had stumbled upon a pot of gold. Besides, what did it matter how she responded to such questions? Her dad wasn’t going to let her go on a road trip, not with Chad or anyone else.
Chad was seventeen, two years older than Raya. Her mom seemed cool with this, but her dad was another story. No way would her dad let Chad drive the Firebird. He wouldn’t even let Raya drive the Firebird (or his Acura for that matter), only her mom’s wagon while she had her learner’s permit. It was a Beemer but still a wagon and not even close to being as fun to drive as the Firebird.
What was her dad doing up so late again, anyway? Raya thought she’d heard someone pacing around her door earlier, and when she went to the bathroom for a glass of water about an hour ago, she noticed the living-room lights were on. Had to be her dad. Mom slept like a rock from ten or eleven until 6 a.m. sharp, and her dad had some kind of insomnia thing going lately.
How much money does your dad have, anyway? Sorry, the guys made me ask.
Go back to your poker, Chadly , was all she had to say to that.
Chad was not her first boyfriend but he was her longest relationship, or maybe the first one that could be called a relationship.
If I was there right now, would you let me kiss your legs?
That one cracked her up, and made her nervous. What did he mean by that? Raya couldn’t tell if he really meant kiss your legs. Chad wasn’t crass like other boys, texting pictures of his junk and sending her lascivious messages. Lots of them did that, she’d heard. The girls too. Chad had never said or sent anything of the sort to her. He was more cryptic, always framing things in a harmless way. But sometimes Raya wondered if Chad was this way because he was really being himself or if he was only refraining from raunchier stuff because he thought she would freak out.
She probably would freak out, or pretend to, just to cool him off. But another part of her wanted to know if what he really meant was, would you let me kiss that place between your legs?
Just once , he prompted, for like 10 seconds?
No, she texted back. Stop being a beast.
But the idea excited her too. Not the idea of Chad kissing her between her legs, because hell no, she wasn’t letting anyone do that until she was like twenty-five, and then only if they were seriously in love. But the thought of Chad kissing her knees, the top of her thighs, for a few seconds… yeah, that made her stomach go a little crazy.
She drifted off, then her phone buzzed again. Except, when she looked at the screen there was no new text, from Chad or anyone else. That was weird but not really a big deal. It happened kind of frequently, actually, but usually it was the other way around. Her brain knew before her phone confirmed it.
Sometimes Raya would sense an incoming text and it wouldn’t be there, but seconds later one would arrive. Or she would just be thinking of Chad, smiling to herself about something sweet he did, like when he brought her flowers two weeks ago, or how he always remembered to open his car door for her – and right then one of his texts would arrive, or he would call. And he’d be all like, ‘Whatcha doin’, beautiful Raya?’ in his mellow voice, like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to say.
What was that all about? The timing, not his voice. It seemed to happen with Chad more often than with any of her other friends or her parents. Was it because she and Chad were connected, and some part of her had a sixth sense about when he would call or text her? Or maybe (less fun to consider) everybody was so glued to their phones these days, texting like three hundred times a day, you were always in a state of anticipation, like Emma Bovary, thinking about your boyfriend, and it only seemed like intuition when another text arrived at the same time.
Because this had happened before, in other ways. Like the time her mom went to the store, said she would be right back, and
Chad was seventeen, two years older than Raya. Her mom seemed cool with this, but her dad was another story. No way would her dad let Chad drive the Firebird. He wouldn’t even let Raya drive the Firebird (or his Acura for that matter), only her mom’s wagon while she had her learner’s permit. It was a Beemer but still a wagon and not even close to being as fun to drive as the Firebird.
What was her dad doing up so late again, anyway? Raya thought she’d heard someone pacing around her door earlier, and when she went to the bathroom for a glass of water about an hour ago, she noticed the living-room lights were on. Had to be her dad. Mom slept like a rock from ten or eleven until 6 a.m. sharp, and her dad had some kind of insomnia thing going lately.
How much money does your dad have, anyway? Sorry, the guys made me ask.
Go back to your poker, Chadly , was all she had to say to that.
Chad was not her first boyfriend but he was her longest relationship, or maybe the first one that could be called a relationship.
If I was there right now, would you let me kiss your legs?
That one cracked her up, and made her nervous. What did he mean by that? Raya couldn’t tell if he really meant kiss your legs. Chad wasn’t crass like other boys, texting pictures of his junk and sending her lascivious messages. Lots of them did that, she’d heard. The girls too. Chad had never said or sent anything of the sort to her. He was more cryptic, always framing things in a harmless way. But sometimes Raya wondered if Chad was this way because he was really being himself or if he was only refraining from raunchier stuff because he thought she would freak out.
She probably would freak out, or pretend to, just to cool him off. But another part of her wanted to know if what he really meant was, would you let me kiss that place between your legs?
Just once , he prompted, for like 10 seconds?
No, she texted back. Stop being a beast.
But the idea excited her too. Not the idea of Chad kissing her between her legs, because hell no, she wasn’t letting anyone do that until she was like twenty-five, and then only if they were seriously in love. But the thought of Chad kissing her knees, the top of her thighs, for a few seconds… yeah, that made her stomach go a little crazy.
She drifted off, then her phone buzzed again. Except, when she looked at the screen there was no new text, from Chad or anyone else. That was weird but not really a big deal. It happened kind of frequently, actually, but usually it was the other way around. Her brain knew before her phone confirmed it.
Sometimes Raya would sense an incoming text and it wouldn’t be there, but seconds later one would arrive. Or she would just be thinking of Chad, smiling to herself about something sweet he did, like when he brought her flowers two weeks ago, or how he always remembered to open his car door for her – and right then one of his texts would arrive, or he would call. And he’d be all like, ‘Whatcha doin’, beautiful Raya?’ in his mellow voice, like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to say.
What was that all about? The timing, not his voice. It seemed to happen with Chad more often than with any of her other friends or her parents. Was it because she and Chad were connected, and some part of her had a sixth sense about when he would call or text her? Or maybe (less fun to consider) everybody was so glued to their phones these days, texting like three hundred times a day, you were always in a state of anticipation, like Emma Bovary, thinking about your boyfriend, and it only seemed like intuition when another text arrived at the same time.
Because this had happened before, in other ways. Like the time her mom went to the store, said she would be right back, and
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