Broken and Screwed (BS #1)(30)

I gave her a thumbs-up in response, but it was weak. My smile wavered.

Then she was out the door and I gave Eric the same weak smile as I’d given her. “Hey.”

“You’re going bowling tonight?”

He sounded cheerful, too cheerful. After Jesse’s last text message, I’d been able to evade Eric most of the time. There’d been almost no alone time with us and I knew he wouldn’t pursue a date with me through a note so I figured I was in the clear. Until now. We were alone.

“Hey, girlfriend!” Marissa smacked my butt and bounced to a halt beside us. Her eyes went from eager to sultry as she scanned Eric up and down. “What are you doing tonight, Eric?’

His eyes widened a fraction and his hands gripped his book bag tighter. “I’m…” His eyes darted to me with a question in them.

I relented. “He’s going bowling with me and Angie and the gang.”

His grin grew and two dimples appeared.

Marissa melted at the sight. “Great! Pick me up at nine, Eric?”

“Uh.” He looked stricken as his eyes skirted from me to her. “I’m, uh, sure.”

“See you later!” She winked at him before she was grabbed from some of her cheerleading friends. They led her away, but their giggling grew in volume after she whispered something to them. When all of them stopped and looked at us, Eric staggered back a step.

Then they disappeared around a corner.

“What just happened there?” He scratched the top of his head.

I chuckled and started forward. “You have a date with Marissa if I’m not mistaken.”

He groaned, but fell in step with me. “How did that happen?”

“She set her sights on you and down you folded. Good luck with that one.”

“She’s your best friend, right?” He watched me from the corner of his eye as we turned towards my car.

“Yep. Hurt her and die.”

He groaned again. “I meant to ask you out and instead I’m being threatened by you. I don’t think I’ll ever understand girls.” Then he grew serious and stopped us. “I can’t ask you out now, can I?”

I shook my head.

His head tipped back. Frustration flared across his features as he pinched the top of his nose. “I have horrible luck with girls. I’m cursed. That’s it. I have to be cursed.”

I patted him on the arm. “Well, if you’re not serious about her, Marissa has the attention span of a bee for guys. She’ll be buzzing around someone else in a week. I’m sure of it.”

“A bee, huh?” He relaxed a little.

“Don’t let her know I told you that.”

He shot me a grin. “I won’t. And I’ll see you tonight.” He pretended to bow before he turned towards his truck and I went to my car. As he went, I watched how he continued to scratch the top of his head and I couldn’t hold back a grin. For once, I was glad for Marissa’s man eating ways. She stepped in without being asked and did me a favor.

Eric wouldn’t ask me out for awhile again and I could hold onto the promise I’d given Jesse, even though I knew I didn’t need to. I wasn’t going to be his girlfriend. That wasn’t what I was holding out for. I was waiting for one last time to be in his arms, one last time to be connected with him again. And it wasn’t about sex. It was more than that for me.

I shivered in anticipation. Christmas break couldn’t come quick enough for me.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

My mom came home a month later, in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. However, when the bell rang on that last day and I knew I had four days of freedom, I wasn’t thrilled. Everyone else was giddy. They loved the days away from school. They loved being able to sleep in and they loved all the food and family time.

Not me.

School was my retreat from the house. And sleep still escaped me most nights. As for the food and family time, I overheard my dad on the phone in his office one night. He was booking two plane tickets for the Caribbean. I knew I wasn’t included with those tickets. He was planning a weekend getaway for him and my mother. The two of them could heal together and escape another Thanksgiving without Ethan.

The one thing I looked forward to was Jesse’s basketball game. It was going to be televised on Friday. I had the whole day planned. I was going to sleep as long as I could, I was going to get coffee, maybe some popcorn, and then I was going to take my blankets to the couch. I would wait for his game for the entire day if I had to.

As I headed to my car on Wednesday, Marissa bounded up to me and hooked her elbow through mine. She panted and gave me a silly smile while she smoothed some of her sleek black hair down from the wind. “Whatcha doing, buddy?”

I hid my grin. She’d been cautious with me since she had started dating Eric. The two of them had been enjoyable to watch at bowling that night. She’d been flirty and seductive while he had stumbled over his feet more than a few times. It was a month into their relationship. She seemed happier than I’d ever seen her.

“Not much.”

Her smile kicked up a notch. “Okay, can I ask you a favor?”

When wouldn’t she? I shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?”

“Besides eating turkey with my parents?” I had to fake it. No one knew how pathetic my family life had become this year. “Not much. Why?”