Serious Fun by Jessie Gussman

Author:Jessie Gussman [Gussman, Jessie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jessie Gussman
Published: 2019-02-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

TURBO WOKE AT TWENTY after four the next morning, ten minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He didn’t wake up very well to alarms anyway. Understatement. He didn’t wake up to alarms. He had to set his head to wake up. Otherwise, it took a massive amount of effort to wake him up. But he didn’t want to miss his “date” with Harris. Even though he’d just dropped her off less than four hours ago.

He turned the hot water on in his shower and laughed at himself. This must be what being in love was like. An almost-obsession with someone. Couldn’t stop thinking about her. Couldn’t stop wondering where she was, what she was doing. Couldn’t stop wanting to be with her. Couldn’t stop hoping that somehow he could tell her his secret and she wouldn’t be appalled. Or, the thought that was really going through his mind was that he could fake it, and she’d never know. That sat wrong on his shoulders. Heavy. But it was the only sure way. The other way opened him up to her rejection, which more and more was becoming something that would be unbearable.

At the least, she’d want to fix him. Maybe she wouldn’t hate him, but she’d pity him and see him as someone that needed fixing. That would be worse.

Ten minutes later, he was out of the shower and dressed. He picked his phone up from the nightstand and was about to shove it into his pocket when a text from a number he didn’t recognize lit up. It had come at one a.m., which was about twenty minutes after he got home after taking Harris home.

He tapped on the message, clicking until he got to where his phone would read it to him. Turning his bedroom light off, he walked out, listening. “Hey, Turbo. This is Harris. I got your number from Cassidy a while ago. I think it’d be best if I don’t go with you tomorrow to cut wood. Thanks for inviting me.”

By the second sentence, Turbo had paused in the dark hallway. His good mood and afterglow from last night evaporated.

She hadn’t said why, just that it would be best. He listened to the message again, his chest roiling. He’d had an amazing time last night. He’d begun to think of Harris and himself as a couple. He’d even tried to figure out ways for them to be together.

Seemed like her thoughts had gone in the opposite direction.

Did this mean that she hadn’t been blown away by their kiss? Had she been faking her enthusiastic response? Maybe she hadn’t been able to find a nice way to tell him to get lost. He laughed without humor. Maybe she actually was afraid he’d leave her in the woods.

He shoved those thoughts aside. He’d see her tonight, since it was the first practice, and in the meantime, he still had firewood to get for the Smiths and a truck that needed to be completed and gotten back on the road.

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