“The usual. Tomorrow morning, Wednesday afternoon, and Friday morning. I might pick up another one depending on timing. I’m pretty open this week.”
I nod a few times, putting the dishes into the dishwasher. “I think I’m going to be studying with Gemma on Wednesday night actually, I was gonna ask if you wanted to do tutoring on Thursday night instead.”
“No,” he says, immediately. Sharply. Disarmingly enough that I look up at him. “Sorry, no. I’m busy.”
“But you just said—”
“Yeah, but I meant during the day. Thursday night, I’m busy.” He’s stepping awkwardly back and forth between his feet and it’s so apparent that he’s uncomfortable. What isn’t he telling me?
“Busy doing what?”
Arden scoffs. “Don’t worry about it.” He turns to leave the kitchen but I grab his elbow, holding him in place.
“You’re the one who said we had to be honest with each other.”
“When did I say that?”
“When you found out that I was in a study group with Nico.”
“Right,” Arden runs his hand through his scalp. “I’ve got a scheduled phone call with my memaw. She’s not good with technology so Dad’s gonna help her set up a facetime and we’re gonna chat. It probably won’t be longer than an hour so we can study after.”
“Why was that such a secret?”
“It wasn’t.”
He’s acting so weird. I want to believe him but I just…don’t know. Something about this story is fishy. Arealgirlfriend would probably push him on it, but I’m not hisrealgirlfriend so, I decide to let it slide.
“Okay, Ard. Maybe after, then.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, seeming happier already.
The table is clear, the dishes are running in the dishwasher, and this is usually the part of the evening where we part ways to do our various nighttime activities before going to sleep in our separate rooms.
But that was before we started this friends with benefits business. Now…I don’t know how to act. He made me dinner, gave me time to relax, and now he’s looking at me like he wants to help me relax even further. And I want that too, more than fucking anything.
I open my mouth to say something flirty–which probably wouldn’t have been–but the feeling of vibration cuts me off.
The name that flashes on my phone gives my heart a brief stutter but I suppress it. Holding my phone up, I show him who’s calling.
“You should take that,” he says, disappointment heavy in his face.
“Yeah,” I say. I look back and forth between his eyes a few times before moving around him into my bedroom and closing the door. I hit accept at just the last minute and hold back my sigh.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Danika! Why haven’t you called me? I’ve been worried. You’ve been ignoring me.”
I roll my eyes, laying down on my bed. Might as well get cozy, this is going to be a long conversation. “I haven’t been ignoring you, Mom. I’ve been very busy with school work.”
“If you’re too busy to call your own mother then you need to rethink your schedule. Maybe you’re taking on too much.”
“I’m not–Mom, what’s up? How are you?” Turning the conversation toward her always gets the heat off of me. But it does open up a can of worms I’m pretty much never ready to open.
“Oh, honey. I’ve been very busy. There’s so much to do before the holidays and I have…” I’m sure she’s talking about her shopping addiction. I put the phone on speaker and rest it on my stomach. The ceiling looks so interesting right now. Much more interesting than whatever she’s blabbering on about.
“And your father wants—”
“I don’t care what my father wants,” I say, sharply.