Jenna shrugged. “There can’t be too much new stuff. We were just there.”

“Eating a soft pretzel and drinking a slushie while I get a pedicure, soaking my feet in a lavender footbath—”

“You’re a bitch.”

“I know.” I laughed.

“But I can’t go to the mall tonight even if I wanted to,” Jenna said.

“Yeah.” I sighed, smacking my hand down on Brody’s straw when he spun it in front of him. “I can’t either. I have way too much calc. homework due tomorrow.” I popped Brody’s straw in my mouth and chewed on the tip, grinning at him. “But you have to admit, it’d make a great T-shirt.”

Oh. Holy. Hotness. Chewing on his straw is almost like touching his lips. His lips touched it and now mine… okay, I’m officially losing it.

“They wouldn’t get the joke,” Brody murmured with an amused smile.

“I know. That’s what makes it the perfect T-shirt.” I nudged his thigh with my foot and winked at him.

He laughed.

I love that sound.

I was lying across my bed, working on my calculus homework and grumbling at myself for waiting until the last minute to do it, when my phone chimed. I thought about ignoring it, but I was happy for the interruption. It felt like I’d been doing the same calculus homework for a week.

I grabbed the phone off the table next to my bed and smiled. My heart started doing all sorts of weird things and butterflies immediately started tickling the sides of my stomach and some other places that were… very new to the sensation.

Brody: Whatcha doing?

Me: Calc. You?

Brody: Same. Wanna talk?

Me: Sure.

My phone rang just a few seconds later. I jumped and almost dropped it. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Brody said, his voice sliding over me like velvet rope. It caressed me as it squeezed the air from my lungs.

“Hi.” I cringed when my voice came out all squeaky and breathy. “When you asked if I wanted to talk, I thought you meant texting.”

“Oh. Sorry, we can hang up and just text.”

“No! No, it just surprised me when the phone rang.” I giggled.

Jeez, I’m giggling like a little girl. I need to get a freakin’ grip.

“How much more calc. do you have to do?” Brody asked. I could hear papers rustling through the phone.

“I’m on the last three problems. You?”

“I have five left.”

We fell quiet. I could hear him breathing on the other end of the phone. Every so often, he’d adjust the phone or I’d hear papers rustling. I’d worked through the three problems I had left and picked up my things, throwing them in my bag. Rolling over on my back, I closed my eyes and listened to Brody breathe.

“Are you finished?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“What are you doing?”

I felt my cheeks heat, which was silly since he couldn’t see me. “I’m just lying here, waiting for you to finish.” I left out the part that I was enjoying listening to him breathe—that sounded a little like a freaky stalker.

“I’m finished,” he said. I could imagine him flipping his pencil into his book and flicking it close like he did at school.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked him.

“What are you wearing?” he whispered.

“Um, what?”

He laughed loudly into the phone. “I’m kidding, Willow,” he said when his chuckles faded.

“Oh, you were kidding? I was totally gonna to tell you if you told me…” I let my words trail off.

I heard him inhale. “Oh. Okay.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Kidding.”

“Bummer. I was hoping you were going to start telling me about your Victoria’s Secret lingerie.”

“Well, I am wearing this little pink—”

“Um, I think we need to move on to safer, more friend appropriate topics.”

I laughed. “Okay, you pick the topic.”

“You want to see a movie?”

“I can’t.”

“Do you have a TV in your room with satellite?” Brody asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Turn to channel 235.”

Turning on my television, I flipped to the channel Brody suggested. “Oh, I’ve wanted to see this movie.” I pulled the blankets back on my bed and slipped under them, bunching the pillows behind my back.

“Good, I haven’t seen it yet either. We can watch it together.”

“Are you in bed?” I asked.

“Yeah.” His voice came out huskier than normal.

“Me, too. Hey, pause the movie for a minute.” An idea sparked, and a tingle of excitement ran through me.

“Okay. Why?”

“We should pop some popcorn. Do you have any?”

“Yeah,” he answered. I heard his blankets rustling through the phone as he climbed out of bed, and I had to force myself to stop imagining what he might look like. I really did want to ask him what he was wearing.

Stop it! Jeez.

“I can hear yours popping through the phone,” Brody said with a chuckle when we were standing in our separate kitchens, each waiting for our popcorn. “What kind is it?”

“Extra butter.”

“Yeah, mine too. What’s the point of eating it if there isn’t butter dripping off it?”

“I know, right? It should be a law that all popcorn has to be buttered,” I said, smiling when I heard Brody’s soft chuckle.

Popcorn made, we chatted as we made our way to our bedrooms and got comfortable before restarting the movie.

“This is new. It’s kinda fun. Only, there’s one thing missing,” Brody murmured.

“It is fun. What’s missing?” I was disappointed he wasn’t having as good a time as I was.

“You. I wish you were here, not there.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I was glad he couldn’t see me because I was grinning like a fool. “Look at that. That is so ridiculous. There’s no way that could happen.”

“That’s why they call it entertainment, Willow. Movies defy the rules of everyday life.”

“Still, that’s just cheesy,” I said, tossing a piece of popcorn in my mouth.

“It’s a movie about zombie aliens. I think we passed cheesy a long time ago. Oh, look at her. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“You’re such a perv.”

“What? I’m a guy and she’s hot. If she’s going to walk around naked, I’m gonna look and appreciate the fine job God did assembling her.”

“Ugh. Whatever.” I rolled my eyes.

“Stop rolling your eyes.”

“I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. I heard it in your voice,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh! What do we have here? My, my, my, I do believe we have the male species joining the bimbo in the shower. Mmm, he’s nice to look at. Great butt.” I sighed.

“Now who’s the perv?”

“Me. I never said I wasn’t.”

Brody laughed. “Good to know.” He cleared his throat, and his voice was a little huskier than normal when he said, “Love scene.”

For some reason, our easy teasing ended and we floundered for something to say. The television played a very hot love scene—how it got only an R-rating was a miracle. I watched it on my television, hearing the moans and sighs from Brody’s television echoing through the phone. Awkward.

I could hear every breath Brody took. I could tell when his breathing sped up. I heard the small groan he made and the rustle of blankets and I wondered what was making him uncomfortable, the love scene or watching it with me on the other end of the phone. I tried to keep my breathing steady, but it was hard listening to the changes in Brody’s and thinking of his reaction. I was glad we weren’t watching the movie in the same room because I would have embarrassed myself by throwing myself at him. Yeah.

“You want to know a secret?” I whispered.

I should stop talking now. Shut up! Shut up!

He sighed. “About you? Always.”

“I really do want to know what you’re wearing.” I bit my lip, waiting for him to say something. The sounds of the love scene still filtered through the phone.

“Mm. You’re making it very difficult for me to keep things G-rated between us,” he murmured.