In the Middle of Somewhere (Middle of Somewhere, #1)(72)

“Whoa, really? Hell yes. Teach me!” He does what is, perhaps, supposed to be some kind of martial arts punch-kick combination and nearly takes out both coffees again as he lurches toward me, light brown hair falling into his eyes.

“All right, Karate Kid. Some other time, though. If anyone sees us I’m going to look like I’m corrupting a minor.”

“I’m not a minor; I’m eighteen. Hey! Wasn’t his name Daniel?”

“Who?”

“The Karate Kid!”

“Call me Daniel-san and live to regret it,” I tell him with a growl.

I hand him his coffee and we keep walking. My phone rings and my heart lurches when I see that it’s Rex.

“Sorry,” I say to Leo and wave the phone, turning my back to him.

“Hi,” I say.

“Daniel.” Rex’s deep voice makes my heart pound. “I need to talk to you.” I don’t even realize my hand’s in a fist until I hear my knuckles crack.

“Mmhmm.”

“Listen, about Will. He showed up last night without telling me he was coming to town, okay. And you don’t have to worry about him. Not at all.”

“Look, Rex, it’s not a good time to talk right now, okay? I’m with Leo and I’m about to go to my office. Can we talk about it later?”

Rex’s voice is clipped when he answers. Annoyed? Anxious? I’m not sure, but I know I’m both.

“Yeah, of course,” he says. “Can you come over tonight? After you’re done with work? I’ll make us some dinner.” Damn it, the magic words.

“Yeah, I guess,” I say. “Hey, how’s your head?” I try to sound casual, like I’m just checking in on a friend.

“It’s much better. Thank you.” I can hear the smile in his voice and the knot in my stomach loosens a little. “Tonight,” he says again, as if he’s afraid I won’t remember. “Whenever you’re done, just come on over. You can work here, if you want. I’ll be home by three.”

“Okay,” I say again.

“Oh, and Daniel, I, um, I have the Internet—you know, in case you weren’t sure whether you could work here today because you need it. I have it now, so….” He sounds a little embarrassed.

“Oh, you do? Well, that’s… okay, cool,” I say. I guess he decided he needed it after all.

“I’ll see you later,” Rex says, his voice even deeper.

“Bye.”

I turn around to find Leo practically in my face. I forgot he was there.

“Are you dating Rex Vale?” Leo asks, his eyes wide.

“Would you quit eavesdropping!”

“I ain’t been droppin’ no eaves, sir, honest,” he says, in a dopey quasi-British accent.

“What are you—?”

“Hello! Sam, from The Fellowship of the Ring? Have you seen a movie released after 1985?”

I grumble something, feeling seriously old.

“So? Are you? Dating Rex Vale?”

“Kind of,” I mutter, more to myself than to him.

“Oh shit, you totally are.” He groans. “That is so incredibly hot.” He looks me up and down and smiles that smile that’s going to get him laid or laid out, depending. Me, I kind of want to punch him, but part of me can’t help but be a little impressed. He’s really elevated this whole small-town-gossip thing to an art form. It’s like he watches television and movies and then goes out and slots people in his real life into the roles. Hell, it’s probably what I would’ve done if I’d grown up somewhere like this where nothing happens.

“What do you know about it?” I ask him.

“Um, just that Rex is, like, the hot carpenter and you’re the hot tattooed bad boy and I’m seeing tools and—”

“Stop, stop, stop! Jesus, Leo. Ground rule: don’t ever talk about sex with my boyfriend again, got it?”

“Oh my god, he totally is your boyfriend,” Leo says softly. “Okay, fine, sure, no problem. I will totally not talk about you and Rex having sex—whoa: poetry.” The look on his face says, very clearly, “You can’t stop me from thinking about it, though.”

“Whatever,” I mutter. “I think some old boyfriend of his is back, anyway, so it probably won’t last long.” I sit down on the bench at the edge of campus, picking at the sleeve on my to-go cup, and Leo sits beside me, knee jiggling up and down. I can’t believe I’m talking about my romantic problems with an eighteen-year-old. Honestly, though, it’s like I’m talking to a younger version of myself, anyway. Besides, when I was eighteen, Ginger definitely told me about hers. Of course, at eighteen I had a job and my own apartment, hovel though it was.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I’m going over there after class today. I guess I’ll find out what the deal is then.”

“No way does he like someone else more than you, Daniel,” Leo says sincerely.

“Don’t say shit like that, man; you don’t know. No one knows why anyone likes anyone, and it’s a total f*cking mystery why Rex likes me.” I shake my head, frustrated.

“Well, what’d he say on the phone just now?”

“That we had to talk.”