Trouble from the Start (26 page)
Read Trouble from the Start Online
Authors: Rachel Hawthorne
“Those girls.” I bit on my lower lip. “It's stupid, but it bothers me that they aren't talking to Jeremy. Like maybe they don't think they could be into him.” I shook my head. “See, that is so shallow and stupid. I don't want to be jealous, but I wouldn't mind if girls were jealous of me.” Because if they were, then I'd know that they knew I had a terrific guy. I didn't know why I needed that validation.
“I was,” Avery said quickly. “Jealous of you. Before I had Fletcher. I know that's awful because you're my best friend, but for a long time I wished that Jeremy had wanted to be my boyfriend instead of yours. I mean, the three of us hung out together. What was wrong with me that he didn't choose me?”
“Nothing was wrong with you,” I reassured her. Then I added, “But I didn't know you wanted him for a boyfriend.”
“Now I can see that we wouldn't have been right together, but I would have said yes in a heartbeat if he'd asked me out. He's so nice.”
He was nice. But was he too nice?
The guys returned to the table. Avery dropped that bag of sugar. I snatched it up and placed it back into its holder, noticed a yellow packet mixed in with the blue ones, plucked it out, and inserted it in its proper place. Then I smiled at Jeremyâa little guiltily because we'd been talking about himâas he set a cheeseburger and shake in front of me, and a basket of fries between us.
“Thanks.” He knew exactly how I liked my burger and he didn't mind ordering it medium well, with a slice of cheese on top and a slice on the bottom, pickle, and tomato that wasn't from the ends. Mustard on the bottom of the bun, mayo on the top, and the B. S. special sauce on top of the mayo. My mom always made me order my own burger. She was embarrassed that I couldn't just order a burger by calling out a number or saying
all the way
. But I was particular. What was wrong with that? I knew what I wanted.
Avery and Fletcher had cheeseburgers, too, but they were sharing a basket of onion rings. I carefully unwrapped my burger, peered beneath the top bun to see everything exactly as I liked it, and bit into it.
“So . . .” Avery said as she dipped an onion ring into ketchup. “You know Dot, the owner of the Shrimp Hut?”
The Shrimp Hut was the restaurant on the beach where Avery worked on the weekends. “Yeah,” I said.
“Her mom is having some surgery so she's going to be out of town for a few days next week and she asked me to house-sit, take care of her cat and dogs. The cool thing is, her house is on the beach. It has three bedrooms, and she said I could have company. Interested in joining us?”
Us?
I looked at her, shifted my gaze to Fletcher, back to her. “The two of you?”
Grinning, she nodded.
“Your parents are okay with this?” I asked, stunned. Her dad was a cop who kept a pretty tight rein on things.
“I'm leaving for college in six weeks. They know they need to trust me. I'm officially curfew-less. They want me to let them know when I'll be home, but they know there is nothing I'm going to do right now that I won't do at college.” She shrugged. “They're letting me grow up.”
My mom hadn't given me a curfew in a while but I didn't know if she'd approve if she knew Jeremy was going to be there. I suppose I didn't have to tell her that he'd be there, although I'd felt so guilty about lying to her before that I'd confessed about our botched romantic night. Mom had just laughed and said, “Karma's a bitch.” Now Karma was giving us a second chance with a bedroom on the beach. I couldn't hide my excitement about that as I looked at Jeremy. “What do you think?”
“Up to you.”
He was always such a gentleman. Clearly he didn't want to push me into anything and would let it be my decision. Although I did wish I heard a little more enthusiasm in his voice. “Could be loads of fun. I just don't know if I can swing it with my mom.”
“There's nothing you could do there that you can't do just as easily out by the lake,” Fletcher pointed out.
I grimaced. “I don't exactly tell her we go to the lake. But you're right. I'll talk to her.”
“Great!” Avery said. “We'll have a blast. It'll probably be two or three nights. Dot's still working out the details. I'll let you know when I have them.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Beneath the table, I squeezed Jeremy's hand. We were getting an all-night-alone-in-a-bedroom-together do-over. This time I was determined we would round second base and head to third. I could hardly wait.
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Photo credit Kayla Marie Photography
RACHEL HAWTHORNE
believes in happy endings and adopting older rescue dogs. She also writes as
New York Times
bestselling author Lorraine Heath and as J. A. London with her son, Alex. She lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and is presently spoiling a pooch named Jake.
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