Page 21 of Double Dared
“Hey, I’m helping you,” I said. “You’re the one who wants to get the girl, and you think dating me is going to bring her back.”
He fell silent, pressing his lips together hard and looking down at the table between us. After anotherfew seconds of sulking silence, he crossed his arms. The waiter brought our plates, but I wasn’t hungry anymore. “Can I have this to go?”
“Sure,” the guy said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Screw this,” I said, pushing the chair back. I followed the waiter, glancing only once over my shoulder at Harrison, still looking at the floor somewhere to his right, lips pursed and arms crossed.
I waited for my burger to be packed, then walked out without another glance.
To think I’d spent the whole day with him and this was how he thanked me… Infuriating, insufferable, insecure lump. He knew this wasn’t going to work. So did I. So what? We could have had fun for three weeks, and he could have gotten a nice friendship as a consolation, while I got to hang out with someone I liked.
Oh, but no, he just had to keep his rosy glasses on and think that somehow, magically, Emma would wake up from her little episode and come running. And she might. What the hell did I know? But if he wanted even a slim chance at it, he had to face the reality, or he would just keep hitting the wall with his head first and hoping it would turn into a curtain.
I stormed back to campus and the Bel House, threw my cold and soggy burger into the microwave, and rummaged through the fridge for a can of cold beer. There were always a few somewhere in the back. Ah, there, good. I took it, cracked the can open, and pulled a long sip before shutting the fridge.
“Fuck!” I jumped back.
Jason stood on the other side of the fridge door like an apparition. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” I grumbled, drinking some more until the microwave dinged that the food was ready. I took it out and set the hot plate on the kitchen island, then sat on one of the high chairs along the island. The burger looked like a steaming pile of crap, all broken apart and melting. “This looks awful.”
“Want a grilled sandwich?” Jason asked.
“Nah.” I picked up the burger and bit into it, sauce and juices dripping on the plate. One bite was enough to remind me that I was completely out of appetite.
Jason went to the fridge and took out another can of beer, then sat a couple of spots away from me and rested his elbow on the island while sipping from the can. “Bad day?”
I thought about it. “No. It was a good day, actually. A really good day.”
“Well, you look like a ray of sunshine. Don’t know why I thought that.” But he kept his gaze on me with concern wrinkling his face. “Seriously, you know you can talk to me. Right?”
Great, I thought. Now he decided to check in and see if I was ready to “come out.” I sucked my teeth and pushed the place aside. “Harrison annoyed me by being an ass.”
“Yeah, I figured out that much.” He looked at his can like it contained all the fun trivia in the world, then lifted his gaze to me. “Wanna talk about it?”
I shook my head once decisively.
Jason raised a hand, assuring me the topic was, in that case, behind us. “But if you ever do, you know where I live.” He drained the can, crushed it, and tossed it into the trash can, fist-pumping when it fell in on his first try.
I wanted to be annoyed with Jason, too, but it was difficult. It was just their natures, these golden retrievers. Jason went upstairs, but Peanut came down instead, wagging his tail and looking at me with those clever eyes of his.
“Not you, too,” I sighed. I didn’t need comforting. The guy wasn’t even a friend, just someone I had met a few times. There was no loss here. There was no change to my life in any way at all. There wasn’t even a ripple in his absence. I was back to where I had been a week ago, and nothing in the great, wide universe was different.
Peanut came closer, then nudged my leg with his nose, looked up, and waited for something. “I don’t know what you want, buddy. Ask Jason.”
Peanut whimpered.
I got off the chair and down to one knee. Before I could even reach his ear for a good scratch, Peanut pushed his head at me, tucking it into my hoodie under my arm and wagging his tail harder.
I knelt there, scratching and rubbing and petting him until he sat down and licked me all the way up the left side of my face. He then stuck his tongue out and grinned at me like a very good boy that he was.
“Thanks for that, Peanut,” I said, wiping my face with my sleeve. “Good lick, that.”
I threw away the leftovers, tossed the beer can into the trash, missed, bent down, picked it up, and put it where it belonged, then walked up to my room while Peanut rewarded himself with a chewing toy in the corner.
Just as I reached my door, a doorbell went off, sending Peanut into a frenzy and causing a string of “Dammit, doorbell” grunts to come from every room in the house. Only one person came to mind who didn’t know the open-door rules of this house, and it was my job to work up the politeness to open the door. Besides, I needed to take Peanut out for a run now.Thanks for that, I thought to myself and went back downstairs, patting Peanut’s side before opening the door.
Peanut dashed through the door like a bullet, nearly turning Harrison over.
