Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1)(39)

My eyes widened. Wow. Simply wow.

“I want you ‘in’ again and I think the best way for you to fall is to jump. I think we should pick up where we left off. I think we should have sex.”

My intake of air made a loud gasping sound. “What?”

“Not now, but soon. I bet if we do, you’ll be ‘in’ again.”

I knew I must resemble a goldfish in a small bowl, with my mouth opening and closing over and over again. Odd, I’d gotten my wish—I could have sex with someone who loved me— but I’d forgotten to add that I wanted to love him back. “I don’t know.”

He simply smiled. “Sleep on it.”

Sleep. Oh, how funny.

“HOLY CROW, ECHO. You hibernate for a year and a half and wake up with a bang.” Lila finished changing out of her church clothes and into a tight pink sweater and blue jeans. “Luke tells you he still loves you—and by the way, told you so. And Noah stinking Hutchins tries to kiss you. And you complained you were going to die a virgin.”

I continued to sketch while lying on the bed Luke had abandoned moments before Lila walked in. “Don’t count that out yet.”

“Ha.” She pulled her golden hair up into a slicked-back ponytail. “Luke’s begging for it, and Noah, well, from what I hear, sex is what Noah does best.”

“Hear from who?” I asked, way too quickly and with too much enthusiasm. I kept my eyes on the sketch pad and forced my hand to keep working. Maybe Lila had missed my sudden and very loud outburst.

Lila bounced over to the bed. “Ooh, my little Echo is crushin’ on a boy toy. I’d love to see him with his shirt off. I bet his abs are to die for. Emma from the dance team had Noah as a snack between guys last summer. Rather, he had her for a snack. She said he blew her mind.”

The tip of my pencil broke. Jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk. Incredibly hot, extremely sweet jerk.

“Soooo, which will it be? The boy that loves you or the boy you’re lusting after?”

How could such a question come out of the mouth of someone who looked so ethereal? Glinda the Good Witch had a dirty mind. No use hiding behind my sketch pad anymore. I tossed it and my broken pencil onto my nightstand. “Luke may love me, but he’s not exactly thoughtful.”

Lila lay down beside me and took my hand. “True. He’s self-absorbed and has a one-track mind—anything that pleases him. But you have feelings for him.”

“But I’m not ‘in’ with him.” Not like I was “in” with Noah either. I internally sighed. God forbid I go three seconds without brooding over Noah.

“Noah’s hot,” said Lila, “but you know that’s not going anywhere. You just got your life back. Dating him would be a social nightmare. Besides, you don’t have feelings for him.”

He’d shared his hamburger with me and made me laugh. Not polite laugh. Not fake laugh. Like laugh so loud people stare at you. Spit-out-your-milk-through-your-nose laugh. And I’d told him about my mom and he’d found a way to make me feel better.

“Echo,” said Lila sternly. “Please tell me you don’t have feelings for this guy.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled. “He isn’t going to the Valentine’s Dance.”

“Yeah. That was a totally weird answer, but I’ll take it. So, topic switch. You need to be on birth control.”

Twice in one day I found myself sympathizing with a goldfish. “No. I don’t.”

“Yes. You do. I’ll bet my Big Buddha bag that you’ll join the rest of the lunch table and have done the deed by graduation. With who, I don’t know.” She immediately whispered, “Luke,” before returning to her normal tone. “But you definitely need to be on birth control.”

Birth control? Birth control meant talking about sex, and I counted myself lucky as I’d avoided the sex talk with any parental figure. “My dad is gonna freak.”

Lila rolled off the bed, grabbed my hand and dragged me up. “Oh, no, sista, we’re not hitting up Daddy. Let’s go dress shopping!”

FIVE TORTUROUS HOURS LATER, Ashley and Lila finally agreed on my homecoming dress. Unless I planned on appearing like the mother of the bride, I couldn’t find a dress with long sleeves. We settled on a black satin strapless dress, midthigh skirt, with matching black satin gloves that reached to my biceps.

Lila and I sipped our lattes at a table in the food court while Ashley finished paying the barista.

“Now,” whispered Lila.

“Now what?” My feet and head hurt.

“Stepmom is all giddy from girl day. Keep to the script and you’ll be fine.”

My eyes widened. Oh, crap. Now as in this was the moment we were going to con stepmom into putting me on birth control.

Ashley sat at our table. “I’ve had so much fun with you girls. Remember when we used to go shopping every weekend?”

Yeah. Before you stabbed my mom in the back by sleeping with my father. Lila kicked me under the chair. “I have painful periods.”

My leg throbbed as Lila took another whack. Ashley blinked, obviously startled. “Excuse me?”

Lila cleared her throat. “What I think Echo meant to say was that we’re thrilled to be spending time with you because there’s an issue she needs to discuss. A girlie thing. You know, like a men-don’t-understand type of thing. See, over the past year her periods have become very heavy and the cramping has gotten worse. Right, Echo?”