“Not sure. But, if I keep dodging my boyfriend, he’s gonna keep asking questions. I just need to spend a few minutes with him.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got to work on my Lit paper anyway,” Trey said, pulling his text book from his bag.
“I swear we’ll still get your lesson in.” With that, I raced back upstairs to find Rex already sprawled out on my couch watching the TV.
When he saw me standing in the doorway, he patted the spot next to him. “Hey, come sit with me.”
I kicked off my sandals then ripped off my soccer socks and slid onto the sofa next to him. He wrapped his arm around my hips, tugging me closer so I nestled against his chest. The game was in the eighth inning, Tigers up six to three.
“Come on,” he shouted as one of our batters struck out.
We watched several players come and go. My gaze flitted to the clock, wondering how long he’d stay. Not that I wanted to get rid of him, but if I was gonna talk to the Nerd Herd, get my Chemistry and Trig homework done, and eat dinner, I needed him to go pretty soon.
“So did you finish your lab for science?” I asked.
“Shh … just a second, let me watch this at bat.” He slid his arms off me and sat up, leaning closer to the TV.
Er … okay, I just got shushed for a ball game? Seriously? So maybe I shouldn’t complain too much, I mean I acted the same way when I watched soccer. But still. He’d been griping about not spending time with me and now, he ignored me to watch baseball.
I moved away from him and propped my head up on the arm of the couch. Minutes ticked by. Then his cell rang. With a groan, he grabbed it from his short’s pocket.
“Hello? Oh, hey Mom. Yeah. I’m at Del’s. Okay. I’ll be home in a few.” He hung up then turned to face me. “Sorry. Mom wants me home. She has some client who she wants me to meet coming over for dinner. There are times I swear they think I’m like a trophy they can show off.”
“I’m sure that’s not why they want you there. They’re proud of you.” I squeezed his hand. “And it’s fine if you have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” I climbed to my feet and hugged him goodbye.
Once he was out the door, I rushed to the family room. “I’m so sorry guys.”
“I can’t believe you made us wait for King Douche to leave,” C.C. said.
I glowered. “Hey, I’m trying to juggle a lot here.”
“It’s fine,” Trey said. “At least it gave me a chance to get some homework done.”
I smiled at him. Trey always came to my rescue. Even when I pissed him off. “Okay, so why don’t you guys tell me how your first assignment went?”
Kevin propped his foot up on his leg and played with his shoe laces. “On Sunday, Melanie got put on the same shift as me. So I offered to clean tables for her.”
“And?” My eyebrows raised.
“It led to us chatting about how sucky the weekend shifts are.”
“That’s awesome. See. You made it through your first conversation. But next time, don’t be scared to ask her some things about herself.”
Next, I turned to Trey. He grinned. “You guys already know I went up to Portia this morning and chatted with her about the dance show.”
C.C. snorted. “Yeah, and since when did you turn into such a wuss?”
“Since I wanted to land the hot girl.” Trey tossed his pencil at him. “And if I’m so lame, let’s hear how you did with Liza today?”
C.C.’s face grew pink. “I-I knocked her books off her desk … ”
“On purpose?” I asked.
He fidgeted in his seat. “No. I got nervous and the next thing I know, my arms were flailing and there went her books. I ended up apologizing, which I guess means I talked to her. Right?”
The boy needed help in a bad way. “Don’t worry. We’ll work on it. You just need to loosen up around her. Maybe pretend you’re talking to one of us.”
He chuckled. “You mean call her an asshole and slap her on the back?”
“Probably not a good idea.” I sat on the edge of the armchair. “If you need extra help, we can run through some more conversations.”
He shrugged. “Are you available Sunday?”
“Sure. I’ll put it on my calendar. But seriously, you guys are doing great. Just remember relationships take time to establish.”
“Drake’s didn’t,” Kevin said. He brushed his bangs off his forehead.
“He’s a special case.”
“Yeah, you can’t all be studs like me.” Drake walked into the room and plopped down on the couch. He took a swig of bottled water then set the container on the coffee table.
“Douche.” Trey lobbed a pillow at him.
“You know it.” Drake turned on the TV then clicked the power on the game console. The guys’ heads swiveled to face the screen. We watched the familiar dwarf and elf faces pop up, followed by several battle scenes.
“Well, Mr. Stud here still hasn’t beaten level four.” I laughed, gesturing toward the game.
Drake flipped me off. “Yeah, but some of us aren’t as obsessive as others.”
“Whatever, you’re just jealous I’m three levels ahead of you.” I stood to go. “Oh, and I have another assignment for you guys.”
They tore their gazes from the TV and groaned.