Page 29 of More For Me

Bodhi

Imagine my surprise when Fox texts Everly as we drive to the restaurant. She makes an unhappy little noise as she reads the message and I tighten my hands on the steering wheel.

“Let me guess,” I say. “He’s not coming either.”

“Nope. He says he has a late meeting. Which doesn’t even make sense. We work together. What meeting would he have without me and Alex?”

I know exactly what meeting Fox has—a completely bullshit one. Just like whatever excuse Alex and Wyatt gave. And I would bet my savings account we’re going to hear from Will and River before we get there.

I’m going to kill them. Seriously. What the hell did I ever do to them? After Alex’s ridiculous attempts at getting us alone for a coffee “date” in the park, I texted the rest of them and told them in no uncertain terms that I was done with their little game. No one responded. At the time I thought maybe, just maybe, they were taking me seriously. Now it’s obvious that they just moved their scheming to another group thread. One I was not invited to join.

I’m going to have to tell her,I think, my stomach growing more sour with every mile we travel closer to the restaurant. There’s no way she’s not going to be suspicious when we get there and it’s just the two of us. In a private fucking room, no less. I should have known that was what they were planning when they first mentioned it.

God, this is going to suck. I could try to pass the blame entirely to her cousins. I certainly didn’t encourage any of this. But Everly knows me too well. As soon as I tell her they’re trying to get us together, she’s going to be able to read it in my face. I might not have encouraged their planning, but I am the cause for it. Because they all know exactly how I feel about her.

And I’m afraid that before the night is over, she’s going to know it, too.

Maybe it won’t be so bad. Maybe she’ll just laugh about it and we can move on.

Or maybe,a stupid little voice in my head whispers,she’ll tell you she wants more too.

It’s a bad idea to get my hopes up. I know this. But there was a moment just now, in her room, when I helped her with her necklace. I didn’t imagine that. I know I didn’t.

I probably shouldn’t have tried the stupid shirt-sleeve trick. I figured Rose was full of shit at the wedding when she said that Everly would be into it. But then Everly had to come downstairs with those two dresses. The green one was nice enough—I’m pretty sure it’s the one she wore to Rose and Leo’s engagement party. But that blue dress.

That goddamn blue dress.

As soon as she held it up, I knew exactly how it would look on her. Knew the exact point it would dip to on her chest. Could close my eyes and catalog every curve it revealed. She wore that dress to my birthday dinner last year, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

I should have picked green just to save my sanity. But the head above my neck apparently wasn’t doing the thinking for us, because I blurted out blue before I could stop myself. Then I had to sit there on the couch and imagine her upstairs, doing her hair, putting on her makeup. Changing into that fucking dress.

Rolling up my shirtsleeves was a bit of desperation. I would have been willing to try just about anything to get her attention. And fuck me if it hadn’t worked.

I know Everly Ransome. I can read every expression she’s ever worn. Sometimes it feels like I can read her thoughts. And when she looked at me tonight? I could read it loud and clear—she felt something. And she felt something when I stood close to help with her necklace. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from touching the thick waves of her hair, her silky skin.

She shivered when I touched her. Her breath was shaky. She had goosebumps. I know I didn’t imagine that.

“You’re being awful quiet,” she murmurs, and I shake my head, eager to rid myself of the memory of what it felt like to touch her. And the thought of what might have happened next if Alex hadn’t picked that moment to call.

“Work stuff,” I mutter, knowing it’s a dumb excuse but not having the ability to come up with anything else when my brain is spinning like this.

She shifts in her seat, turning herself to face me. “What kind of work stuff. You want to talk it through?”

How in the hell am I supposed to resist this girl? Everly Ransome is used to people with glamorous, exciting jobs. Her dad and uncles are rock stars. Her mom does graphic design for huge companies. Alex’s mom, Karen, is a famous photographer. And there’s Everly herself. An up and coming fashion designer with her own store and a popular show on TV.

Then there’s me. The middle school English teacher.

But Everly has never, not even once, made me feel like my job is less than. My yearly salary is probably the equivalent to what Reed Ransome’s record label makes in a morning. But Everly doesn’t give a shit about that. She sees my career as every bit as important as anyone else she knows. She’s always there for me to talk through issues with students or administration. She helps me brainstorm lessons. She’s even graded papers when I’ve been really overloaded and not able to watchThe Bachelorwith her.

“Bodhi?” she presses. “Talk to me.”

Without thinking, I reach over and cover her hand with mine. “You’re a really good friend, Lele. Have I ever told you that?”

If she can read the depth of the emotion in my voice, she doesn’t show it. Instead she just laughs, and brings her other hand up to pat mine. “You have, but definitely not enough. I demand professions of your appreciation on a daily basis.”

I grin in the darkness of my Jeep, no longer feeling so sick about whatever we’re going to find at this restaurant. How can I feel anything but calm with my hand sandwiched between hers, the echo of her soft laughter all around me?

We pull up to the restaurant a few minutes later and I’m actually a little shocked when we see River and Jasmine milling around outside the front door. Is it possible the others cancelling was actually a coincidence?