Page 18 of Faking it For Summer

“And your hands are to stay above the waist at all times.”

“They can stay above the waist.” I smirk.

“And not on my boobs either.”

“What? You don’t want me to have a quick grope?”

“This was such a bad idea, wasn’t it?” She looks exasperated. “A quick grope, Luke, really?”

“Would you rather me say,Can I fondle your bosoms, Mia?”

“No. I would rather you not say that. We’re not in eighteenth-century England.”

“Would you rather me say,Can I suck on your titties?”

“Oh my heavens, Luke Haverbrook. What did you just say?”

“Okay, so we’re not going R-rated. Agreed. I’m just checking what things are going to work and not work for you.”

“You don’t even speak like that anyway.” She rolls her eyes. “Just because I haven’t seen you in person in years doesn’t mean I don’t know who you are and your character. And you don’t say things likesuck on titties.”

“You got me there. But you don’t know how I am with the guys.”

“True. And you do live in New York now.” She wrinkles her nose.

“Hey, what’s so wrong with New York?”

“Nothing, I suppose. Maybe one day, I’ll visit.”

“Are you going to come and visit me in New York before I come to town?”

“I would love to come and visit you. If you ever extended me an invitation.”

I keep my mouth shut. I’m not going to tell her why I haven’t extended her an invitation.

“It’s going to look really weird that I haven’t come to visit you,” she says, “and you haven’t come to visit me.”

I nod in agreement. “It is going to look very weird.”

“So, do we pretend that it’s happened? No one’s going to believe I left Coconut Beach. And if you say you’ve been back home, your entire family’s going to be mad at you.”

“Then we’re going to have to say that we fell in love chatting on the phone and the computer.”

“Oh my God. I feel like such a loser.”

“Mia, you are not a loser. I will say I came to town a couple of times.” I sigh. “My grandparents and my parents will be upset, but that’s better than us looking like internet geeks.”

“Yeah, you would hate that, Mr. I Program Computer Games for Fun.”

“That was when I was sixteen.”

“Yeah, you still did that for fun.”

“And you played the games and enjoyed them.”

“That’s because I was a good best friend.”

“The very best,” I say. “Anyway, I should get going.”