Free Spill Over by Jolene Perry

the boat.
    “Wha’cha up to?” she asks.
    “Was texting a crazy girl who was standing a few feet from me,” I tease. I t feels good to have her here— the girl that’s making me slowly insane.
    “I didn’t want you to be mad .” Her brows come down and her mouth pulls into a small frown.
    I rub my hand over my head and let out a breath. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled.”
    “It’s okay.”
    “You don’t have to keep cutting me slack cause of…” Mom .
    “You’re right. And I should just make up my mind already, right?” It looks like she’s trying hard to smile, but failing miserably.
    “I’m not talking about this with you,” I say. Not about Amber with boys. Ever. At all. She’s too cool for me to think about her with someone else. Wait. Else. Lik e she should be with me. Yeah— Amber probably needs someone a lot different than me. And she’s definitely not like any girl I’ve been with, so the whole attraction t hing is still confusing the hell out of me.
    “Why not?”
    “Because I’m not at all qualified to give you any advice.” I smirk.
    We sit in silence. Staring until her eyes find her lap.
    Amber speaks first. “W anna get together tomorrow and d o schoolwork? I get bored doing it by myself.”
    I almost, almost make some s tupid comment about Kent, but keep it in. “Sure, that’d be nice.” Maybe a little like torture, since I have no idea what to make of this girl aside from me feel ing more than I should, but it’s distraction . Right now any distraction is a good thing.
    “Cool.” She stands up. “See you.”
    Her long legs walk past me, and I swear my fingers twitch wanting to touch her. “Don’t wear shorts.”
    “What?” She chuckles as she turns to hold the railing to go down the stairs to the dock.
    “You have great legs. I need to study. Don’t wear shorts.” I use all my willpower to keep my face straight.
    She holds in a smile as her cheeks turn pink. “Okay.”
    I love making her blush.
    - - -
    For almost a week Amber and I get together to do homework. It just sort of happens. I see her as I walk up for coffee , and then we end up on Dad’s boat, our school stuff spread out , and work for a while. This is something I’d do with Trace. He and I took the same classes this year , so we could do half the work. I know without asking that Amber wouldn’t split the homework load .
    Some days we t alk a little, and some days we barely talk at all . It’s so… off , being just friends with a girl like this, but she’s easy, so maybe it shouldn’ t be weird.
    Amber’s concentrat ing on her ancient laptop today, but her brows keep moving closer together , and her mouth is starting to pull into a frown.
    “What’s up?” I ask.
    “Just looking for something that never seems to come.” She lets out a sigh.
    “Oh.” I open my mouth to press her further, but don’t. “You okay?”
    “I’m okay about almost everything.” Her eyes find mine over the top of my computer , and I swear she has tears ready to fall . “But not about this.”
    “Are you being mysterious on purpose?” I raise a brow, trying to keep the mood light.
    “I’m going to guess there are a few things you don’t like to talk about.” Her expression is unreadable, flat.
    “A few,” I agree. It’s just Amber always seems so light and happy. I have to admit I’m totally curious. Now I can have a purpose to being around her, aside from simply liking being around her. That feels way safer.
    “Well, this is one of mine.” She flips her laptop closed with too much force and runs her hand through her hair to keep it off her face.
    “Fair enough.” And I kind of like that there’s something I really want to know about her, even if it’s somethin g she doesn’t want to tell me. Or m aybe this is just how my relationship with her will go. Me wanting a little more than she’s willing to give.
    That’s a pretty damn sobering thought.
    - - -
    I step out of the coffee shop with