He rolled his eyes and sat back. “This is why it took me so long to get up the nerve to ask, I knew you’d find some excuse to say no. But you don’t have to make it sound so distasteful.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just expected you to bring a date. I mean, I know we have that no-dating policy, but I’d agree to suspend it for one night.”
“I like that idea,” he said cautiously. “And I really like the idea of you coming with me.”
She wiped her hands on her napkin. “Hold on. I’m not understanding this. Are you saying you want us to do a double date or something?”
“No,” he said, growing frustrated with her. “I want you to go with me.”
She shook her head. “Again…why? Why don’t you bring the girl you’re always Skyping with?” What the hell did it matter if he knew that she knew about the chick now? “That would give you the kind of night you really want.”
Emotions flashed across his face so fast, she couldn’t read them all. Confusion, disbelief, humor, irritation. Blink, blink, blink, blink…then gone. He pressed his hands to the table, arms straight. “Okay, we’ve got a really big communication gap going here.”
No kidding.
“One,” he started, ticking off a finger, “you obviously don’t know what I want, or you’d say yes. Two, the girl I Skype with—”
As if on cue, his laptop started that annoying little chirping melody that signaled someone was trying to Skype him. Julia’s stomach dropped, but Noah actually looked pleased.
“Perfect,” he said. “Let’s clear this up right now.”
He disappeared into the living room and returned with his laptop, still chirping. He set it on the table facing Julia, then knelt beside her.
She pushed her chair back. “I don’t want to meet—”
He tapped a key and said, “Hey, Maisy.” He gripped Julia’s thigh so she couldn’t stand. “This is my friend Julia.”
“Your physical therapist?”
The woman’s voice sounded much younger than Julia expected, which made her tear her glare from Noah’s profile and glance at the screen. The voice did indeed belong to someone very young, maybe fourteen. Julia’s mind warped in several different directions, trying to fit the relationship between Maisy and Noah into a box she understood.
“Yes,” Noah said, then looked at Julia and squeezed her thigh. “Julia, this is my niece, Maisy.”
The pretty girl on the screen grinned and waved. “Hi, Julia.”
“H-hi, Maisy.” She didn’t look at Noah. Couldn’t look at Noah. Her face burned with embarrassment. She felt like a complete lunatic. A jealous, petty bitch. An insecure groupie. God, she was such a loser.
“Can I call you back, bug?” Noah asked. “You caught us at dinner.”
“Oh yeah, sure,” she said, all spunky. “But I’ve got a shit ton of History to get through before my midterm—”
“Excuse me?”
“Um…I mean, a ton of History.” She grimaced. “Sorry. I’m über stressed.”
“I can see that. Maybe you should be spending a little more time studying and less time texting.”
Maisy’s phone chirped, and without looking away from the screen, her angelic grin in place, she slid it under the covers on her bed.
Noah barked a laugh. “Gonna have to think a lot faster to get that past me. Turn that thing off and read.”
“Okay, but if I don’t nail this test, Mom’s gonna tar and feather me. I don’t know what that means, but I don’t want to either.”
“How many chapters?”
Her pink lips pursed and slid to the side as her eyes rolled toward the ceiling. God help her, Julia saw Noah in her bright blue eyes and strong chin. “Um…three?”
“Which means five. Maisy”— He cut off his frustrated response. “Okay, let me go so I can get back to you sooner. And read while I’m gone. We’ll get through it.”