Relying On Ben and Jerry (Waltham #1)

Chapter Twenty-Three: When It Happens

“I’m actually kind of surprised that you’re here,” Quinton told me the second that he closed the door behind us, cutting off the constant sound of party and questionable tastes of music, leaving us in the soothing silence of the outside neighborhood around us. I inhaled a large gust of chilly air before turning toward him, giving him a shrug.

“My parent’s think I’m at Kline’s,” I replied lamely, and he chuckled.

“Ah, that old trick,” he responded. “And what did you tell Kline’s parents?”

“That we were going to go get drunk off of our faces and sleep with a bunch of random dudes.”

He blinked. “Ah,” he said. “That old trick.”

I laughed and shook my head, glancing over at him so that he would catch my grin. “You think you’re pretty sly, huh?”

“Nah,” he disagreed. “I was born with major swag.”

I burst out laughing and buried my head in my hands, and he joined me. I reached out and pushed him as we got to the sidewalk, grinning widely. “Sometimes I wonder how you possibly have friends.”

“That hurts, Lena. Right here,” he told me, poking himself in the chest.

“Poor baby,” I cooed in a baby voice, and his nose immediately wrinkled up.

“That voice is extremely unattractive,” he replied. “Actually, it’s a lot more terrifying than unattractive, I take that back.”

“Your words,” I mocked as I grabbed at my heart, and he retaliated by shoving me softly, just a nudge, while he laughed at my antics. He grinned over at me and I shot a similar smile back, unable to help myself.

Unable to understand how a little moment like this could make my heart beat this fast.

Our laughter wandered off somewhere into the darkness, so we walked the streets in silence for a long moment, finding it comfortable just to walk next to each other the same way that it was when we worked in class, even though I would have thought it would be different when we were alone. I realized that we hardly ever ran out of things to talk about—there was always something to bring up, and we were always talking. It had taken me this long just to realize that his company even made me want to smile without a word spoken.

And yeah, it kind of freaked me out a bit. I didn’t know what that meant, and I was almost afraid to jump to conclusions.

I glanced over at Quinton only to find him already looking at me. We both turned red and looked away, down at my ripped and torn pair of trusty Converse, my teeth immediately moving to chew on my lip. I kicked nervously at a rock absently, only noticing when it flew in a totally other direction than what I had been aiming for and slammed into Quinton’s shin. He jumped, stumbling in surprise.

“Sorry!” I quickly apologized, turning an even brighter red if that was possible. “I wasn’t aiming for you, I swear!”

“I believe you,” he told me, wincing as he rubbed his leg. “I don’t think my calf does, though.”

“I’m sorry, Quinton’s calf,” I replied, directing it down at his leg, and he laughed.

“The poor sap can’t resist your charms,” he told me, shaking his head mournfully as he grinned. “Sucker’s a goner.”

“In that case, I would like to apologize for that as well, calf,” I said.

“Do you try to do it?” he demanded all of a sudden, looking at me curiously. I blinked, confused, and I tilted my head inquiringly.