Reckless Abandon (November Blue, #2)(33)

by the end of the summer. Shit, Monica’s calling. I’ll call you later, K?”

“I can’t wait until Friday. I’ll look at my schedule and call you later about when I can come to town—Monday or Tuesday. Bye.”

Grinning with satisfaction, I click over to Monica.

“Hey lady, it’s early. Shouldn’t you be busy making sweet engaged love or something?” I giggle.

“We’ve got that covered, don’t you worry. I was calling to hear about last night, seeing Bo play. You sounded stressed right out

when I called last night.” Monica’s tone is full of concern. She can’t even bask in the wild love of her engagement without

checking up on me.

“I threw up.”

“You threw up?”

“Yes, I threw up. When I got off the phone with you, I was sitting with Bo, Rae, and Regan. Bo was playing friends perfectly. I

got all sweaty, ran in the bathroom, and threw up.” I shake my head at the recollection.

“Shit, that sucks. I’m really sorry.”

“Oh, no, that’s not the best part.”

“I figured as much with you.” I can almost hear Monica rolling her eyes.

“When I was done throwing up, Rae came in, hugged me, and told me to try to be Bo’s friend. She said he f*cking loves me, that

she thinks I love him, and said Bo will take being my friend if that means I’m still in his life.”

Crickets.

“Monica?”

“I ...”

“Whatever, it’s fine. I’ll figure it out. Look, I really need to talk to you about something, but I want to do it in person. So

hurry your happy ass over here when you get home, OK?”

“Great. I’ll be over this afternoon. Love you.”

“Love you too, Mon.”

It’s time to come clean with her about Adrian. No one else needs to know anything but, frankly, I’m going to be in deep enough

water as it is for withholding our “first kiss” from her, let alone Saturday night. I can’t make up excuses as to why I need to

travel alone to Concord. I like my new route home too much. I stare at the phone in my hand, clenching my jaw at what I’m about to

do. When I push send, it’s already a bad idea, and already too late. It needs to be done, however. He can’t be the one tossing

balls in my court all the time.

“Hello?” His voice sounds thoroughly confused.

“Hey Bo, it’s November.”

“Hi.” The smile in his voice pricks tiny holes in my heart. Tiny, but holes, nonetheless.

“I just wanted to apologize for getting weird last night. Rae talked some sense into me. You’re lucky to have her.”

“Don’t worry about it—it’ll take some time for us to get used to being friends.” The smile sounds like it’s disappeared, and

his use of the word “friends” sounds as smooth coming from his lips as every other word in that sentence. It sounds like he’s

already gotten used to it.

“OK, so, I’ll see you Wednesday. We have a few potential donors checking out the site on Thursday.”

“Excellent. See you Wednesday, Ember.”

Click.

My phone stares back at me with an arched eyebrow. You agreed to be friends, what’s with the sinking feeling in your gut, missus?

I slide it onto my dresser and shower in preparation for my chat with Monica later. That should be fun.



*



Bo



“Rae?” I holler upstairs from the studio.

“In the living room. Get your ass up here if you want to talk to me.”

Grinning, I take the stairs two at a time. Rae’s matured a lot in the last couple of years, which also means she doesn’t take my

shit like she used to. I turn the corner and find her washing the windows.

“What’d you and November talk about last night in the bathroom?” Folding my arms, I lean against the doorframe. Rae pauses her

circular motion against the glass, in thought, before resuming her task.

“Nothing, really. Why?” She shrugs but doesn’t look over her shoulder to make eye contact with me.

“Well, she just called me, and—”

“Ember just called you?” Now she makes eye contact.

I nod. “She apologized for acting strange last night but said you set her straight.”

A knowing smile waltzes across Rae’s lips. “I just told her you truly were interested in being friends, and she seemed to

understand. What? What’s with that look on your face?”

“So she thinks I want to be friends with her?” The back of my neck screams with heat. I don’t want to be friends with her.

“You do, don’t you? You can’t profess your love for her every day. If she loves you the way you love her, and the way you think

she loves you, it’ll happen. Be friends with her and leave it alone, Bo.”

“You know I’m in love with her, Rae. It drives me mad when I’m away from her, but it’s almost worse when I’m with her.”

Rae’s eyes assess my words in the distance somewhere.

“I know you do, Bo. It kills me that this is killing you. But, the fact is, she’s great for DROP, I want to be her friend, and—