“And you know I don’t like to stay home alone, but in this case, it’s a necessity. I don’t know how I’ll ever get all of this done.”
She sits on the corner of my bed on my fuzzy brown comforter and pokes her bottom lip out, batting her infamous puppy dog eyes.
“You’re annoying. You know that? Fine. I’ll go. Just let me change.”
She bounces her butt on the bed and claps as I flick on the closet light. “You look fine though. Why are you changing, huh? Are you planning on smooching Wes again?” She makes kissy noises.
“Jeez, Makenna.” I yank my shirt off and throw it at her. “I swear, if I had a kid sister, I’m positive this is what it would be like. I spilled my tea on my shirt at lunch, so I’d like to look remotely clean in public, if that’s okay with you.”
“Uh huh, perfectly okay. But you might want to put on some lip gloss, too, so the public will think your lips are kissable. Just throwing that out there.”
I button my jeans and cram my feet into my favorite Chucks, smirking when I realize I just put on a band t-shirt. “I think my lips are pretty damn kissable right now. Wanna see?”
“Don’t you dare,” she cackles, scooting further onto my bed as I stalk closer. “I don’t know where your lips have been!”
She squeals when I bounce onto the bed, holding her down until I can manage to blow a raspberry on one of her cheeks. “See?” I let her go but still sit on her stomach. “I’m irresistible.”
“Irresistibly disgusting,” she says, wiping her wet cheek.
She doesn’t say a word when I end up going into the bathroom to brush my hair and put on a little makeup, though. I know she’s thinking it, but she stays quiet. She does, however, smirk at me when she sees the nude sheen of gloss on my lips.
“Shut up, Makenna.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Before we can make the long trek to our parking lot, she’s already called Shane to find out where Wes works and get directions. I get into her car, but she stays outside while she’s on the phone. I can imagine she and Shane are having a sickeningly sweet conversation about how much they miss each other and blah, blah, blah. I’m happy for them, but damn it, I just don’t get how they can always get along. It’s too eerily perfect. Me? I like a little more drama. A little fight now and then to keep things interesting. To keep the sex interesting.
To each their own, I suppose.
Speaking of drama, I lean back onto the head rest and think of Wes. Talk about intense. I’ll bet make-up sex with him is mind blowing. Um, no, I’m not going there. What I really meant to say was that I wonder where he works. Yeah, exactly what I meant. Imagining him in his low-slung jeans and tight black t-shirt, I can see him working as a bartender or maybe even a waiter in a kitschy kind of cafe. I’m sure the man could make an obscene amount of tips.
Makenna finally joins me, sinking into her seat with an intense red flush on her cheeks.
“Please tell me you didn’t just have phone sex with your boyfriend?”
“I didn’t!” She slaps at me after turning the key in the ignition.
“What’s with the blush, Makenna Madison?”
“Shane loves me,” she sighs. “He wanted to tell me in person, but he couldn’t wait until the weekend. He’s never told me that before.”
See? Sickening. “Uh, it’s about time he says it. It’s only been a year since you met him. But any fool could see it. Did you tell him back?”
“Yes.” She fans herself. “He told me from the beginning that he only wanted to say those words to the woman he knew he’d be with the rest of his life. You know what that means, right? In a roundabout way, he’s telling me he wants to marry me. God, I’m going to cry.”
“If you do, I’m going to throw up.”
She punches my arm. “You don’t have a romantic bone in your body, do you? But that’s okay . . . when the right person comes along, I’m sure you’ll be grossing me out.”
“Doubtful, but that’s enough of that. Where are we headed?”
“Can’t remember the name of the place now,” she says, shrugging. “But I have an address.”
It takes us nearly thirty minutes to get across town in all the traffic, something that’s always a problem here, but it thins a little once we make it to the other side of downtown. I never tire of looking at the worn, old buildings, imagining what the city looked like when they were first built so many years ago. Now, though, they may not be beautiful in any sense of the word, but they lend so much character and simplicity to an otherwise obtrusive, bustling city.