Chapter 18 The Floozy
Eighteen
The Floozy
We started on the homework, and it didn’t take us long to finish the problem, which was a miracle. Usually, it took me forever, and I never knew if I had it right until I compared my answer to Jay’s or found out in class that I’d done it all wrong.
We took it step-by-step. I’d start alone down a path, Dallas would rein me in, then point me in a different direction.
He was smart. Way smarter than me. Or maybe his way of solving a problem was more efficient than mine.
We packed up our stuff and headed back to the dorm.
A couple blocks away, he grabbed my hand and marched me into the snow behind the gigantic trunk of a cottonwood. He kissed me, making my heart pitter-patter.
No tongue. More like a nice-guy thing to do than a bad boy. This was confusing.
He pulled away, but hesitantly. “You go in first. I know that you don’t want anyone to see us together.”
I hooked my thumbs around my backpack straps.
He nodded. “Let’s meet tomorrow at Linden Park to go skating.”
“But we decided that would be crossing a line.”
“No.” He shook his head. “You decided that, I didn’t.”
I shrugged and left him there, leaning against the thick, ridged bark.
“Oh, come on,” he shouted.
Looking over my shoulder, I grinned at him.
I trudged to the sidewalk and stomped the snow off my boots, knowing I’d go to the rink the next day. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. I’d take any opportunity I could just to be with him. Any opportunity that could lead to the spontaneous sex he wanted.
Inside the dorm, I pulled out my phone and saw that Eric had texted me.
ERIC
Sorry, Sis. Life’s been hectic. Will call you soon.
You better!
I opened the door to my room and heard Priya’s pop music playing on the speakers.
“The results are in,” I called out over the beat. “He’s officially a bad boy.”
I let the door shut behind me and looked up. It was Jay staring back at me with a frown.
“Who’s a bad boy?” he asked.
Dang.
“Where’s Priya?” I dumped my backpack on my own desk and turned on my desk light.
“She left to watch TV.”
I nodded. It was Sunday night. She was watching that horrible sci-fi show with the creepy-looking zombies.
“So who’s the bad boy?” Jay asked again.
“Nobody. I thought I was talking to Priya.” I hoped he’d let his question go unanswered. “What are you doing here?”
He pointed to a piece of paper on top of Priya’s desk. “I thought we could do the physics homework together.”
“I already did it.” I glanced at his work.
“You did?”
“Yeah, and it looks like you finished yours too.” I started digging through my backpack.
“When have you ever finished the physics homework by yourself?” Jay hung his arm over the back of Priya’s chair.
I slipped the piece of paper out and waved it in the air. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“Not for physics homework.” He squinted at me, his mouth in a straight line. “It’s Dallas, isn’t it?”
I wrinkled my nose.
“You did the homework with him.” Jay made a clicking sound with his tongue. “He’s the bad boy, isn’t he?”
I continued to stay silent, now glancing over my work.
“So is that the way it’s going to be now? You’re one of his floozies?”
“Floozy?” I put my homework down. “Are you a grandma?”
“‘Floozy’ is a word.”
“A stupid word. Besides, I’m not a floozy. We’re just hanging out.”
“Are you also hanging out with that girl in the hoodie who Sandra was talking about this morning?” Jay snickered. “Like a threesome?”
I unwound my scarf and threw it at him.
He ducked, but the fabric landed across the top of his head.
I wished it weren’t soft and fuzzy. I wished it were a rock. A gigantic piece of granite. “Please stop being so ridiculous.”
He pulled it off and tossed it onto my bed. “I’m not. Dallas is smoking hot. You’ll have to beat people off to keep him to yourself, causing you even more anxiety.”
Smirking, I went into my closet. But then I paused before I took off my jacket. Wait a second.
I backed out of the closet. “Did you just say that Dallas is hot?”
Jay’s face went gray.
“You did. I heard you say it.”
He shrugged. “So what? It’s not like you don’t think other girls are hot.”
I shifted my weight. “I’ve thought girls were pretty or attractive, sure, but I don’t think I’ve ever thought they were ‘smoking hot.’”
“Whatever, forget it,” he said. “My point is that history doesn’t favor you and you’re going to get hurt.” Jay sealed his mouth shut.
“But I won’t.” Because I wasn’t going to fall in love with Dallas. We’d established the ground rules. “Besides, last year I had the hundred-year flood of hurts and survived, so even if another flood happens again, it won’t be as bad.”
His eyes sparkled. “Did you know that a one-hundred-year flood doesn’t mean that it occurs only once every one-hundred years? I think statistically there’s a sixty percent chance of another hundred-year flood occurring in the same period.”
I closed my eyes. “Jay.”
“What?”
“Please stop being such a dork.”
“Was that too nerdy?” He widened his smile.
“Yeah, you sound like a civil, not the material science engineer you want to be.”
“Speaking of engineering,” he said, “we should compare our physics homework.”
I nodded, and we exchanged our problems. I sat down at my desk and glanced over his. We had the same answer. We even showed the same work to get there. My arms felt light and airy. I was getting this. I was doing better. Dean’s list, here I come.
Jay let out a low whistle. “Wow, Ade. Looking good.”
We returned our homework to each other, and Jay moved to the saucer chair.
“So about last night…” Jay folded his arms. “I just want you to know that I’m sorry I got caught up in Emma’s little freak-out.”
I breathed in and sighed. “It’s okay.”
“Really?” He tilted his head. “You seemed pretty upset, especially when she told everyone that you’re a…a…”
“Virgin?”
“Yeah.”
“You can say it, Jay. Vir-gin. It’s not a hard word to pronounce.”
“I know how to say it.” He looked at the floor. “I just want you to know that I know that Emma was rude, and I’m sorry for any part I had in that.”
“Are you a virgin, Jay?”
He glanced up. “Huh?”
“Are you a virgin too?”
He frowned.
Ha! I wasn’t alone in this.
But then my neck tightened. He thought guys were hot, and he was still a virgin. Could he be closeted?
“You know what?” I felt bad for pressing him. “Don’t answer that. I don’t need to know.”
Jay exhaled.
“What I do want you to know is that your apology is accepted.”
“Good.” He smiled slowly. “Thank you.”
“So…moving on.” I went to my closet, took off my jacket, and hung it up. “I need you to help me with something.”
I looked down at myself. I still had on my low-cut shirt. I glanced behind me, at the top of Jay’s head. It peeked out above the back of the chair. This shirt might be a good test for Jay. What kind of guy type was he? Did he think girls could be hot too?
“If it has to do with Dallas,” he said, “I don’t want to be involved.”
“No, of course not.” I stepped in front of him, my shoulders pulled back.
“Okay. Shoot.” But Jay had laid his head back, and his eyes were closed.
Come on, Jay. Open them.
But he didn’t move. He appeared to be content as he was.
“I need help with my grades.” I paused, waiting for him to sit up and pay attention.
Nothing.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“To recover from last semester, I might need straight As. But if that’s impossible, I’ll concede with a mix of As and Bs.”
Finally, he opened his eyes. “How badly did you do?”
“Under a two-point-oh.”
His brows shot up, but he wasn’t even looking at my chest. Like he didn’t even care. I drew my arms together to make my cleavage more pronounced.
“You need a two-point-eight to get into the third and fourth years of chemical engineering.” His eyes didn’t stray. He barely even blinked.
“Duh, I know that. Hence the plea for help.”
He placed his arms behind his head, his elbows sticking up in the air. Still nothing. Not even a stealthy look.
“Doing old tests from previous semesters is a good way to study before an exam,” Jay said.
“And where would I find those?”
He sat up. “The school has an online database.”
“They do?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure how current they are. I could talk to some of the sophomores and juniors on the cross-country team who are in engineering. They might have kept theirs.”
“That would be awesome, Jay.”
“No problem.” He grabbed onto the sides of the chair, pushed himself up, and then gathered his things. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sure.”
And without glancing at me again, he left.
I stared at the closed door, then down at my boobs.
Interesting. I mean, not Jay’s willingness to help me with my classes or his concerns about my well-being, but his complete disregard for what any straight, horny male would like to look at without having to page through a Victoria’s Secret catalog.
Not that I wanted him to, because we were friends, but wow.
I’d expected at least a snide comment, not complete indifference.
Back at my closet, I changed and then started digging for my ice skates.
I wasn’t going to confront Jay about his sexuality.
I wouldn’t want to put him in an awkward position, and I didn’t want to offend him if I was wrong.
But I was going to have to pay more attention to the words I used, the actions I took.
I wanted him to know I would be supportive of him no matter what.
My hand landed on my skating bag, and I pulled it out. I unzipped the top and lifted one of the boots out. The Vaseline I’d applied to the blades last summer to prevent them from oxidizing was still intact. I grinned.
It was going to be fun skating with Dallas.