“ Sorry, I was texting my friend Caroline,” I replied, slipping my phone back into my purse.
“ Is she a healthy friend or a sick friend?”
I wondered how he would even know to ask something like that. I guess being sick for so long meant that most of the people in my life would have also been sick.
“ Very sick friend,” I answered quietly. “She needs a liver transplant.”
“ I thought those were one of the easier organs to get?”
I looked out toward where I knew the ocean was. I could barely make out a thin layer of blue waves beyond the horizon. “Not if you still have cancer.”
I couldn’t see his reaction, but I could feel his gaze on me. He never said anything, because really what was there to say?
“ Do you think we have time to go swimming?” I asked, narrowing my eyes and trying to fight the feelings of sadness looming just a few blinks away.
“ Probably not tonight,” he answered wistfully. “What if we went first thing in the morning?”
I glanced back toward him. “Sounds good. Can we order pizza and eat it on the bed while we watch a movie?”
He nodded, giving me a small smile. “After running from the law, we should probably lay low for the night,” he joked, making me smile once again.
Our hotel room only had one bed. I pretended like I didn’t care, as though I’d casually shared a bed with dozens of hot guys in my past, but inside my organs were flip-flopping around like crazy.
“ Abby, please try and keep your hands to yourself tonight,” Beck joked the moment we walked into the room.
Normal-Abby would have offered a witty comeback, but the alien inside my brain at that moment could only mumble awkwardly and evade eye contact at all cost.
We fought over both the pizza and the movie. We ended up just having to order two pizzas: one small vegetarian with pineapple and one medium supreme. Beck thought we should rent The Conjuring and I thought we should watch Man of Steel . I nixed the horror, he nixed the overdone superhero plot.
“ I’m going to take a shower before our food gets here, but so help me if you purchase The Conjuring I will throw your pizza into the ocean.”
“ As if your miniature arms could fling it that far.” He eyed me skeptically.
I gathered up my shampoo and floral scented body wash. “I will fling it as far as I can. If it lands on top of your grandfather’s Camper, then so be it.”
“ I’m pretty sure The Conjuring is taking place in this room right now,” he said with a hint of a smile.
“ Are you saying that I’m possessed?” I asked, heading toward the restroom.
“ If the devil-like-tendencies fit…”
I tried to come up with something as equally funny, but I couldn’t stop the laughter from ruining my plan.
“ I think I hate you as much as I like you,” I admitted before shutting the bathroom door.
He mumbled something, but I couldn’t hear it with the door closed. Instead, I imagined him saying that I was the funniest, prettiest girl he’d ever met. That was probably dead on.
After turning the water on to warm up, I pulled out my thermometer and my various pill bottles. My temperature was still normal, thank God, and the pills were swallowed quickly with the water muffling most of the noise as I stuffed the rattling bottles back into my bag.
Fifteen minutes later, feeling one hundred times better than I had with all that residual lake slime dried on my skin, I pulled on my pajamas and carried my stuff out of the bathroom. Our pizzas still hadn’t arrived yet, so Beck was sitting on the bed with his back against the headboard, focusing on a text. I took the opportunity to look at the pieces of him I hadn’t yet inspected: his long jean-clad legs, his broad shoulders, the sexy five o’clock shadow he would most likely shave soon.