AllFreeNovel
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“I know, but…”
“But what, Mom?” I huff out a frustrated breath. I know my parents are going to do everything in their power to push us back into the friendship we lost years ago.
“He might’ve asked for your number and I sorta gave it to him.” The guilt in her voice is overwhelming.
“Excuse me? Are you kidding me? You just gave out my number without asking me first?”
“Savannah…” My name comes out on a sigh, “It’s not a big deal. Talk to the boy. You’re going to see him when you’re home, you might as well be cordial to each other.”
“But-”
“No. No buts. You’re both adults, start acting like it. I really need to go before your father gives the new chef a heart attack. Bye, sweetie.”
“Bye, Mom.”
Shoving my phone back into my purse, I tamp down my irritation. There’s nothing I can do about this. I can't take my number back from Nixon and I can't prevent him from coming home. I’m sure he’s going to be at Thanksgiving. I might as well accept it and move on with my life.
When I glance up at Devon, her laser eyes are trained on me. I know she’s going to ask a million questions and I don’t want to deal with any of them right now.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” I let out a groan, barely resisting the urge to drop my head to the table and bang it a few times.
“Don’t you dare what me, woman. Who haven’t you spoken to in years?” She folds her arms across the table and leans forward like we’re sharing a secret.
“Some guy,” I mumble, feeling my cheeks heat.
“Oh, hell no! What guy? I need details.” She claps her hands together loudly, starting the poor couple next to us. “You’re blushing! You never blush! Who is he?”
“He’s just a guy I used to know.” I wave her off. The last thing I want to do is talk about Nixon and what happened between us.
“Is he hot?” She scoots to the edge of her chair, if she moves any closer, I'm fairly certain she’s going to fall on her ass.
“I don’t know! I haven’t seen him since my sophomore year of high school!”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You haven’t seen him in forever.” She waves me off with an eye roll. “But was he hot the last time you saw him? Exactly how close were the two of you?”
“We were… it’s complicated.”
“That’s what people say when they don’t want to tell you the real story?” She smirks.
“I’m glad you understand that,” I deadpan. “I won't have to make any more excuses on why I'm not telling you about Nixon.”
“Nixon?” She rears back with a frown on her face. “I’ve never heard of a Nixon and we’ve been friends since our freshman year of college. You clearly weren’t that close.”
“He was my best friend for as long as I can remember…” I stare out the window of the little café without really seeing anything.
“You still haven’t answered me! Is he cute? Please tell me he’s model worthy hot.” She places her elbows on the table and clasps her hands like she’s praying.
“I don’t know, ya weirdo. I haven’t seen him in a really long time… He was never lacking in the past though.”
A whistle from my phone alerts me to a new text message. I really need to change these annoying ringers. Just the sound of it going off sends my anxiety into overdrive.
Unknown: Hey, it’s Nixon. How are you?
I stop breathing and my heart skips a dozen beats. I'm completely frozen. All I can do is stare at his name. I didn’t believe he’d actually ask for my number. I figured maybe Mom gave it to him to encourage us to fix our friendship. But if he’s texting me… he actually asked for it. Because if there’s one thing I know about Nixon Russo, it’s you can't make him do something he doesn’t want to do.
“Oh! It’s him, isn’t it? Let me talk to him!” Devon reaches across the table, trying to grab my phone out of my hand. I swat her away as I collect my things and stand. “Ask him to send you a picture! I want to know what he looks like!”
“I have to go. I need to study and I don’t have time to deal with you right now.” I race out of the café before Devon can stop me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she follows me all the way back to my place.
