Second String (In Too Deep #3) (7 page)

I laughed. "Being persistent is nothing to be ashamed of. Especially when it earns me
things like lip-locks and private dances and what not."

"Oh yeah? And what happens
after
you've earned all those things?" she asked. "On to the next girl?" She was smiling as if she was just teasing, but I sensed there was some true concern lurking in there somewhere. "You know what? It doesn't even matter," she said. "We've both got other people in our lives, I'm sure. Casual is good."

I had absolutely no idea where that last bit of rambling had come from.
We've both got other people in our lives?
What was that supposed to mean? I happened to agree that casual was good, however, so I didn't ask.

Voices in the crowd began to count down from ten. I cupped my hands around the sides of her face and positioned her where only a few inches of space separated our mouths. "I'm going to kiss you now, and it won't be the last time."

"What makes you so sure about that?" she asked. She was trying to act tough, but the way she was clinging to me made it totally obvious that she was mine for the taking… or at least mine for that kiss.

Chapter 9

Emily

"Ethan's alre
ady texting me to make sure we're on the road," Collin said as he adjusted his rearview mirror to look at me. "He's all stressed out about you being back in time for work tonight."

"I told him we were leaving early," I said. I rolled my eyes a little
, pretending to be annoyed, but I was secretly happy that Ethan was checking up on me.

"
I didn't even see him until the party was almost over," Rachel said.

"That's because h
e didn't get there till the end… well, almost," Collin said. "He was out on the water, so it took him a little while to get to shore."

"I still feel bad about Josh telling him," I said. I was lying through my teeth. I was
so
glad Josh told him. I wanted Ethan there so badly; I was just too stubborn to tell him since I thought he had plans with another girl, which I'd obviously been right about. He was extremely quick to leave wherever he was once he heard I'd come to town, and I took some satisfaction in that, despite the whole lipstick thing.

"Well, I for one, am
thankful
Josh told him," Collin said. "Ethan would have killed me for not telling him even though I had no idea he didn't know you were coming." Collin glanced at me in the mirror again. "You can't do that to me next time."

"
I know, it's my fault. He made other plans when I told him I wasn't coming to the party, and I hated to tell him I changed my mind."

"He must like you," Collin said. "I heard he was at a party with some supermodel, and he made them change course to bring him back to his car."

I let out a humorless laugh. "It's probably not that he likes me all that much," I said. "I'm sure it's more about the fact that I'm harder to figure out than most girls he goes out with."

"You mean you're harder to get in the sack than most girls?" Collin asked. Rachel looked at him like she couldn't believe he'd
say such a thing.

I laughed for real at that. I loved Collin's candor. "Yeah, that's probably what it boils down to," I said. "I think I'm the only girl who's ever made him work this hard."

I thought about the way he'd taken my face in his hands and kissed me so gently just as the clock struck twelve. I thought about how it was getting harder and harder to remember why I was making him work so hard in the first place. I also thought about how I
hadn't
thought about Jeremy lately… well, not nearly as much as I used to. I was absentmindedly wondering what Jeremy did for New Year's when my text message alert sounded.

Gretchen: "Happy New Year! Can you fit me in for lunch sometime in the next few days?"

Me: "Sure! And Happy New Year to you too."

Gretchen: "How's tomorrow at Taco Sisters?"

Me: "Sounds tasty. What time? And is everything okay?"

Gretchen: "Noon if that's
good for you, and yes,everything's okay
.
I wanted to talk to you about the center."

Me: "Noon it is. See you then."

Gretchen:
"
"

****

At noon on the dot the following day, I parked in the gravel lot in front of the small taco shack where I was meeting Gretchen. She had already sent me a message to let me know she was almost there, so I sat in my car until she pulled up. She was driving Joel's old hot rod. "That car's so awesome." I said as she stepped out. "You might have to take me for a ride sometime."

She smiled. "Anytime. It's so fun to drive.
I expected Joel to be protective of it, but he doesn't care at all if I take it out."

We walked into the tiny taco joint. There were just a few tables, and if we'd come any later, we wouldn't have had a place to sit. I found a little table for two in the corner, and we grabbed it before anyone else could.

"Let's figure out what we want and I'll go stand in line," Gretchen said. "You can wait here so we don't lose our table.

"C
hicken tacos with extra cilantro," I said, without even looking at the menu.

"And to drink?" she asked.

"Diet coke, but I hate for you to have to take my order. Do you want
me
to go wait in line and
you
stay here?"

"No, I got it," she said. "I'll be right back."

I offered her a twice-folded twenty-dollar bill, but she refused, claiming we were having a business lunch. I laughed and told her we should have chosen something a little fancier. She thought that was hilarious, and promised to make it ultra fancy next time.

She
returned to the table with our lunch. We ate the delicious food, and talked about the art center for about an hour. Gretchen explained the goals and visions she had for the place, and I was completely honest with her about my insecurities. I told her that I'd taken dance for years, and feel confident teaching children, but studying dance in college was still a goal for me, and I wasn't sure I would be taken seriously until I had that level of formal training under my belt. Gretchen explained how she'd quit school to work at Paradise Island, and totally identified with the feelings I was having.

"
I think you and I
can
and
should
work on our degrees," she said. "It's healthy and necessary for us to continue to learn if we intend to be good teachers, but that being said, I know we'll do a great job in the meantime. We're hiring two art teachers, a creative writing teacher, and a business coordinator so I can concentrate on the theater. You'll head up the dance department, so you'll decide how much and what kind of help you need." She could see that I was still a bit reluctant at the thought of
heading up
a program. "You're gonna be great. And a lot of our projects will be collaborations, so we'll be there to support each other."

"
I guess if the kids are getting it for free, it doesn't really matter if I mess up a little," I said. I knew insecurity was unattractive to someone who was trying to hire you to do a job, but I wanted to make sure she remembered I was only nineteen. She assured me she had every bit of confidence that I'd do an outstanding job. I was truly looking forward to the experience, and promised her I'd do my very best.

"Now that we've got all that squared away,"
Gretchen said, "there's something else I wanted to ask you." I looked at her curiously, not able to guess what sort of topic might need an introduction like that. "Joel and I both wanted to ask you if you'd be interested in renting the guest house from us," she continued. "We have so much room in the main house, and neither of us really expect any out-of–town guests anyway." I remembered Rachel mentioning this to me, so it didn't surprise me that this was what she brought up.

"That's really sweet, and the amount we discussed
for my position at the center is more than fair, but I'm still not sure I could swing the rent in your neighborhood," I said. I was smiling, hoping to avoid any awkwardness. I hated talking money with friends, and Gretchen and I had already done a fair amount of it during this conversation.

"We'd only charge you what you're paying now," she said.

"How do you know what I'm paying now?" I asked.

She giggled. " I don't, b
ut whatever it is will be fine. How much longer do you have on your lease?"

"I'm actually subletting it from my friend who broke her leg. She moved back in with her parents so she'd have help during rehab."

"So you're going to have to find another place soon anyway?" she asked. She was looking at me like the universe was telling us that moving into her guesthouse was the only logical choice.

"Yeah, but Gretchen, you could rent that to someone who could pay you what it's worth," I said.

"We don't want to rent it to just anybody," she said. "It's not like we
need
to rent it. We just want you to live back there. Besides, it'd be cool to have Sal around."

I thanked her for the offer, and told her I'd think about it. Sh
e said I should just plan on moving in once my friend needed her apartment back. I honestly couldn't quite believe it. Everything seemed too good to be true, so I had to let it sink in.

"What happens when your friend's leg is all better?" Gretchen asked. "Does she just get her spot back on the team?"

"Nobody gets their spot back," I said. "She's out for the rest of the season, but next summer, she'll have to re-audition along with the rest of us. No one's guaranteed a spot from one year to the next."

"Seriously?" she said, surprised. Then I could see her expression change as she reconsidered. "I guess that makes sense, that's just crazy to have to do that every year. Do you think
you'll try out again?"

"I do… I'd love to do it
for at least one or two more years, if they'll have me. I'm having fun, and I love all the girls." Then I added, "I don't think I'll have any problems scheduling the art center stuff around my Laker schedule."

Gretchen assured me we could make it work, and even said she felt confident I could add
some college classes to the mix. I knew it may take a while for my life and financial situation to be settled enough to apply for school, but I was happy she seemed to want that for me.

We
ended up having to take the conversation outside so we wouldn't tie up the table any longer. We sat on a concrete half-wall that separated Taco Sister's parking lot from the neighbors and spoke for another hour. I'll never know how she did it, but by the end of the conversation, she'd somehow made me agree to move into the guesthouse as soon as my friend wanted to move back into her place.

I was so thankful for all the lucky breaks I'd been catching
lately. A few months ago, a rich guy paid me and a few of the other girls in my Vegas show five hundred dollars to walk around a penthouse party and mingle with his guests. At the party, I met a tall, handsome swimmer named Ethan, which led to friendships that changed my life. (Okay, maybe saying they
changed my life
is a little dramatic, but they certainly changed my living situation.)

Once I
made it back to my apartment and had time for everything Gretchen and I had talked about to sink in, I called Ethan to fill him in. It had only been a couple of days since I saw him at the New Year's party, and I was a little nervous about seeming too eager. He didn't pick up the phone. I told myself he was probably still at the pool since it was the middle of the day. I almost hung up, but decided at the last second to leave him a voicemail.

"Hey, it's Emily.
Emily Roth. I was just calling to see what you were up to. You don't need to call me back or anything, I just wanted to let you know I'd be moving since Gretchen offered to let me rent her guesthouse. I could never afford a place like that under normal circumstances, but she and Joel happen to be incredibly sweet. I haven't seen it, but I heard about it, and I'm pretty sure it's freaking awesome. Anyway, I'm rambling. Sorry. You don’t need to call me back or anything. Oh, geez, I think I already said that. Hope practice went well today. Talk to you soon… or sometime, whenever. Okay. Bye."

I stayed on the line after the dreaded beep finally happened.
Unfortunately, his voicemail didn't give me the option to delete my message. I cringed as I hung up, knowing I'd just recorded what could be the longest, dorkiest voicemail of all time. I was tempted to call back and record another, apologizing for the first, but I knew doing that would just make matters worse.

Two hours later, my phone rang. It was Ethan. I'd been hoping he'd text me instead of calling, so I could avoid any more nervous ramblings.

Me: "Hello?"

Ethan
: "Nice message."

I could tell, even over the phone
that he was smiling.

Me: "Ha-ha, very funny. Don't be mean. I was just excited about my new place."

Ethan: "You know I'm just playin with you. That sounds really cool."

Me: "We talked abo
ut my job at the art center too. Gretchen made me feel a lot better about college and everything. She said she thought I wouldn't have a problem fitting school into my schedule whenever I'm ready to do that."

Ethan: "See? I told you th
ere was nothing to worry about. When are you moving in?"

Me: "I'm still waiting
to hear back from Christie, but it'll be sometime within the next few weeks, I'm sure."

Ethan: "What are you doing now?"

Me: "Like right this second?"

Ethan: "Yeah."

Me: "If you want to know the truth, I'm just sitting here being bored. I took Sal to a dog park, and now I'm on my couch thinking about what to eat for dinner."

Ethan (laughing): "No game tonight?"

Me: "No. I'm off till the fourth. I'm used to the gaps in between Laker games, but I don't know what to do with myself since the dance studio is closed for a couple of weeks in between semesters."