Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Malcolm?”
I nearly jump straight out of my pajamas at the sound of the voice. When I spin around, I find a figure in the dark living room, crouched over the coffee table in front of the sofa. He’s holding a phone in his hand which he’s using as a flashlight.
Then I realize with a start who it is. “B-Bobby …?”
He shines the phone on his face and gives me a smile—which looks eerie with the strange source of light. “Hey, Malcolm. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, it’s …” Oh my god, he’s seeing me in pajamas. No one sees me in pajamas. “I was just coming down for some water.”
“Don’t mind me. I’m just …” Bobby sighs as he puts a hand to his forehead. “Jimmy thinks he left his wallet here. I have no idea where his head’s at half the time other than up his own ass.”
I try to laugh at that, then wonder if it was meant to be funny and choke myself into silence. “I … I hope you find it.”
“His head or his wallet?” Bobby chuckles, then sighs again. “I have been turning this living room over and over. I think it’s a lost cause. His wallet’s probably left in the pocket of his jeans, rolled up into a ball he pitched at the laundry basket by the washer.” He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Don’t ever get married. Don’t even get engaged, Malcolm, it’s a trap, I’m telling you.”
I smile flatly. “Well … good luck with the wallet-hunting.” I go to the kitchen.
Just after I fetch a glass from the cupboard, Bobby appears at the counter. “Hey, Malcolm?”
I set down the glass and lift an eyebrow. “Yes?”
Bobby appears to gather his thoughts. “I was just … I just …” He swallows. “Are things okay between us? You and me?”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” I ask too stiffly.
“I feel like we never really got the closure we deserved. From our date. Can we call that a date? Yes,” he decides at once. “It was a date. A … An incomplete date. Half a date, maybe.”
Bobby’s in light blue jeans with a belt and a loose, half-tucked t-shirt. His hair is a slightly messy version of the way it was styled earlier for the party. He’s all kinds of cute right now.
He’s all kinds of what I don’t need right now. “No need for closure or anything. It was just a botched date, that’s all.”
“It may seem strange, but I do sometimes still think about it. How I ditched you right in the middle of it all. How I didn’t tell you about Jimmy driving me there, then proceeding to … hand-signal me from the back of the restaurant. It was such a mess. You didn’t deserve any of it.”
I’m not sure I knew about the hand-signaling. “It’s okay.”
“Really, you deserve so much more.”
“It’s okay,” I insist, a touch firmer. “I forgive you, Bobby. I do. It was a very long—” Feels like yesterday. “—time ago. I barely think about it.” I think about it all the time.
Bobby considers that for a moment. Finally, the tension drops from his face, as if he’s at last allowed himself to feel relief. “You know what? That night, Jimmy and I had our first real kiss.”
I don’t want to hear this. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. In the parking lot. It was … It was the kind of kiss that changes your life. You realize from that moment onward, nothing will be the same.” Bobby puts a hand to his own chest and smiles, drawn back to that moment. Then he eyes me. “You deserve that.”
I fidget with the empty glass in my hand, looking anywhere but him. “Thanks, Bobby, but—”
“I always thought you were an amazing guy. Maybe we didn’t click on our date, but … maybe my heart was already distracted by someone else and I couldn’t give you a fair shot. You deserve a fair shot with someone whose heart can go all in for you, y’know?”
“We really don’t need to do this.”
“Okay. I’m overthinking. Rambling on. Got the hint, I’ll stop.” Bobby chuckles at himself, innocently lifts his hands, then winces. “I do that a lot. I overthink.”
He’s adorable when he overthinks. It was exactly how he was like on our date. Every answer required an excruciating amount of thought. It was my favorite thing about that night: watching him think between his bites, the way his forehead scrunched up and his baby blue eyes sparkled in the dim lighting of the restaurant.
“Anyway!” Bobby laughs it all off. “I’ll let you be. I’m sure you want to get your rest. I appreciate everything you and your dad are doing. The food tonight was amazing. Compliments showered everywhere. Even Jimmy’s grandma is here from out of town and she loved everything—and she’s not one to hold back on criticism.”