closer, and the waft of her scent drifted across my face, getting inside me with every breath. “Tell me you’re not freaked out about this, Tesla.”
It took a little more than a proposition to freak me out, of course, but it touched me that Meredith was worried. “I’m not freaked. Just surprised, that’s all. And flattered, I guess.”
Her smile got a little bigger. She said nothing, and the silence grew in the space between us until I felt compelled to break it with something witty or clever, if only I could think of something to say. There was nothing I could give her except a smile in return, but Meredith didn’t seem to mind.
“It would be fun,” she said. “I promise.”
I’d heard that before.
Chapter 12
“I t’ll be fun,” Chance told me. “I promise.”
In my short experience with the brothers Murphy the promise of fun could be counted on if you considered illicit sex and sneaking around fun, which I guess I did at the time. Chance’s promises, on the other hand, weren’t quite as reliable. It wasn’t so much that he was deliberately false, just that he was easily distracted. He was trying to get me to agree to go to the Christmas dance with him.
Just him.
Chase would be going with Becka Miller. She was on the girls’ basketball team, was a good six inches taller than me and wore her bland, brown hair cropped short in a style that was in no way half as cute as a pixie cut. I’d never said more than a couple of words to her and frankly, that was the way I wanted to keep it. Becka Miller was a jock who could pound me into next week if she wanted to, and since her temper was as ugly as her haircut, I wasn’t going to risk giving her a reason to want to.
Also, really, the Christmas dance? I couldn’t have thought of anything I wanted to do less than put on a semiformal dress and buy a dead flower to stick on the front of his sport jacket, then go to dinner at the IHOP and dance to music that would surely suck while couples who were “in love” gyrated all around us.
Not with Chance Murphy, anyway.
To my surprise, because he wasn’t the sort of guy I’d ever thought would care about dumb shit like that, Vic told me I should go. He was at the stove, mixing up some instant stuffing to go with the pork chops we were having for dinner. I’d made up some of those instant biscuits that come in a tube, and Cap was off somewhere doing Cap stuff, like lifting weights or possibly deconstructing string theory, who the hell knew with him. We had a little, unconventional family, but even so, I wasn’t expecting Vic to offer me paternal advice.
“You might have fun,” he said.
“That’s what Chance said.” I put out the butter, some forks and plates.
Vic turned, stirring the stuffing with a wooden spoon that probably harbored an army of bacteria. “And you don’t believe him?”
Of course, I hadn’t told Vic about what was really going on before and after the tutoring sessions, and all the times I told him I was going to tutor them and didn’t even crack a book. So now I carefully didn’t look at him as I finished setting the table. “Not sure.”
“Tesla,” Vic said, but stopped.
I still didn’t look at him. I pretended I didn’t know he was staring at me as I rummaged in the fridge for some salad and drinks. But he was still staring when I finally had to close the door and turn around.
“It might be good for you,” Vic said.
I greeted that with a curled lip. “What—the Christmas dance? Are you kidding me? Really?”
“Going out with a guy, having a good time. Doing something…normal.”
The bottle of ranch dressing clattered on the table as I finally faced him. “I’m not normal, Vic. Me and Cap, not normal. You, not normal.” I gestured around the kitchen. “None of this is normal. And you’re really the only one who seems to have a problem with it.”
His face got hard then, and while most of the time Vic’s gaze was guileless, now it was scary fierce.
It took a little more than a proposition to freak me out, of course, but it touched me that Meredith was worried. “I’m not freaked. Just surprised, that’s all. And flattered, I guess.”
Her smile got a little bigger. She said nothing, and the silence grew in the space between us until I felt compelled to break it with something witty or clever, if only I could think of something to say. There was nothing I could give her except a smile in return, but Meredith didn’t seem to mind.
“It would be fun,” she said. “I promise.”
I’d heard that before.
Chapter 12
“I t’ll be fun,” Chance told me. “I promise.”
In my short experience with the brothers Murphy the promise of fun could be counted on if you considered illicit sex and sneaking around fun, which I guess I did at the time. Chance’s promises, on the other hand, weren’t quite as reliable. It wasn’t so much that he was deliberately false, just that he was easily distracted. He was trying to get me to agree to go to the Christmas dance with him.
Just him.
Chase would be going with Becka Miller. She was on the girls’ basketball team, was a good six inches taller than me and wore her bland, brown hair cropped short in a style that was in no way half as cute as a pixie cut. I’d never said more than a couple of words to her and frankly, that was the way I wanted to keep it. Becka Miller was a jock who could pound me into next week if she wanted to, and since her temper was as ugly as her haircut, I wasn’t going to risk giving her a reason to want to.
Also, really, the Christmas dance? I couldn’t have thought of anything I wanted to do less than put on a semiformal dress and buy a dead flower to stick on the front of his sport jacket, then go to dinner at the IHOP and dance to music that would surely suck while couples who were “in love” gyrated all around us.
Not with Chance Murphy, anyway.
To my surprise, because he wasn’t the sort of guy I’d ever thought would care about dumb shit like that, Vic told me I should go. He was at the stove, mixing up some instant stuffing to go with the pork chops we were having for dinner. I’d made up some of those instant biscuits that come in a tube, and Cap was off somewhere doing Cap stuff, like lifting weights or possibly deconstructing string theory, who the hell knew with him. We had a little, unconventional family, but even so, I wasn’t expecting Vic to offer me paternal advice.
“You might have fun,” he said.
“That’s what Chance said.” I put out the butter, some forks and plates.
Vic turned, stirring the stuffing with a wooden spoon that probably harbored an army of bacteria. “And you don’t believe him?”
Of course, I hadn’t told Vic about what was really going on before and after the tutoring sessions, and all the times I told him I was going to tutor them and didn’t even crack a book. So now I carefully didn’t look at him as I finished setting the table. “Not sure.”
“Tesla,” Vic said, but stopped.
I still didn’t look at him. I pretended I didn’t know he was staring at me as I rummaged in the fridge for some salad and drinks. But he was still staring when I finally had to close the door and turn around.
“It might be good for you,” Vic said.
I greeted that with a curled lip. “What—the Christmas dance? Are you kidding me? Really?”
“Going out with a guy, having a good time. Doing something…normal.”
The bottle of ranch dressing clattered on the table as I finally faced him. “I’m not normal, Vic. Me and Cap, not normal. You, not normal.” I gestured around the kitchen. “None of this is normal. And you’re really the only one who seems to have a problem with it.”
His face got hard then, and while most of the time Vic’s gaze was guileless, now it was scary fierce.
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