“Wow, way to greet your friend,” she replies. “God, Beck, what did I ever do to piss you off?”
I click a few keys. “Do you really want me to answer that question?”
“Probably not,” she replies then sighs. “Hey, have you talked to Willow today?”
“Yeah, she called me this morning.” I pause as I stumble across a file labeled “Personal Business,” a file my dad mentioned I didn’t need to mess around with. Curious, I double-click and open the contents. Then my jaw drops. Holy shit. “She’s supposed to be calling me back later today. If she doesn’t, I’m going to call her back when I get off work.”
“Well, I think you should call her soon.” The urgency in her tone causes me to straighten in the chair.
I move my hands off the keyboard and slant back in the chair. “What happened?”
“I’m not really sure. She called me out of the blue about twenty minutes ago, sounding upset and asking if she could rent my spare room. When I told her I just leased it out to someone, she got even more upset, although she was trying to hide it. I don’t know why she always tries to pretend everything’s okay when it’s not. It’s why she ends up having nervous breakdowns.”
“Yeah, I know,” I mutter, thrumming my fingers against the desk. “She didn’t say why she was upset, though?”
“No, but I could tell it didn’t just have to do with me not being able to rent her a room. She was upset before that.”
“You should’ve told her she could crash on your couch. She hates asking for help, and if she went to you …”—I swallow hard—“something must have happened.”
“Shit. I didn’t even think about the couch thing. I did tell her she should move in with you, though.”
“I bet that went well.”
“Yeah, she didn’t seem too thrilled about it. Why is that?”
“None of your business.”
“Ha, if you really believe that, then you don’t know me at all.”
“No, I do know you,” I say exhaustedly. “But I had to try.”
“Well, stop trying and fess up.” She pauses. “Did you two do something again?”
I wait a second too long to respond.
“You did!” she cries. “Oh, my God, I told Willow this was going to happen. That sooner or later you two would screw each other’s brains out.”
“We didn’t fuck. We just … kissed.” And touch. And grinded. And fucking kissed again.
“Oh, my God, you sound so turned on right now,” she whines. “It’s so disgusting.”
“So what?” I don’t even bother trying to deny it. “It was a hot fucking kiss.”
“TMI, Beck.”
“You’re the one who brought it up.”
She puffs out an exasperated exhale. “You know what? I think I’ll get the details from Willow. Your details come with too many noises I’d rather not hear.”
“Why do you need details at all? It’s not really any of your business.”
“Why do you do that?” she snaps. “Why do you act like I’m such a bad person?”
“I don’t act like you’re a bad person,” I retort. “I just don’t know why you need to know everything. Plus, if you ask Willow about the kiss, she’s going to get more upset.”
“Why?” she asks. “She didn’t like it?”
“No … I think she did.” I drag my fingers through my hair, slumping back in the chair. “You know about her no-dating rule, right?”
“Yeah, she mentioned it once, but I didn’t think she was being serious.”
“Well, she was, and now that we kissed …” I’m one step away from touching myself as images of Willow and me kissing flood my thoughts. “Well, let’s just say she’s trying everything she can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“But you want it to happen again?”
“Um, yeah. I thought that was pretty obvious with the noises I was making.”
“God, you’re so gross,” she mutters. “Anyway, we’re getting off the subject. I called to tell you about Willow being upset because I knew you’d want to take care of her.”
“I’ve been trying to.” I lean forward and lower my head into my hand. “I’ve offered to let her move in with me over and over again, but she’s so stubborn. So, if you have any ideas at all, please share. I’d really like to get her out of that shithole she’s living in now. That place is sketchy as fuck.”