“You don’t really want to get cashmere wet.” Grinning, I let her laughter surround me.
She waves a hand. “Sorry, sorry. I guess I wasn’t taught that in my normal little school growing up.”
“Tell me the truth.” I thread my fingers together like I’m making a business deal and rest my lips against my thumbs. “What’s the issue? I don’t need to stick around until your mom comes home. I know she works late. Do you have nosy neighbors? Tell me.”
“You’re the only one who seems to care so much about my life to be nosy,Alexander.” She enunciates my name, her tongue flicking with each syllable as she taunts. One braid slips over her shoulder, and she toys with it. “Haven’t you already made yourself a large enough part of my life?”
Spite doesn’t lace the accusation, and that warms me more than I would expect. “Are we friends yet?” I ask.
“Huh?”
“When I met you and your mom at the Autumn’s Welcome downtown, you said we weren’t friends. Are we friends yet? Or do I need to bring more muffin offerings?”
Her lashes flutter, and her eyes close. “Mmm. Muffins. If I say yes, do those stop? They might just be the only things getting me through this whole ordeal.”
“Does that mean you’d say yes?”
“No.” Her eyes open. “I don’t know what we are. Maybe business partners?”
“That’s dull,” I state.
“I have the contract to prove it.” She reaches for her bag, like she keeps said contract on her person at all times. Instead of pulling it out of a crisp folder, however, she plucks her phone from a side pocket. “It’s time. I gotta catch my bus.”
“Wait.”
She pauses, mid-stand, one braid swinging gold in front of her in the late afternoon sun. Her big blue eyes fix on me, waiting.
I look up, searching.
“What is it?” she prompts.
“I’m trying to think of something Kenneth could say to change your mind.”
Calypso’s cheeks heat, and she rises fully, slinging her backpack on in a single fluid motion. “You’ve got to stop using him against me. It’s rude.”
“I’m rude. This has been established from day one.” I scoff, lifting a hand.
Harrumphing, she starts her trek across the green field toward the bus stop. I shoot up, snatching my satchel to follow. Until she actually boards, I still have a chance. Why I want it so desperately, I can’t say. Maybe it’s just the next step in this little obsession my mind has decided to consume itself with. Maybe once she agrees and every one of her mysteries comes undone, I’ll stop surveying the sway of her hips and braids while she walks like I need to commit the motions to memory.
“Come now, sugar. Don’t walk away from me.”
“See you tomorrow,Alexander.”
I snort, jogging in front of her. “I wonder if I need to quote Kenneth exactly to get a rise out of you.”
Her jaw clenches, and she shoots daggers at me, but the blush crawling up her neck gives me hope.
“I think I have a pretty good handle on his character. And since you’re so obsessed with him…”
She stops short. “I am not.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really. Don’t be weird.”
I tilt my head, elevating my chin just slightly. Loweringmy eyelids enough to look bored with wearisome discourse, I murmur, “Don’t make me beg, Harriet. You know it’s not becoming of a gentleman.”
Calypso sucks in a breath, straightening.
