“Well, I just had a high-protein snack.” I smirked at him. “But yeah, I could eat.”
“Come on. Let’s find some food.”
“I brought sandwiches. I think I dropped them in the living room when you tabled me.”
“You mean, when you snuck up on me and sucker-kissed me.”
“Yeah, that.” I led the way down the stairs.
We were sitting around the remnants of our lunch, talking about stupid stuff like whether cats were smarter than dogs, when we heard the door open as Jos came in. There were a couple of thumps, probably shoes and backpack, and then he wandered into the kitchen.
“Hey, got any food?”
I tossed him an extra bag of chips from our lunch. I’d bought several, but they weren’t really in my nutrition plan. “Have these.”
He ripped open the bag. “Thanks. You’re back.”
“I’m back with something fun. Remember how today is the opener forSpinning the World? Well, I got tickets.”
Jos choked on a mouthful of chips. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. Interested?”
“Yeah! The guys’ll be jealous. Hey, can I bring a friend?”
“Sorry, I only have three tickets.”
“Three?” He looked back and forth between us. “You guys are coming with me?”
Zeke’s lips twitched. “More like you’re coming with us.”
“Uh, like, can I have my own ticket. In case anyone’s there?”
“You too cool to be seen with us?”
Jos shrugged a shoulder. “No one says cool anymore.”
“You still want to come, though?”
“Bet. But can I hold my ticket?”
I said, “Sure, I suppose. Are you going to walk ten feet in front of us and pretend we don’t exist?” When he threw me a look, I said, “Hey, I was raised by my grandfather. I loved him, even at my worst, but he wore sweater-vests and these high-waisted pants from the eighties. Between age eleven and fourteen, I thought I’d die if my friends saw me out in public with him.”
“I’m not going todie,” Jos said with heavy sarcasm.
I laughed, pulled out my wallet, and handed him one ticket. I debated saying“Don’t lose it,”just to make him fume. But we had kind of a truce, so I didn’t. “We need to head out in…” I glanced at the microwave. “Holy shit, twenty minutes.” Time had flown by, sitting there with Zeke.
“I’ll clear the table,” Zeke said. “You two go get ready. Callum, you’ll want to fix your hair.”
I grinned at him and beat Jos up the stairs to the bathroom.
The movie went great. Decent acting, excellent special effects, way-too-pricey popcorn that Zeke sprang for, and Jos liked the story enough to actually hang back with us afterwards and talk about the plot as we left the theatre. Zeke’s truck had gotten parked in tight, but he had me and Jos watch his bumpers, and he rocked it out of the cramped spot way more efficiently than I could’ve. I was starting to think I had a competence kink, because that got me hot. Or maybe just a Zeke kink.
When we got home, Jos muttered something that might’ve been thanks, and bounded up the stairs to his room. Before I could ask Zeke what he wanted to do now, my phone rang.
Unknown number.I let it go to voicemail.
Then it rang again. Same number. And then a third time.What if it’s a hospital? What if something happened toGrandpa?He was supposed to be at the store, but if he’d worked a solo shift, there might not be anyone who knew to call me.
