”
Wes looks at me with a soft expression.
I lick my ice cream. “What?”
“How do you suppose she’ll get Reggie’s attention? She’s been passing by him every day, and he hasn’t noticed her yet. What’s her next move?” His tone is calm yet challenging.
“I don’t know. Maybe she should get a bag of doggie treats that smell really good to dogs, so when she passes by, the dog will try to follow her and get the bag.” I sit up straighter, excited about my idea.