“Even hot naked girls? Why? ” Javier is aghast.
“Because photos of naked fifteen-year-olds are not something you want to keep, even if they say they’re eighteen.”
“Yeah, I guess not.” He grimaces, but doesn’t look convinced.
“Hi, Reid.” Speak of the underage devil.
“Hey, Gabriel e. This is Javier.”
Javier’s eyes widen slightly, taking her in. She smiles and chirps, “Hi.” While he checks her out, she turns back to me. “So, Dori’s boyfriend showed up again. God, he’s so boring.”
Boyfriend? “What?”
She blinks innocently. “Her boyfriend, Nick—he was here like a week or so ago? I’m going to kil myself if I have to work with the two of them all freaking afternoon.” She glances towards the back door. “God, there they are.” I’m staring when Dori locks eyes with me. Nick is the guy Dori sat next to at lunch during the first week. The one with the poor conversation skil s. She breaks eye contact with me and turns to direct him to the line, her hand on his arm as he drones on about something. This guy is her boyfriend? You’ve got to be shitting me. He looks like he just stepped out of a nerd sitcom, where he plays the character who constantly manages to destroy his chances to hook up with anyone.
And then I wonder if nerds are what floats Dori’s boat, because I’ve heard that some girls are like that.
Javier invites another frat guy to join us. We al sit on the edge of the patio to eat, and Gabriel e is flushed and talkative, relishing the male-to-female ratio. Javier and his friend Kyle are more than happy to accommodate her, and while I appear to do the same, I’m watching Dori and Nick.
Her smiles seem real and her body language is relaxed; when their knees brush or he leans forward to say something, she doesn’t pul back or shy away. He’s not hot, but not repulsive. But there’s no observable chemistry between them, not even guarded touches… and she’s sneaking looks in my direction every few minutes while I appear to be engrossed in whatever Gabriel e is babbling about.
Lunch is almost over when Dori glances over once more, and this time I stare back. Her eyes widen almost imperceptibly, and while she returns my gaze, I count five long seconds. As a slow smile steals across my face, she snaps her attention back to her boyfriend—if that’s what he is—and doesn’t look my way again.
*** *** ***
Dori
Minutes after Reid left the room this morning, Nick showed up, determined to make up for canceling our plans Saturday and spoiling my night. When I assured him again that he did no such thing, he ducked his head shyly and admitted that he just wanted an excuse to see me, and if a little manual labor was al it took, he was up for it. He’s so sincere and sweet that I wish for the hundredth time that I felt more for him than an intense admiration of his character and a mild attraction to his person.
Gabriel e was her usual crabby self al morning, but with Nick helping out I found her tormented sighs humorous. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud during the first interaction between the two of them.
While I attached outlet covers, Nick was on the ladder, connecting the heating and A/C vent. “Hey, Gabby—can you hand me that set of driver bits please?”
“The. Name. Is. Gabrielle.” She glared at him, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
Nick blinked at her vehement tone, then smiled. “Oh, sorry. Gabrielle, please hand me that set of driver bits?” She spun around, grabbing the package from the floor and slapping it into his open hand. “God,” she said under her breath.
“Thanks, Gabriel e.” He smiled again, which seemed to infuriate her further.
Nick’s presence helps keep me focused on work, but doesn’t inhibit the scenes from Reid’s movie that have been on a constant loop in my head since yesterday been on a constant loop in my head since yesterday afternoon. I didn’t know anything about School Pride before we went, while Aimee and Kayla had parts of it memorized.
The premise was a bit sil y—a present day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, set in a high school—but casting Reid as an arrogant Wil Darcy was genius. His natural self-assurance was easy to see in the heated scenes between Reid and his costar, Emma Pierce. And when he kissed her, I swear I felt it. Ugh.
When we went outside for lunch, my attention was drawn to him repeatedly, sitting with Gabriel e and two of our fraternity volunteers from UCLA.
Nick was talking about a mission trip he did earlier this summer to Honduras. “…because fifty percent of the population is under the poverty line—can you imagine?”
“Uh, wow, that’s appal ing.” My eyes drifted to the other side of the patio. The first half dozen times I looked, Reid didn’t notice. That last time, though, his dark blue eyes locked with mine. My pulse gal oped. And then his mouth kicked up on one side and I had no choice but to rip my gaze from his.
I stared into Nick’s eyes, thankful for his comforting voice, his gentle smile. And I fought the magnetic pul of the boy sitting across the yard who is everything I do not need and should not want.
***
I’m up late, compiling a list of stuff to pack for my mission trip when Deb cal s. As soon as I say hel o, she says, “Dori, he kissed me,” sounding like the giddy girl she never was, rather than the capable, independent woman who earned the title of doctor two months ago.
“Who—old doc Bradford?” I can’t help teasing her.
“He’s thirty-one!”