Page 60 of Say You'll Stay

“Where are we going?”

“Lunch and then I’ll take you home.”

She purses her lips together, and digs through her purse, pulling out an opened card. “Want to see a movie?”

I don’t know what I did to get this damn lucky today, but I’m sure as hell glad it’s raining and that she got a flat tire. “Absolutely.”

It’s like the date I probably would have and should have taken her on had we done this right. We share an Allie-approved popcorn in a relatively empty theater and I spend two hours fighting some stupid move like the yawn-stretch before my arm “accidentally” ends up around her and wondering what color she had her toes painted.

Red, she tells me, when I finally give in and ask her. She had them painted red.

The rain stopped while we were inside, and I take her for a smoothie. Our time is probably up, but I’ll milk it for however long I can.

“You get anything for your birthday?” She has the straw between her lips and starts choking. “Are you alright?”

“Mhm,” she shakes her head. “Nothing.”

Her eyes move all over the inside of the shop suspiciously, and I see the lie like a bright neon sign on her forehead. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

She says it a little too quickly. “Did Ted say something?” I don’t even need an excuse, but I’ll take whatever just to punch him in the face.

“What? No. I mean, we haven’t talked. It’s...” she has a dry, sarcastic laugh. “We’re friends, right?”

For now. “Yeah?” What the hell is wrong?

She leans across the table and curls her finger at me. Fuck, does she want to kiss me? I lean in and wait for her to make her move when she does nothing of the sort.

“Charity,” she whispers, “got me a...” Her head falls to the table momentarily, and she giggles before she picks herself back up. “She got me a...”

“What?”

She giggles again and sits back before she pulls out her phone. She types something into it and shows me the screen for something on a website. “I can’t even say it without feeling awkward.”

“A vibrator?”

“Shh!” she waves her hands around. “Someone will hear you!”

“Who? No one is here.”

The way she is overly embarrassed about it is exactly like her. I lean forward and meet her halfway to whisper. “Are you saying you’ve never used one?”

I know she hasn’t had sex with Ted. So what the hell does she do when the mood hits her? Does she use her fingers?

“Of course not!”

Oh, she’s cute. “Do you just use your hand?”

“Lucas!” Her whispering yell almost becomes an actual yell. “I have to throw it away, but I can’t just toss it at home without my dad seeing it in the trash can.”

I’m going to bite a hole in my cheek from trying not to laugh at her, but it’s Allie. “Do you want me to get rid of it for you?”

Her eyes go wide, and it’s becoming a challenge not to sit here and hold myself together thinking about her using it. “You would do that for me?”

I’d do anything for her. “Or you could toss it at work.”

“We work at a school! Are you insane?”