Page 13 of Better As Friends
"You were thinking it would get you laid."
"Like I need the help."
I pulled down the visor and admired myself in the mirror as I ran my fingers through my hair. Navarro's laughter filled the car.
"You heading back home tomorrow?" I asked.
"Of course. It's not the holidays without my mom, even if I'm late. You want to come? You know she'd love to have you."
"She still single? You know your mom is hot."
"Don't you dare mess with my mom. If anything happens to her, I swear Iwillcut your balls off," he said, repeating my words from earlier.
"Okay, okay, I promise. But I have seen how she looks at me."
"Yeah, like she's glad you're not one of hers."
"Exactly."
"Not for that reason, you--" he growled as he stopped himself mid-sentence.
"You were going to call me a motherf--"
"Shut it," Navarro growled before laughing. "Seriously though, spend the New Year in New Jersey."
"I'll think about it, but probably not. I have to fly out tomorrow to meet the Slater Brothers and when I get back, I want to see Becca."
He nodded but didn't say anything as he turned the car into the parking garage of my building and turned into my reserved spot. As he put the car in park, Navarro asked what I knew he had been waiting to ask. It was the same question I kept asking myself but was unable to answer.
"You fell for Becca, didn't you?" he asked.
Chapter Five
Becca
Picking out what to wear for my non-date with Gideon was hard. Part of me wanted to wear the black dress I wore to the fundraiser just to see his reaction again, but that dress was too fancy for this restaurant. Mallory's was a casual place, perfect for jeans and a nice top, so that's what I went with.
I had an hour before I needed to get to Mallory's, and I was already dressed and ready to go. Since Gideon was always late, I had enough time to call Sandra.
I had been thinking about her a lot since we spoke the week before. I kept hoping that not hearing from her meant things with Billy were back to normal, but I had a feeling they weren't.
As I waited for Sandra to answer, the phone stopped ringing. A soft hum replaced the ringing.
"Hello? Sandra?" I asked.
The sound of her shaky breathing told me she was there. I stood and started to pace the room as my mind filled with all the things that could be going on.
Is she hurt?
Where are the kids?
Where's Billy?
"Sandra, talk to me," I said. "What's going on?"
"I...I don't know."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
