“Sure.” Amy popped more toast in the toaster.
“Me too,” Bella added.
“Already on it,” Amy said with a smile.
Leanna thought about kissing Kurt, and she sighed. “All I can say is that the second our lips met, it was like…like, you know that feeling when you’re going up on a roller coaster? Not down when your stomach falls, but that ride up when everything in the world seems possible, when the wind is at your face and you feel like you could just close your eyes and be carried right up to the clouds?” She sighed again. “Kissing Kurt was like that, only about a million times better.”
Bella shook her head. “Whoa.”
“Imagine how good the sex will be,” Jenna added.
“I want a kiss like that.” Amy set a plate in front of the others with toast and jam on it.
“That’s not all.” Leanna covered her face. “I can’t even believe I’m telling you all of this two seconds after he left.”
Bella kicked Jenna under the table. “Told you. Booty call.”
“No, no. Not like that. When he wrapped me in his arms, it was like everything else fell away.”
“Wait. What?” Amy took a bite of toast and tossed one to Pepper, who ate it quickly and then whined for more. “Fell away?”
“The chaos in my head. You know how my mind goes a mile a minute? Well, for those few minutes it calmed.”
“He really is magical.” Bella took a bite of the toast and jam. “This is amazing. It really is like a summer drink, but better. It reminds me of that night last summer when we had the bonfire on the beach. Why didn’t you give me a jar of this?”
“I was afraid you guys wouldn’t like it.”
Bella pointed at her. “There are two things I like to make up my own mind about. Food and men. Don’t tell me what I want to eat or who I want to sleep with. Got it?”
“I know that about men.” Leanna smiled. “You’re definitely a taste tester.”
Bella ripped off a piece of toast and threw it at her. Pepper caught it midair.
“So, no bing, bang, boom? Why did he leave?” Jenna asked.
“He has to write. He’s so focused. I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone more focused than him.”
“I’m focused,” Jenna said.
They all laughed.
“Really? What’s on your agenda today?” Leanna asked.
Jenna tucked her hair behind her ear and looked up at the ceiling.
“Right.” Leanna rolled her eyes. “You’re organized and efficient, very obsessive, but over the summer, you’re focused on finding rocks and drinking and men, like the rest of us. I think he’s always focused on writing.”
“Always, like too much?” Jenna bit into her toast.
“I don’t know that it’s too much, because I’m not really an expert on focusing, but I can see it in his eyes. When he’s not writing, I can tell he’s thinking about it.” She ran her eyes over her friends’ concerned faces. “And we’re going out tonight.” She watched the concern lift, replaced with delighted smiles.
“Finally. Hope for some action,” Bella cheered.
“But what if he has that look all night? I could tell today. We were making out and he looked at me, and in that split second I knew he was thinking that he had to go write. It was like from his brain to mine, I knew it.”
Amy put her arm around Leanna. “Honey, I think you had your signals crossed. He was probably wondering how he could get you into your bed and out of those sexy little panties.”
Leanna shook her head. “You could be right, I guess, but I don’t think so. When I said he had to write, he agreed. Heaven knows I never get my signals right.” She shrugged. “Other than with you guys, I’m never in sync with anyone.”
“I say just follow your gut. I mean, you’ll know pretty quickly if he’d rather be writing. In fact, you’ll know if he would rather be doing anything else, and then you can decide what to do.” Bella took another piece of toast from the plate. “You look so worried, and there’s nothing to worry about.”
Leanna sank down to the floor, and Pepper rested his head on her thigh. “Yes, there is. I’m totally awkward when things heat up with guys. I can never get my timing right, and I mess everything up.”
Amy sank to the floor beside her and petted Pepper. “You don’t mess up everything. You’re doing great with your Sweet Treats business, and your timing must be okay or he wouldn’t have asked you out.”
“Yeah, but…” He brought Pepper a leash. He didn’t even really like Pepper. Although she had heard him say, Good dog, when she was in the bathroom. Hmm.