Popcorn Love (25 page)

“Stopped by the Maccas. Got like fifteen of those
burritos you like. I already ate like six of them.”

Allison chuckled and rubbed at her eyes. Despite
having already eaten, her stomach rumbled at the mere thought of
breakfast burritos. They were her favorite.

“Thanks.” She pulled one of the burritos from the
bag, unwrapped it, and took a huge bite. “How is it possible that
we eat as much as we do and yet neither of us weighs more than 130
pounds?”

“Haven’t got a bastard clue, but I’m not
complaining.”

“Neither am I.” Allison cracked up. She was quite
proud of her figure. She had worked hard for it after all—running
and working out as often as possible, and Allison knew she
attracted quite a bit of attention because of it. She didn’t care
much for the gawking, though, unless of course it was a certain
brunette doing the gawking.

The thought of Elena had Allison choking in her
effort to swallow too quickly so she could speak, which caught
Macy’s attention.

“You all right?”

“Oh my God, Mace. I have
so
much to tell
you.”

“Ooh.” Macy grinned as she settled more comfortably
atop her bed. “That sounds juicy.”

Before Allison could say another word, though, Macy
continued. “Oh wait, lemme guess. You and hot-pants waited ‘til the
kid was out like a light and then you did the do on every surface
in her enormous fancy house. Am I right?”

Jaw practically smacking into her chest, Allison
gaped at her roommate.

Macy barreled over with laughter at Allison’s
reaction. “Your face, Alli! Your face is killing me!”

Snapping out of her trance, Allison reached for her
pillow and chucked it across the room at her best friend. It
smacked into the side of Macy’s head. “You are an ass.”

“Yeah, but was I right?” Macy asked. “Did you get
naughty with the boss lady?”

“Well…”

* * *

“Explain yourself,” Elena stared her best friend down
from across her desk.

Vivian ran a hand through her hair, sighing as she
nodded and resigned to spilling her little secret. “It’s really not
as bad as you’re acting like it’s going to be. Like I said,
anything I did is at least partly responsible for the fuzzy love
feelings you’ve got going on with the hot babysitter right now. So,
just keep that in mind.”

“Stalling will win you no points with me.” Elena sat
back in her chair, resting her elbows on the armrests, and
steepling her fingers just under her chin.

Vivian rolled her eyes and launched into her story.
“Okay, so the first date was completely natural. I didn’t have
anything planned. I hadn’t even met Allison at that point.”

Elena nodded, signaling for her to continue.

“Admittedly, he was an ass, but that was all his own
doing.”

Both she and Elena smiled despite the fact that one
was mad at the other. “Then I met Allison that day at the museum
with you and Lucas, and well, it was obvious.”

“What was obvious?”

“The chemistry between you two.” Vivian sighed. “It
still astounds me that you were completely oblivious to it.”

“Was it really?” Elena whispered.

“Uh yeah. I’ve never seen you act with a stranger—or
anyone, really, for that matter— the way you did with Allison. The
way you spoke to her and about her and even your body language. You
two looked like a couple, and, from the way some of the people in
the museum looked at you, I’m guessing they thought you were. It
was adorable.”

Elena tried to keep her expression stoic, but she
couldn’t help herself. A smile tugged at her lips, slowly growing
the longer Vivian went on. Had the connection between her and
Allison truly been that obvious from the beginning? How had she
missed it?

“So, anyway, it was obvious that neither of you had
clued into what the rest of the free world had already picked up
on, and I was afraid that nothing would develop if I didn’t
intervene at least a little. So, you see Elena, I was doing it for
you
, because I’m such a wonderful friend. You can’t
really
blame me for that, can you?”

Though Elena’s anger quickly leaked away, she did her
best to remain stern as she cut her eyes back to her best friend
and pursed her lips. “That would depend on what
exactly
you
mean when you say you ‘intervened’.”

“Nothing major,” Vivian swore. “I simply coached the
next two dates you had, and only a little.”

“
Coached
?”

“I told them how to act,” Vivian said, biting her
lip. “Admittedly, Garrett went overboard; though in my defense, I
didn’t tell him to wear a toupee. He actually has hair, so I’m not
even sure how he managed to get the thing to stick in place. He
apparently thought it was a hilarious addition, though. He even
sent me a selfie with an all-caps ‘LOL’ when he was on his way to
your house.”

“Vivian!” Elena couldn’t even believe what she was
hearing.

Vivian laughed. “I know! I know. I’m sorry. Listen, I
only told him to be clingy and crass. Again, in my defense, I never
said he should bring up anything even remotely related to his
bowels. I said crass. He chose how to fulfill those
requirements.”

“Vivian!” Elena reached for the box of tissues on her
desk and chucked it at the blonde. “I can’t believe you! Do you
have any idea how
embarrassing
that entire ordeal was for
me?”

“Well yeah,” Vivian mumbled. “I can imagine. Look,
I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was going to take it that far.”

“What was the purpose of even doing such a thing? How
would that have any bearing on my relationship with Allison?”

“Allison mentioned at the museum that you complained
to her about the first date. I thought that if the dates were bad
enough, it would not only show you the stark contrast between those
horrible dates and the good-looking, funny babysitter waiting for
you at home, but that it would also give you a chance to bond with
her over ranting about each date.”

“But Alexis was—”

“I know,” Vivian interjected. “I originally planned
to set you up on a string of bad dates, but then, the day of the
show, you joked that you thought I was setting you up on bad dates
on purpose, and well, I panicked. So, I decided to set you up on a
good date instead, and I coached Alexis on the topics of
conversation.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I told her to ask you what you were looking
for in a partner,” Vivian explained. “I hoped it would help you
realize
on your own
that you had already found someone who
fit the bill, but, even if it didn’t, I was at least ninety-seven
percent sure that the mere sight of Alexis on your doorstep would
make Allison jealous. I wasn’t positive she had figured out her
feelings for you yet, but then I thought she might not have even
known that you are into women, so then I—”

Elena waved a hand for Vivian to stop. She heard all
she needed to hear.

She could not believe that Vivian had concocted this
elaborate, and actually rather genius, plan for no other purpose
than to bring her and Allison closer together, to give her a real
shot with her. As angry as Elena wanted to be, she had to admit
that she found her friend’s actions endearing. In fact, it was
undoubtedly the sweetest scheme Elena had ever heard of and,
furthermore, the plan
had
actually worked. She and Allison
had found their way to one another, and Vivian’s actions certainly
aided in the journey; that much was undeniable.

“Please don’t be angry with me, Elena. I know I
shouldn’t have gone behind your back, but I know how you are. If I
outright mentioned the possibility of you and Allison, you would
have dismissed it, and then you would have overanalyzed everything
to the point of panic. I didn’t want you to give up on the idea
before you ever even gave it a chance. I just wanted you to be
happy. That’s what I still want.”

Elena sighed as she shook her head and looked up to
meet Vivian’s eyes. They stared at one another for a long time,
Vivian’s eyes cautiously mirthful despite her worry that Elena was
actually upset with her. Elena held her serious expression a bit
longer just to toy with her before she finally dropped the act and
let a smile spread across her lips.

Vivian mimicked the expression as Elena said, “You
are a complete pain in my ass, Vivian.”

“But you love me.” She jumped up from her chair and
rounded Elena’s desk, wrapping her arms around Elena from the side.
“Right?”

Elena tilted her head to rest it against Vivian’s.
“Right.”

“That’s it?” Macy boomed. “You’re seriously
this
excited over a bit of pashing?”

Allison rolled her eyes. “You weren’t there, okay? It
was hot. It wasn’t just a kiss, okay? It was
the
kiss.”

“No way it was
that
good,” Macy laughed,
shaking her head.

“It
was
though!” Allison threw a wadded up
burrito wrapper at her roommate, falling back into her pillows, her
cheeks red. She rolled her eyes again as she threw an arm over her
flushed face. “God, I sound like a friggin’ tween with a
crush.”

She rolled on her side to face Macy again. “One of my
last homes before I left, I had a foster sister that was almost
twelve, and she totally freaked out about this boy at school. She
talked about the kid nonstop—his spiky hair and eyebrow ring. I
thought it was so lame, you know? I used to tease her a lot when
she’d fill up whole pages of her notebook with ‘Mrs. Marcus Walsh’.
But weirdly enough, that’s how I feel right now, every time I think
about it.”

“Well, fuck me dead! You’re starting to sound like
you’re
in love
with her, Alli.”

Allison jolted up in shock. “No!” she protested.
“What? No, of course not! I hardly even know her yet. I mean I
know
her. I just don’t really
know her
know her. But
no, not in love. Hell, I don’t think I’d know what that whole ‘in
love’ thing was even if it bit me on the ass. I just like her. I
like her a lot. She’s awesome. I mean, she’s stunning, really, and
nothing like what you would expect, you know?”

If Macy was honest, watching Allison speak about this
other woman was enough to make her feel giddy, and that was rare.
She had been privy to a few of Allison’s childhood stories, how
they had weathered her, and she knew that her friend rarely, if
ever, got her hopes up about anything. She seemed hopeful in this
moment, though. She seemed happy, almost like she had found
something she had been searching for, for quite some time.

But rather than say any of that, Macy mocked gagging,
sticking her middle finger in her mouth.

Allison smiled as she said, “Shut up.”

“No, go ahead, mate. Keep on with the gross gushing.
I love it.”

Allison collapsed back on her pillow. “I mean, she
can be totally awkward and stiff when you throw her out of her
comfort zone, but who’s not like that, right? But when she gets
comfortable, she’s so funny and smart and always so fucking pretty.
Seriously, I think she might be an alien in a person suit, because
who the hell is
that
pretty all the time?!”

“You,” Macy said. She then grinned goofily at her
friend and added, “And me, of course.”

“She’s in a completely different league.” Allison
laughed when Macy gasped, pretending to be offended. “Seriously,
you should see her.”

“Well, good on ya if she’s
that
fine, but I’ll
reserve judgment ‘til I see her myself.”

“Oh yeah? And when exactly were you planning on
seeing her?”

“Whenever you bring her home to meet the family, of
course.” Macy grinned and shrugged behind the pillow still wrapped
in her arms.

“The
family
?” Allison cackled. “Are you
talking about
yourself
, or have you forgotten that I don’t
have any family?”

Macy scoffed. “Of course I’m talking about me.
I’m
your family, and so you’re obligated to bring this Elena
chick by to meet me.”

Allison sighed. “We’ll see.”

* * *

“That’s it?”

“What do you mean?” Elena asked, frowning. “It was
quite heated.”

“Still,” Vivian said, “you had her in your bed, and
you were making out, and you were both apparently groping each
other, and then you just
stopped
?”

“There
is
such a thing as taking it slow, Viv.
Some people prefer to move quickly. Some don’t.”

“Yes, but—” Elena waved her off.

“I know you wanted me to ‘let loose’.” Elena clucked
her tongue as she leveled her best friend with a playful glare.
“But I think we both know that that simply isn’t
me.
I’m not
saying it won’t happen or even that it won’t happen soon, but we
only
just
realized our feelings for one another. I’m
actually glad we stopped, because I—”

“You what?” Vivian had an inkling she knew where this
was headed.

Elena swallowed and sighed. “I care for her, more
than I expected I would.”

“Oh Elena, I know you do.” Melting, Vivian grinned
and resisted the urge to clap her hands. She felt like a cupid, a
badass and entirely successful cupid. “And I
know
she cares
about you, too.”

“Oh?” Elena asked. “And how is that?”

“Because she got up and walked away in the middle of
a make-out session that easily could’ve led to hot sex.” Vivian
made a show of waving her finger over Elena’s face and upper body.
“I’ve seen you, okay? I’m looking at you right now, babe, and
you’re way too gorgeous to walk away from.”

Elena blushed, her head dipping slightly. “Yet she
went.”

“Yeah, she did.” Vivian nodded. “Maybe she’s more
like you than you realize. Maybe she’s just a take-it-slow kind of
girl. If it’s me interpreting her actions, I would say it’s a clear
sign that Allison is invested in at least seeing what could
possibly develop between you two.”