"You led him on, and then you pushed him away? How monstrous can you get?"
"I... I didn't exactly lead anything on. We were kissing this second, and the next..."
"There's a difference." I stare at Lacey in bewilderment. She's making this whole thing confusing for me.
"What do you mean there's a difference?" I ask, shuddering as she digs her hands up to her elbows inside a cow.
We're currently in the hotel's barn I didn't even know existed till today. The woman in charge of the barn took a leave before one of the cows went into labor. No one had the courage to drag out a newborn calf from a huge cow which may or may not be taller than I am. Lacey was the last person I thought would take up the job. Turns out she has a little cowgirl in her.
Never thought I'd see her in ugly brown boots that are covered in dirt and mud.
"There's a difference between 'kissing' and 'making out' alright? Just like how there's a difference between 'having sex' and 'making love.' Both are the same expressions but convey deeper meaning."
The cow mooed bitterly as Lacey reaches deeper into the birth canal, grabs hold. Still in the birth sac, the calf is slippery and stubborn.
"Enlighten me."
"Of course. Perfect timing now that I'm ten inches into a birthing cow. No shit, Sherlock." Blood and amniotic fluid soaks her arms. Like a diver going under, she takes a quick breath to fill her lungs with air, then drags hard with the next contraction.
The calf pops out like an oiled cork.
"Ladies and gentlemen, coffee is served." Simone's entrance is spoiled when she goes white and gags. The air in the pole barn is thick with the mingling smells of sweat and blood and oiled straw. "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."
With another shudder, Simone makes her self turn back around.
"Coffee," she repeats, looking fascinated despite herself as Lacey wrenches a calf partially out of another cow's vagina. "How can you do that?"
"Upper body strength," Lacey says easily.
"So, back to our discussion. Do you think he's mad I led him on?"
"What were you guys talking about?" Simone butts in.
"Noah and Allie made out, so she thinks he's pissed because she couldn't finish what she started."
Simone chokes on her coffee. "MADE OUT?! When did all these happen? How come I'm just hearing this now? Where was I?"
"Probably sucking face with Tom," Lacey deadpans.
I step in between them and quickly change topic before another argument ensues. "Bigger news, I found out Miss Renee's his Aunt."
"Shocker," Simone dryly says.
"You're seriously obsessed with this guy."
"That's not true." I pout into my cup of coffee.
Lacey wipes blood from her arms on her dusty jeans. "And I think you're also getting into his head. But there's only one way to find out how true that is."
My ears perk up. "What?"
"Make him jealous."
Simone holds up her hand as if asking for permission to say something. "I call that bullshit."
"Your face is bullshit."
"It never works," Simone ignores Lacey's childish retort. "That shit never ends well. I've seen it happen a million times."
"It wouldn't hurt to try."
"For the love of God, someone please listen to me."
"Tom would listen to you."
Simone shoot daggers at Lacey with her eyes. "Would you fucking stop bringing my boyfriend into every damn conversation."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit a nerve?..."
I tune out of their pointless banter and walk out of the barn, inhaling fresh air instead of the sick smell of blood and sweat back in there. My phone dings in my pocket with a notification and I hurriedly take it out, half expecting a message from Mabel. But I frown when I see it's an advertisement from a weird site with the topic: How To Make Your Penis Bigger.
Okay, first of all, I don't have a dick and even if I did, it wouldn't be little.
I decide to text Mabel as the little brat has not been returning my calls for the past two weeks. The amount of sass that girl has is unbelievable.
Allie: I called.
She replies almost immediately.
Mabel: I watched it ring.
Brat!
"Hey." Someone pokes my arm and my head shoots up as I make eye contact with Noah.
Has he been standing outside the barn? Did he hear our conversation!
"How's it going with Lacey in there?" He asks. I slightly grimace, averting my eyes from his and hating myself for being so affected by him.
"She's handling it better than I expected," I say as he nods. "Everyone's planning a moonlight on the Potomac river cruise. Are you coming?"
He rolls his eyes. "That sounds pretty romantic."
"You got something against romance?"
"Romance with a purpose," Noah insists. "Who are you going with?"
"Cory wants me to come along," I state sheepishly. "I thought it would be a good idea."
A thousand emotions flicker in his eyes, but the one he chooses to show is blithe unconcern. "That's... that's terrific. You must be pretty pumped, huh?"
"Totally." I rock on the balls of my feet as a disturbing and awkward silence engulfs us.
"Renee says you could come over her house anytime you want. Just try to use the door instead of the window next time."
My face breaks out in a grin. "I'll keep that in mind. And about last night, I didn't mean to..."
"Forget what happened. Have fun with your date." I watch him walk away, the words still stuck in my throat.
Forget? He expects me to forget? Did he not care about what happened last night?
He seems to be in a sour mood but at the same time, he's not angry. A math equation that needs solving is what this feels like. Too bad I suck at math.
I try to push it all to the back of my head and just focus on the Potomac cruise.
Utter failure.
"Is everything alright?" Cory asks, noticing the upturned look on my face.
Moonlight cut a wide swath across the peaceful dark waters of the river. Standing on the deck of the huge riverboat, listening to the chug of the engine and watching moonbeams glitter in the water, I feel I'd been transported into another world. Behind us, from the ballroom, the music of an orchestra floats through the porthole.
"I'm fine."
"Did I say something to upset you?" His face is softened by the moonlight, and something stirs inside me.
"No. You've been awesome. My mind's just all over the place."
"It's almost the end of summer. What do you think about it so far?" He tries to lighten up the mood.
"Second of my wildest holidays, not going to lie. First one was when I went skydiving last winter and forgot to put my parachute on before jumping off the helicopter," I recall my near death experience. "But the thing is, I don't want this summer to end, because then you're just going to leave afterwards."
"We could run away together."
There's a playful glint in his eyes when I turn to stare at him, so I play along. "Sounds like a plan."
He leans over and closes the little distance between us, reaching forward to tug a stray hair away from my face to the back of my ear. "We could go to Bahamas. No one would know us."
"And change identities, become Mr. and Mrs. Hardmeat."
Cory chuckles. "That's so typical of you." He looks down at me with such interest, such vulnerability and for a flicker of second, I want to think that it's Noah staring at me that way, not Cory.
"Why did you become friends with me?" I ask out of the blue. "You've always had a sheer amount of girls dropping at your feet, but you chose to hang out with me. Why?"
He debates for a moment before answering. "Because you're real. When you laugh, it's because you're happy. When you argue, it's because you have a point to make. And when your eyes smolder, it's because you have a crush on me."
"I... What?!" I splutter.
"I'm not stupid, Allie. I saw the signs."
"And you decided to ignore it?" Anger builds up inside me. He knew all along!
"No. I gave myself time to decide what I wanted."
"So what do you want, Cory?" I look up to meet his eyes, searching for answers. "What do you want?"
"This." He closes the remaining space between us and presses his lips against mine.