Chapter 10 #2
A few of the B it’s a good thing Hollis can’t see me.
“Not really my scene,” he says. “But I’m glad you had a good time.”
Once my color fades to some semblance of normal, I stroll out of the bathroom in my borrowed pajamas. “It was a last-minute parade and festival logistics meeting. And of course, thanks to you, I rolled in all ‘Hey, Ryan, I’m not interested in having sex with you.’ I wanted to die.”
Hollis’s eyebrows shoot up. “Don’t blame me. I never told you to do that.”
I stuff my dirty clothes into my suitcase and sit on the end of the bed. “Oh, I definitely blame you. Because he said that the reason it wasn’t a sex thing was because he thought you and I were together. You cockblocked me, dude.”
“It sounds to me like you cockblocked yourself. You’re the one who turned him down before you even crossed his threshold.”
“Because you psyched me out, telling me Ryan wanted to cross my threshold.”
“Except it sounds to me like if he knew you were single he would have wanted to... cross your threshold? God, that’s a stupid way to say that. Besides, I wasn’t wrong, was I?”
I don’t want to admit that once Ryan realized sex could have been on the table he told me he would’ve been game. Hollis is not allowed to be right. “That’s not the point,” I say. “What were you doing when I got back here, anyway?”
Hollis glances away and rubs his ear. That’s his embarrassed gesture, so I definitely don’t believe him when he mumbles, “Nothing.”
The possibility hits me that he was watching Penelope to the Past . The thought makes my stomach roil a little, and I almost regret asking at all. But now I have to know. “You were clearly watching something . Something you didn’t want me to know about.”
“A movie. I was watching a movie. Okay?”
Relief quashes the pizza rebellion inside my digestive system.
“Oh. Which movie? Is it pornographic?” I crawl up the bed, swiping the tablet from where it rests beside him before he can react.
He makes a half-hearted grab, but I hold it out of his reach.
If it is porn, things are about to get either a lot more interesting or a lot more awkward between us.
The tablet turns on with a press of the small button on the side, and—like his phone did in the car last night—the screen lights up without requesting any kind of passcode or pattern swipe from me.
“You really need to protect your shit better,” I admonish as the page for the movie reloads.
Resume watching , the screen says above a still of Pee-wee Herman holding handfuls of snakes with fire raging behind him.
“Oh my god. You were watching Pee-wee’s Big Adventure !”
“I needed a break from writing, and you said it was good. So.”
“It’s not good, Hollis. It’s great . It’s basically my entire philosophy of living. My cousin Dani and I watched it pretty much every day when we were kids. Scoot over.” I tuck myself under the covers beside him. “Now. How far in are you?”
He sighs but adjusts to allow me to move closer until I’m practically in his lap. “Not far. He just finished breakfast.”
“I’m so glad I came back early from that orgy,” I say.
“Yeah. Me too,” Hollis says. It sounds strangely genuine. But before I can question if he means it or if his sarcasm tuner’s just broken, he pushes play.