Free In Every Way by Amy Sparling

“Um, sure. Maybe.”
    A knot forms in my stomach. That’s a blow off if I’ve ever seen one. This girl is totally not into me.
    Suck it up, Josh.
    I walk her to the back door of the shop and we step out onto the strip. “Sorry again for hitting you with a football,” I say, shoving my hands in my pockets as I walk next to her.
    “It was an accident. And you’ve more than made up for it,” she says, flashing me that adorable smile again. “Tell your boss thanks for the first aid stuff.”
    “Technically I am the boss.” The words fly out, and they’re not entirely true . . . but I can’t help myself. I want to impress her so badly. “My family owns the store,” I say by way of explanation.
    Her expression goes from confused to understanding, and I’m not sure what she has to be confused or understanding about. Maybe she’s just ready to get rid of me. She takes her car keys out of her purse. “Okay. Well, bye.”
    She gives me a little half-hearted wave and then heads straight for the parking lot, leaving me standing there looking and feeling like the biggest tool. I laid it on pretty thick back there and she didn’t flirt with me at all. I guess all of the best girls are too good for me. Maybe I am doomed to be single forever.

Chapter 12
     

    It’s truly remarkable how pathetic I can be. I was pelted with a football and here I am reeling with excitement over getting five minutes of attention from one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met. Of course I would have to get injured to receive attention from a guy. Of course.
    But it all makes sense now. His parents own a store, the place directly in front of where he hit me with a ball. At first I couldn’t believe he was being so caring and attentive, acting like he truly felt bad that I’d been hit. It was only an accident, so what’s the big deal?
    But now I get it. He’s probably terrified I’ll try to sue his family’s store because I was injured.
    That’s the only explanation.
    I don’t know why I’m even letting myself get disappointed by this. Obviously a hot guy wouldn’t care about me unless there was something bad that could happen to him. Still, I grip my car keys as I walk across the boardwalk. Even though it was all an act so he wouldn’t get in trouble, I can pretend he was a friend, a real friend. That the shiver I got when his fingertips grazed my skin meant something more.
    I sigh. I don’t even remember the last time a guy touched me. A girl could really get used to having a guy take care of her cuts and bruises with such precision and tenderness.
    “Hey, Bess?”
    I stop. Turn around slowly.
    Josh is jogging up to me in the parking lot. He still doesn’t have a shirt on, and it’s the hottest thing ever.
    “Yeah?” I say, wondering why he bothered running out here after me. Our business together was finished. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” he says quickly as his footsteps slow to a walk. Then he’s right here in front of me again, all gorgeous and grinning in a way that makes my toes tingle. “I was just thinking, uh, you should come by the shop sometime.”
    “Why?”
    Damn, that sounded rude, and I didn’t mean for it to be rude, but—uh, what exactly am I supposed to say to that? “I’m not going to sue you or anything,” I say with a snort. “I’m barely hurt. It’s not a big deal.”
    “No, um, I was just thinking,” he says, stopping to shove his hands in the pockets of his board shorts. “Since you’re friends with Maddie and I’m friends with Colby, and they’re both out of the country . . .”
    “Yeah?” I say just to urge him along. He’s taking entirely too long to spit out whatever he’s going to say. Maybe he doesn’t believe I’m actually friends with Maddie.
    “You should just come by the shop and hang out. I’m bored without my best friend. Maybe we can hang out until they’re back?”
    My heart does a backflip and then immediately races so fast I’m afraid I might pass out.