After we’ve ordered our food, my phone buzzes on the table while the girls are talking. I pick it up and almost drop the phone when I see the name. Jami.
Jami – It’s the first day of my new year’s resolution…
Curiosity gets the better of me and I quickly tap out my reply.
Me – New year’s resolution?
Jami – Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten so soon…
Me - …
Jami – To make you fall madly, hopelessly, in love with me...
I smile down at my phone. He’s absolutely bonkers.
Me – Are you still drunk?
Jami – I’m serious as a heart attack, Beatle. I’ll pick you up at eight.
I check the time. That’s in a little over four hours.
Me – To do what exactly?
Jami – That’s for me to know and you to find out.
Me – I don’t believe I said yes to doing anything with you today.
Jami – You don’t have a choice. Not anymore.
I shake my head at the little screen but don’t answer. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about us hanging out together alone. We’ve only done it that one other time. I suppose that, as long as it’s just as friends, it will be okay.
I must have been off in my own world for a little too long because Hannah speaks from beside me. “Earth to Lennon. Who are you texting?”
My stupid body gives me away again and I blush, shoving my phone into the pocket of my sweater. “No one,” I lie.
“No one my ass. You can’t lie for shit Len.” Beth challenges from across the table.
Both the Rhodes sisters are staring at me expectantly, and when I look to Peyton, I find that she’s watching me with a matching curiosity in her grey eyes.
“Bunch of nosy shits, the lot of you,” I say before finally spilling the beans. It’s not easy to talk about this with them, but honestly, the night seems like so much of a dream that it’s like I’m telling them about something that’s not real. And it can’t be real. Not with Jami.
By the time I’m done, Beth is clapping her hands together in her seat and Peyton is beaming at me from across the table. Hannah is the only one whose smile is more knowing, more cautious. Beth’s attention is quickly caught by something else, and she begins nattering on about it to Peyton.
I feel Hannah’s hand on my elbow and she smiles softly. “I know how big this is for you.”
“It’s not a big deal, Han. We are just going to be friends. That’s all,” I say, ignoring the pain in my heart when I think of us being just friends.
“I’m not sure who that line is supposed to convince, Lennon.” She grins knowingly at me before giving my elbow a squeeze. “He usually gets what he wants, Len, and I’d be willing to bet a million dollars that what he wants is you.”
We spend the next hour or so going over the night and laughing. Being that it’s New Year’s Day and almost everything is closed, none of us have anything to do. Even the salon has closed down until the fourth. It doesn’t escape me that, every time someone mentions Jay, Peyton blushes or smiles. Roomie just might be sporting a crush for our hilarious, handsome friend. We pay and say our goodbyes to Hannah before the three of us get back in my SUV.
Once we get home, I climb into the shower, trying not to focus on the fact that Jami and I are…hanging out. Wow! That sounds lame even in my head. I blow out and flat-iron my long hair, deciding to pass on makeup. If I want to make a point that we were just friends, going without a face seems like a small start. Besides, I don’t really wear makeup all the time unless it’s to go to work.
After I slip into a pair of jeans, brown boots, and a long-sleeved T-shirt, I snag a coat out of the hallway closet and go out to wait for him in the kitchen.
It’s five minutes to eight and I start to fidget. My knee is bouncing and I’m biting at my fingernails. Is it too late to bail? God I hope it’s not too late to bail. This was a terrible idea. I reach into my jacket pocket for my phone just as a tap sounds from the front door. Shit.
I grab my coat from beside me and stand to open the door. When I do, the sight of him almost knocks me on my ass. I was with him less than twenty-four hours ago, but it almost feels like it’s been too long. You’re not supposed to think that about your ‘friends,’ the voice inside my head scolds me.
Jami is leaning against the doorway, smirking. “Hey, you.”
“Hey yourself,” I say back, standing there awkwardly at the door.
“I was half expecting you’d bolt.” He grins, crossing his arms over his chest.
He’s handsome as all hell tonight, wearing fitted blue jeans, some kind of hiking or work boots, an army-green Under Armour sweater, and a black snow jacket.