Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
CHLOE
Dani, Hannah, and Maya pop in and out of the kitchen under the pretense of getting snacks, but I have the feeling they’re spying on Rhoads and me.
After everything that went down with us lately, I was surprised when Rhoads asked me to study with him. I had to say yes, of course. If there’s any chance he’ll forgive me for what I said, I have to take it.
“Don’t you have something better to do?” Rhoads asks as Dani comes into the kitchen yet again.
“Dude, chill. We’re ordering a pizza.” Dani takes the delivery menu off the fridge, replacing the tiny snow globe magnet. “Since when is being hungry a crime?” She rolls her eyes.
“He’s not working tonight,” I say, addressing Hannah and Maya, who stand behind Dani. Their faces flicker disappointment. “Football thing.”
“I have absolutely no idea to whom you are referring.” Dani flips her straight hair over her shoulder. Normally in a dancer’s bun, it hangs in a sleek curtain down her back.
“For Pete’s sake, Danielle, just give it a rest, okay?” Rhoads groans.
“You know, I heard that new Thai place has great delivery.” I wink at Dani.
One of Charlotte’s student council friends, DeShawn, just got a job there, and I overheard him tell Charlotte he couldn’t do some student council thing today because he has to work.
If anyone can fill the flirtatious older delivery guy void, it’s him.
He’ll milk the attention for all it’s worth.
Catching on, Dani’s face brightens. “Can you text me the name and number?”
I do.
“Thanks.” Dani smiles, checking her phone. She sticks the pizza menu back on the fridge.
“Yeah, thanks,” echoes Maya.
“You’re the coolest,” says Hannah.
Both girls wave as they follow Dani back down the hall to Dani’s room, giggling and discussing what Pad Thai is. “I have never been called that, ever,” I say to Rhoads. “It’s kind of nice to be appreciated.”
“You think that now but just wait until they’re following you around everywhere.” He puts his pencil down in the crack of his book. “Danielle actually asked me to ask you if you wanted to sleep over here with Hannah and Maya.”
“That’s sweet,” I say, touched. I’ve always wanted a sister. And now I’m thinking about sleeping at Rhoads’s house and getting a glass of water in the middle of the night and running into Rhoads while wearing pajamas.
Should I buy nicer pajamas instead of wearing an old soccer shirt and shorts like I usually do? What if Rhoads just sleeps in shorts or boxers?
“Earth to Baker.” Rhoads waves a hand in front of my face, bringing me back to myself.
“Hi.” I blink a few times to erase the images my treacherous brain conjured. The whole thought experiment is silly. I’m not actually sleeping over at his house, not even for girls’ night with his sister.
“Hi.” He flashes a smile. “Are you as bored of this as I am?” He points to his textbook.
“I could use a break.”
His face brightens, and he stands, the wooden chair scraping the gray LVP flooring as he pushes it back. “Great. I have a surprise for you.”
“You do?”
“Wait here.” He’s buzzing with a new nervous energy as he slips on two mitts and opens his oven door.
“Rhoads Simpson, did you bake for me?”
He laughs. “Lucky for you, no. I did, however, acquire sustenance from better sources.” He slides two glass baking dishes onto the stove top and peels back the foil. “Had to keep it warm.”
I approach, the smell of bacon and pancakes and hash browns making me salivate. “Where did you get this?”
Rhoads points as he lists off my favorite foods from my favorite places in town. “Bacon from The Local Waffle. Hash browns from Peggy’s. And pancakes from Stack ‘Em.”
“You went to three different diners?” My heart skips a beat. “Why?”
I meet his gaze and a thousand off-limits thoughts sprint through my mind at the tender expression on his face.
He slips off the oven mitts and runs his hand along the back of his neck, a bit shy and uncertain.
“Well, uh. You’re the breakfast expert, you know, and you mentioned these were the best. So. ” He hands me a plate. “You hungry?”
He did this just for me?
“I could eat,” I say barely getting the words past my dry throat.
I haven’t figured out a way to talk about our encounter at the car wash. What if I imagined it all?
Then again, he drove around town and ordered three different breakfast items from three different diners and then kept them all warm in the oven, because I said they were the best? What does this mean? Does it mean anything? Do I deserve for it to mean something after how I’ve treated him lately?
I sit back down at the table and shove a bite of pancake in my mouth, barely suppressing a groan of delight. The bacon is melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and the hash browns are the exact ratio of crispy to fluffy. Am I dreaming?
I pick up the phone in front of me and press the power button to check for any texts while Rhoads fills his own plate. Oops. I’ve picked up the wrong one. As I’m setting it down, it vibrates and lights up, receiving messages.
I try not to look at the screen. It’s not my business who’s texting him. But better intentions aside, I see them anyway.
Candace
Can you meet now?
Or is later better? ;)
I suck in a breath too fast and cough out the tiny piece of hash brown I just inhaled.
My heart threatens to push outside my body, and honestly, the rest of me wants to run, too.
Despite everything I’ve been telling myself lately, this is proof I was right.
Maybe Rhoads has been flirting with me, but clearly, I’m not the only one.
And like I told him the other day, I’m not going to tell him how to live his life.
We’re not dating, so it’s not fair of me to expect anything from him.
But I do.
I drop my fork. The realization lands like a free kick to the stomach, knocking the air out of me.
I’ve let myself become more than just physically attracted to Rhoads.
From the music wing and Mario Kart to the snow globes and pancakes, he’s shown more sides to him than I anticipated.
I thought meeting his sister and being at his house meant something.
And despite what I said to him on the field the other day about his reputation, deep down I don’t believe he’s the person everyone says.
But maybe I’m wrong. I’m not interested in being another girl he strings along.
I clear my throat. “You missed a text. Sorry, I read it by accident…”
He squints at his phone, his jaw ticking.
“This isn’t what it looks like. Candace is helping me with a project.
” His brows reach for each other while he explains.
“She’s Jenson’s older sister. Ever since the…
thing…with me and him, Candace and I have gotten closer.
Not romantically or anything.” He looks up at me, like he’s expecting me to bolt.
My legs sure are itching, my feet poised to pivot and go. Instead, I scoop another forkful of hash browns and give him an opportunity to let me in. “What really happened with you and Jenson?”
Rhoads closes his eyes and breathes. “We’re just going through a rough moment.”
There’s more to it than that. I know there is. Candace aside, there’s some truth he’s not able—or willing—to trust me with.
Of course not. That would be a string to tie us together. Something deeper.
We finish studying, but again the wall between us is up. He knows all my baggage, but after everything he’s shown me, he still won’t share what’s hurting him.
It shouldn’t bother me that he wants to keep this secret. But I’ve been here before. If we have any hope of moving forward, we’re both going to have to decide the risk is worth it.