She laughed. "I'll start coming up with even dirtier euphemisms if you don't tell me, right now, younglady."
“You’re ridiculous,” I informedher.
“Stuffed your taco? Oh, I know! Creamed yourTwinkie?”
"Marv!" I snapped. When there was no reply, I peeked a glance over at her and jumped when I saw how close she'd gotten again. Lizzie was practically lying across the console as she eyed me, waitingexpectantly.
"Grayson..." I said quietly. At the very least, the euphemisms had come to a blessedending.
She let out a delicate snort, and I snapped a glare her way. "What?" she said. "You were so adamant that you weren't dating. I can'tsnort?"
"No, you can't," I replied sharply. "And we weren't dating...notthen."
"But you arenow?"
I was rolling my eyes far too much. "Would I have slept with him if I wasn't datinghim?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Lots of girls sleep with guys they don't date. There isn't anything wrong with that, babe. We're in a new era. Feminism and all that jazz. Govaginas!"
"Are you serious, rightnow?"
"What? You're saying you're not a feminist? That's okay. You're a woman, you've got a choice now. You don't have to be a feminist if you don't wantto."
I pulled off the interstate and found the coffee shop and darted into the parking lot. "Oh look, we're here," I said, relief clear in mytone.
She laughed at that. "Oh, babe, if you think being in a public place is going to keep me from asking you potentially embarrassing questions, you don't know me well enough. Come on, let'sgo."
She was right. Dear Lord. What had I agreed to? We both got out of the car and headed inside the coffee shop with a wooden sign shaped like a mug dangling out front with the nameThe Java Beanscrawled in fancycalligraphy.
"Wow, this place is so cool," Lizzie said as we entered into a darkened interior with shelves of designer chocolates and top coffee brands to ourright.
"I haven’t been here," I admitted as we headed for the front counter, “but Texas has. He said this place was reallygood.”
“Texas, hmmm?” Lizzie batted her eyelashes atme.
“Yup. Drinks?” I squeaked, ignoring her obvious ‘tell me about your sex life’signs.
A tall, lanky boy with an ear piercing and tattoos on his neck smiled as we stepped up. He took down our orders—one French vanilla bean latte and one double chocolate chip java bean specialFrappuccino.
It didn’t take long to get our drinks. A few minutes after we ordered, we headed to the end of the counter, retrieved them, and made our way to a corner table, away from the other coffee shop patrons. Soft voices just above the sounds of the blenders behind the counter filtered over to us as we both took a sip of ourdrinks.
"This is so good," Lizzie moaned as she immediately put the lip of her cup back to her mouth and inhaled some more. She flinched and pulled it away. "Hot,” she said after a quick blow into the mouth of the lid, “but stillgood."
I chuckled. "It's really good to see you again," I admitted with a sigh. "I've missedyou."
Lizzie put her drink down and reached for my hand. "I've missed you too," she said. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. I know I'm probably super annoying with all of the asking about the guys—which you still haven't given me full details about and I will get them—but I just want to know that you're doing okay and that you'rehappy."
I smiled and squeezed her hand back. "You're a good friend," I said, "and I am happy. I mean...there's more drama going on with Grayson's mom that’s not really making being happy all that easy, but with them, I'm okay. I'm always okay withthem."
Lizzie frowned. "Does Grayson's mom not like you?" sheasked.
I sipped my drink. "Something like that," I finally said after a moment. "But it's not something I really want to talkabout."
Lizzie nodded, letting it go. That was one thing I absolutely adored about this girl, her willingness to back off when I needed her to. It almost made me want to go back to college…but as much as I had enjoyed it, it just wasn't the same without the guys there. I didn't necessarily need a college degree to be accomplished in life. If I wanted one later, I knew the guys would help me if the time ever came. I still had that—time to choose, time todecide.
"So, tell me about the guys then. You've been with Marv and Grayson, anyoneelse?"
I flicked a lock of my hair as I mumbled, "Bellamy..."