Free In Every Way by Amy Sparling Page A

What exactly does that mean?
    I swallow. “Well, uh, I work on the strip, so I’m kind of busy a lot.”
    OMG, Bess, why did you say that?
    I should say YES I WOULD LOVE TO. But I can’t. It’s a trick, it has to be. Years of being ignored by attractive guys doesn’t just go away overnight. I mean, yeah, my new clothes are cute, but still. It doesn’t make sense.
    Josh nods. “Yeah, cool. It was just an idea. I mean, you seem cool, so. Ya know. Whenever you’re bored, come on by. I’m always at the Flying Mermaid.”
    I nod slowly. He doesn’t really seem like he’s pulling a prank on me. He kind of seems . . . sincere. But that can’t be. There’s no way.
    I try to look like I don’t care. “Yeah, maybe.”
    There’s a few seconds of silence where we’re both staring at each other in this way that’s polite and awkward. At first, he was glorious eye candy that I enjoyed looking at, but now it’s just weird. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, for him to burst out laughing and for some hidden cameraman to step out and say I’m on a reality show where hot guys pretend to be friends with girls like me.
    When none of that happens, I look down at my car keys. “I gotta go.”
    “Okay,” Josh says, rocking back on his heels. “Sorry again for the football. I’ll see you around?”
    “Sure,” I say, but it’s not exactly true. I’d bet my entire paycheck that the next time I run into Josh Graham, he’ll pretend I don’t exist.

Chapter 13
     

    It’s probably just my imagination, but Colby sounds far away when we talk on the phone. It’s like being on another continent has made his voice all well-traveled and mature, while I’m still just the guy from Texas who hasn’t done anything worthwhile.
    “I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you think it is,” Colby says after I’ve told him nearly every embarrassing detail about my exchange with Bess yesterday.
    “Dude. If anything, it was worse than I’m making it out to be. I chased after her when she was trying to leave. I made her stop and talk to me again.” I groan as heat rises into my cheeks. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since the football incident and I can’t stop replaying it all in my mind, reliving every stupid detail. There I was trying to flirt, and she wanted nothing to do with me. Why did I keep talking to her? Why couldn’t I have just left her alone the first time she tried to leave?
    This phone call was supposed to cheer me up. I’m sitting on the couch in my living room, waiting for the coffee to brew so I can take a thermos to work. Mom left early to go to her sister’s house for the day, and Dad is already at the shop waiting for an early delivery of more bathing suits.
    Colby assures me once more than I’m okay, but I’m not buying it. There’s some shuffling on the phone and then Maddie picks up.
    “Josh?”
    “Hey, Maddie. What’s up?”
    “I only heard Josh’s half of your conversation just now, so tell me what’s going on. I can give you a girl’s opinion.”
    An idea hits me now; Maddie is friends with Bess. “I uh, well,” I stutter into the phone as I try to decide what exactly I should tell Bess’s friend. On one hand, since they’re friends, I could ask Maddie to do some recon and find out if I even have a chance with Bess. On the other hand . . . if I spill my guts to Maddie and she tells Bess exactly how hard I’m crushing on her after only knowing her a few minutes, it might scare her away. I’d kind of rather assume she doesn’t like me than have Maddie ask and confirm it for good.
    Girls are sneaky, and even if I made Maddie promise not to tell Bess, she probably would. Girl code and all of that.
    I take a deep breath and make my choice. “I met this cute girl at the beach yesterday,” I tell her. She won’t find out this girl’s name, at least not now. I can’t trust her not to tell Bess, but I can trust her advice in general.
    After I explain the whole humiliating story