Ever: The Ever Trilogy, Book One (Volume 1) (5 page)

I was trying to portray an air of nonchalance, when all the while I was torn between wanting to get away from him as fast as I could to keep my silly lovesick feelings for him a secret, and turning around and running into his arms.

His ghostly arms.

His ghostly arms that could never,
ever
hold me.

I didn’t have long to stew on that fact, or pout about my depressing lack of a love life because it was time to get ready for work. Lately, my shift at the animal shelter started early on Sundays because of the before-church adoptions my boss really thought would take off. She called them the Early Bird Adoptions and had some tagline I could never remember about the
early bird getting the dog
, or something silly like that. Jessie and I had to be in by seven every Sunday morning. Today was the fifth Early Bird Adoption event, and we’d had only
one
adoption so far.

I grabbed my iPod and my purse then headed for the door, stopping quickly to say goodbye to my mom and dad. They were huddled together over their coffee mugs, talking and laughing about who knows what, barely even noticing my presence in the room. I had to clear my throat to get them to tear their eyes away from each other and acknowledge me.

I didn’t see Frankie again, which was fine with me. I didn’t honestly know what to say to him, and he clearly found that fact amusing. Apparently, he was about as
unaffected
by seeing me nearly naked as I was
affected
by it.

Jessie was waiting for me when I pulled up to the shelter, leaning against her car, which was parked right in front. Our manager hated when she did that, but Jessie could charm anyone, and somehow she always managed to get her way. She wore a fitted pink tube top with a matching cardigan, both of which were almost the exact same pink of her car. The surprising aspect of her outfit wasn’t the shade of pink though, since Jessie only ever wore pink. It was the introduction of another color entirely: cream, not to mention a wardrobe item I had no idea she even owned: leggings. Cream, lace-trimmed leggings to be exact.
Cream.
They must have been brand new since I’d never seen her in
anything
other than variations of pink, and I’d definitely never seen her in leggings. At all.

I parked my green machine in the employee parking lot across the street and sprinted to meet up with Jess. I’d spent so much time in my room feeling sorry for myself that I was almost late. Again.

“Helloo? Late much?”

“Hey, Jess. What’s with the leggings?”

“Oh. Yeah, well, I thought it would be fun for spring. You know, switching it up a bit. Nude is
all
the rage right now.”

I didn’t correct her by telling her that she wasn’t actually wearing nude. I just nodded and told her I liked them.

“Well, of course you do. Duh. I know all about your unhealthy obsession with leggings.”

Jessie worked in the front office of the shelter, so she could get away with open-toed sandals and light colored clothes. I’m more of a hands-on kind of girl, and I spent my shelter hours in the back with the dogs. Cream leggings on me would have been ruined within the first five minutes. Nothing like muddy paw prints up and down your legs to ruin your brand new springtime fashions. I had on an old pair of dark purple sweats, cut off to be shorts, and a black wife beater with an unraveled hem and a few scattered holes.

Our boss, Jo, reprimanded us for being late, even though we were actually two minutes early according to the digital clock on the wall. But to Jo, late was not being a good five minutes
early
for your shift. We’d come to realize that Jo just complained to hear herself complain, and we were used to it. We offered her our usual “Yes, Jo. Sorry, Jo” in unison, while we bowed our heads to her in mock ascension. I followed Jessie to the break room where we stuffed our lunches into the employee refrigerator then headed off to our respective jobs.

I was so deep in thought that the day flew by quickly. When two came around, and I hadn’t shown up at the front desk yet, Jessie came looking for me. I had apparently been spending an
excessive
amount of time washing my favorite Husky-Corgi mix. Spectra’s fur had probably never been as clean—and probably will never be again. I was so lost in my thoughts about my frustrating feelings for my ghostly best friend and my curiosity about the new guy next door, that I hadn’t even been paying attention to the massive amount of soap suds covering the poor dog. Unfortunately, I too was covered.

Jessie’s high-pitched squeal snapped me into the present. “Oh my gosh, Ever! Look at all that soap!”

I broke away from my thoughts about Frankie and Toby, my eyes widening in surprise as I noticed all the bubbles. Spectra sure didn’t seem to mind the mess, since it meant she’d been getting my undivided attention for so long. Jessie rushed to my aid, laughing hysterically as she did so, to help me rinse Spectra and get everything cleaned up the best we could. By the time we were ready to go home, we were both soaked and soapy and looking remarkably like the wet dog who was watching the fiasco unfold in front of her.

Jessie followed me home, waving to me emphatically every time I glanced in my rearview. I had to wonder if she looked where she was going at all, or if she just watched for me to look back at her so she could do her ridiculous waving thing. When we got to the house, it hadn’t been long enough of a drive to dry off, so we were definitely quite the pair. We looked as though we’d driven through the car wash in a convertible—with the top down.

Of
course
this would be the time Toby chose to try his luck with me a second time. I was sure he’d be rethinking the notion, the longer he had to think about my awkwardness from yesterday. Apparently not. Seeing me now, I was sure he would reconsider.

As I got out of the car, I quickly considered my options. I could bury my head in the dirt and stay there. Forever. Like a sopping wet ostrich stuck in the sand.

I could jump back into my car and drive away like a madwoman.
Hmmm. Nope.
One glance told me that would be impossible since Jessie’s bug was parked behind me in the driveway.
Oh! I know!
I could run away on foot since the car wasn’t an option. I glanced down the street, pondering the idea.

“Hey.”

Aw man, too late.
Option D it was then: say hello.

He leaned against the trunk of my magnolia tree, with what I guessed was his trademark nonchalance oozing off him. His dark sunglasses hid his eyes again, much to my dismay. I just wanted a little peek, that’s all. I don’t think that was too much to ask for.

“Um, hi,” I said, self-consciously running a hand over my wet hair. I looked over at Jessie and …
uh oh.

With a sly smile on her face, she looked back and forth between Toby and me, and I just knew I was about to regret not running away down the street. I knew her too well, and I knew I was in trouble. She elbowed me and stepped forward with her hand extended and her beauty queen smile plastered across her face. I glanced down the street once more, considering my escape.

“Hi there! I’m Jessica Lynn Smith—Ever’s
best
friend—but you can call me Jessie. And
you
are?”

Not like she didn’t already know. I closed my eyes for a second, wishing to be anywhere else.

“Hey, I’m Toby. I just moved in next door.”

“Toby … ?”

“James. Toby James.”

“Fantastic! Well,
Toby James
, Ever was just telling me how much she’d
love
to show you around.”

I gasped.

“Wouldn’t you, Ev?”

Oh god. Why?
Why would she do this to me? Couldn’t I go on loving Frankie in peace? I wasn’t hurting anyone! So our relationship was weird and fruitless; who cares?

Proud of herself to no end, and no doubt mentally giving herself a high-five, Jessie giggled while she walked backward into the house, leaving me to come up with something more to say to Toby. She’d just started a conversation, volunteered me to show him around, and
left.

I’m going to kill her.

“So, um, thanks for the flowers. How did you know they were my favorite?”

“I didn’t.”

Um, okay. That’s weird.
“Hmm, well, they’re not really your run-of-the-mill daisies, so I guess I just thought it was strange, but …” I paused, waiting for him to say something that would make the obscure flower choice make sense, but he just stared at me. “Well, um, thanks.”

“Sure.”

Since that was about the extent of what I could come up with to say, I was just staring at him, and he was staring at me. I swear Jessie’s words still lingered out there, threatening to make me commit to a date.

On a side note, and regardless of how much I told myself to ignore it, he was seriously gorgeous. I was completely in awe of him, and again, that anticipation in my belly tried to stretch its fingers and crawl to the surface, right into my carefully guarded heart.

He wore another all-black ensemble, and I couldn’t help but swoon over him. This time, he’d topped his t-shirt with a faded black leather jacket, which was completely out of place in the spring warmth, but he looked amazing in it, so why question his choice? He was a few inches taller than me—long and lean, but muscular. The image of seeing his arms for the first time flashed through my mind, and I wished he’d left his jacket at home so I could see them again.
Ah hell. What is happening here?
I should go inside.

His hair was damp, and I figured he’d just stepped out of the shower. My thoughts slipped further out of my control, and I found myself pondering what brand of shampoo he used. From that thought, I headed straight into total creep status and contemplated what kind of soap he used. I wanted to lean in and smell him, but luckily, that little voice inside me warned that doing so would be the end of whatever was hopefully coming my way with my new neighbor Toby. I considered ignoring the voice again, but decided against it.

After a moment, I realized Toby was analyzing me just as much as I was analyzing him. My breath caught in my throat.

“You’re all wet.”

Shit.

His head tilted slightly to one side, and the smirk returned to his face as he waited for me to explain my appearance. I had forgotten what I looked like—and what I must smell like.
A wet dog,
I reminded myself. Instantly, both hands were in my hair, trying to smooth it out, and he watched with amusement as my car keys tangled briefly in the matted mess. Well, I was glad someone was enjoying my discomfort.

“You work at the Animal Shelter?”

Oh no! I do smell like a wet dog!

My face must have given away my shock, because he quickly pointed to my chest and added, “Your name tag? You’re still wearing it. Was there a flood today?”

“Oh, wow. I’m sorry! I don’t normally look like this! I was giving one of the dogs a bath, and then, well, you can see what happened. Let me go change! I’ll be right back!”

I turned away from him without a second thought, knowing only that I had to get out of the drenched, dog-hair-covered clothing immediately—before I died of embarrassment right there on my front lawn.

I was almost to the door when he caught up to me.

“Hey, Ever, wait,” he said, as he reached for my elbow to slow me down.

I may have actually skidded to a stop at the feel of his hand on my skin, but luckily, when I looked down at my feet, my heels weren’t smoking, and I hadn’t left any grooves in the cement.
Phew.

He glanced briefly behind me to my house.

I panicked, picturing Frankie’s face at the window.

“Can I come in?”

“What? No!”
Easy there, turbo, no need to alarm him.
He looked taken aback by my sharp response, so I tried again, a bit more calmly. “No, sorry, not right now. I gotta go. Sorry.”

“Wait up. Was your friend telling the truth about you wanting to take me out tonight?”

“Tonight?” And there they were: Jessie’s words coming back to bite me. My hands were in my hair again. I had to force myself to bring them back down to my sides. Damn that nervous habit. My cheeks flared.
Ugh
. Damn that one too.

Why is he asking me out again?
I lied to him when he’d asked before, but obviously he had no way of knowing that. I was trying to come up with another lie, another way of getting out of going on a date with him, when my mouth opened up against my control and said the word I was trying to avoid, but deep down wished I’d said yesterday.

“Yes.”

“Great,” he said with a grin. He was clearly pleased by my response, which in turn left me pleased by his smile, and soon we were both grinning at each other like fools.

I mentally cursed myself. And Jessie. This was all
her
fault.

“You don’t have school tomorrow or anything, right?”

“Well, yeah, I do. Wait, no. I don’t go to regular school. But, I mean, I don’t. I don’t have school tomorrow. It’s Spring Break anyway. Sure. I can go out, I guess. Let me go change first though.”

His smile grew at my choppy, nervous response.

“Cool. Your boyfriend won’t mind?”

“Um … no. I don’t really … .”

“It’s cool. You don’t have to explain. See you here in an hour or so?”

“Cool. Yeah.” And, just like that, I was back to those single syllable responses.

I was bursting with excitement, and I couldn’t ignore the feeling even though I desperately wanted to. As I walked inside, a huge smile stretched and distorted my face. I imagined I resembled something of a clown. A big, dumb, goofy clown who’d just accepted a date with a guy she barely knew. A guy who wasn’t Frankie.

At least Jessie would be happy. I forced myself to walk in slowly, trying desperately to mimic Toby’s perpetual nonchalance, but of course, I tripped coming in the door. I didn’t turn around to see if he noticed—best to act like it didn’t happen. A quick glance around the living room showed me that Frankie was nowhere in sight, but I still tried to act as casual as possible as I walked down the hall, just in case he appeared before I got to my room.