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“Fine. I agree.”
I grabbed myself a bottle of water from the fridge. “Do you want one?” I asked Luke.
“No, I’m good.”
I took a large sip of water and wondered about the last time I spent time with someone I found attractive.
“Do you like it hard?”
I choked on the water and wiped the dribble over my mouth. “What?!”
He stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “Do you like your spaghetti firm or soft?”
“Oh.” I cleaned a few drops of water from the floor with a napkin. “Ah, firm.”
“Me, too.”
I gulped. I had to stop thinking about sex before I said something that would embarrass me. But I couldn’t resist. “The firmer the better,” I croaked. When Luke glanced up with a puzzled look on his face, I spun around and rushed out of the room before he could hear me laugh.
9
Luke
Grace was acting very strange. Well, stranger than usual. She kept biting her lower lip in the kitchen and pulling at the collar of her pale blue shirt. While I would usually take those as signs of sexual interest, in this case, I highly doubted it. Grace Sweeney hated me, and I wasn’t too crazy about her either.
She only cared about work and never bothered to understand those around her. Just like when we were in school—it was all about the work—and never about just having fun and being with the people you supposedly cared about. She chose her work that day and didn’t come to my game and while I knew it sounded petty, I had needed her there.
My phone ringing jerked me from the memory. But the name on the caller ID was someone from my past: Jared Michaels. He was one of my best friends back in high school and owned a tow truck company. I called him yesterday to help me with this tree situation.
“Hey Jared, what’s going on?”
“I spoke to the people up in your county. Looks like they’re gonna wait ‘til mornin’ to clear up the roads. So, I’ll be up there by noon.”
“Sounds good. Don’t forget to bring your biggest haul and a chainsaw. This tree is huge.”
“Looking forward to it, bud. You’re lucky you still have electricity up there, so you can watch TV. Too bad you don’t have company to spend the night with.”
“I do. You’ll see her tomorrow. But it’s not like that.”
“Wait, you do? It’s not like you to miss out on an opportunity,” he laughed and I felt uncomfortable knowing he would be right if it were anyone else but her. I would have thought the same thing.
“I’m here with Grace Sweeney. So, nothing will happen.”
“Wait! What? You’re at the cabin with Meany Sweeney?”
I hadn’t heard the nickname out loud in nearly ten years. When Jared had asked why I wasn’t having lunch with Grace in the cafeteria, I said because she was mean and selfish and I was done with her. I admit, it was a douche thing to say, but I was mad. He called her Meany Sweeney that day and kept up the nickname for the rest of the four years. I don’t know if it ever bothered her though, she never seemed to react to the name.
“Her name is Grace, Jared. We’re not kids anymore.”
He laughed on the other end of the phone. “Come on now, I was just having a little fun. How does she look?”
“What?” For some inexplicable reason, I didn’t want Jared picturing Grace in his dirty mind.
“You know, does she still walk with her nose up in the air or stuck in a book?”
“No, Jared. She doesn’t. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, tomorrow.”
