Uninvolved (4 page)

"What's this?" he asked
,
confused.

"It's my number
,
"
Becka
raised her eyes to his
.

"Why are you giving this to me?" he asked.

Kill me
now
,
Becka
thought to herself.
"Um, you know
,
in case you ever fe
el
like calling me
,
"
Becka
mumbled
,
feeling her cheeks burn.

"I have a
girlfriend
.
"

"Oh my gosh
.
Um,
I'm sorry
.
I just didn't
—
just forget about it
,
"
Becka
jumped up
,
flustered.

"It's okay
.
"
Nate
was grinning at her
.
"I just thought you should know that."

Did he have to smile like that when he said it?

"Good to know
.
Well,
I should probably get going
.
"
T
his
was quite possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.

"
Becka
, you don’t have to run away
.
"

"It's not you
.
"
U
m
,
it totally
was
,
she thought as soon as she said that
.
"It's just that I should really be going
.
I
,
um
,
have a thing that I
,
um
,
need to…
"

S
he was shutting down her computer
.

"
W
ell
,
um
.
"
P
urse and sunglasses now in hand
.
"
See
you around
Nate
".

"Okay
,
Beck
.
I will see you around
,
"
Nate
said
,
standing.

Becka
gulped and turned to walk away
.
She was already trying to interrupt what he had just said.
He had said
,
“
I
will
see you,
”
not
“
see you around
”
or
“
I'll see you.
”
That had to mean something.
Becka
consciously did everything in her power to strut away, rocking her hips a bit more than necessary
,
all
the
while willing herself not to turn and look at him
.

But what if he was looking
at her
,
she wondered to herself
,
thinking it would be super hot to just meet his glance right before the door shut behind her
.
If
Nate
was looking
,
maybe he was attracted to her
,
too
,
Becka
decided
.
Ugh
, but
what if he wa
sn’t looking at all
?
Caving
,
Becka
peeked over her shoulder at hi
m when she reached the door
.
Nate
was right where she had left him, definitely watching her walk away.
Nate
's eyes seemed locked on her as the door slowly closed between them.

Becka
felt
heat rushing to her cheeks and
caref
ully walked
the rest of the way out of the building
.
It took all of her power to not lean against the wall
just outside the door
and pant
.
She still didn’t understand her attraction to him
.
Becka
wondered
if maybe he felt the same thing.

A girlfriend
.
Of
course he would have a fucking girlfriend.
Why did she even care? A boyfriend was the last thing Becka wanted.

#

It was Friday
night
,
and she had plans to go out that n
ight with Lucy and
Crystal
.
When Becka got home
,
she dropped her purse on the table by the door and stepped out of her heels.
Goddamn
torture devices
,
she thought to herself as her abused toes rejoiced
,
now free and cool on the tile floor.

"Hey
,
Dave
,
" she called
,
padding across the living room
.

"I'm out back
.
"

He was sitting
on their back porch
,
having his usual
“
breakfast
”
of a cigarette and a
C
oke
.
They had a small backyard with a wooden deck and some fruit trees
.
It also had one thing that was a bit of an anomaly in Phoenix
:
grass
.
The people that they rented the house from agreed to discount the rent, provided Dave maintain and water the outdoor areas
.

The sprinkler system did most of the work
,
and the front yard was desert landscaped
so it was a pretty sweet deal. It always struck Becka that the best place to go in Phoenix to see grass was to a golf course
.
Otherwise,
it was odd to see grass instead of desert. Becka had stayed
with
this one guy who
had
tried to teach her how to play golf longer than she had intended just because the time they spent on the links reminded her of home.
Becka wasn’t the only person in Phoenix missing green stuff
.
There
was more than one house in her neighborhood with the front yard spray
-
painted green. As if everybody didn’t know
it wasn’t really grass.

Dave
nodded in her direction whi
le taking a drag
.
"Hey
,
gorgeous
.
H
ow was work?"

"Ugh
,
" she huffed
,
sinking into a chair
.
"I gave that guy I told you about my number and guess what?"
Becka continued
,
n
ot waiting for a response
.
"He has a girlfriend
.
A flipping girlfriend
.
This
whole time I have been
lusting
after someone
,
who turns out
,
is already taken".

Becka
took a sip of Dave'
s
C
oke and a drag off of his cigarette
.
She had quit buying them months ago but would still bum the occasional cig from Dave
at home
or if she was out drinking
.
Dave, not much of a talker
,
shrugged at her and
,
after reclaiming his cigarette
,
stood
to lean
against the
deck
railing.

"Lucy, Crystal
,
and I are going out tonight
.
"
Becka
grinned
,
changing the subject
.

Sh
e knew Dave had a thing for
Crystal
but hadn’t managed to seal the deal with her
.
Becka
loved annoying him
.
He just rolled his eyes and muffed her hair as he walked pas
t her back into the house
.
Their house
was split master with the kitchen, dining
area,
and living area in the middle of the house and a master bedroom on opposite sides of the house
.
Dave's bedroom was on the side
of the house
closer to the
garage since he had crazy work hours.

Becka
plo
pped down on the sofa and
put her feet up on their ottoman
-
style
coffee table
.
Switching on the TV
,
she channel surfed
.
Dave walked out of his room not long after
.
Fresh from a shower
,
his hair was still wet
,
and he had not put on a shirt yet
.
His black jeans sat low on his hips as he padded barefoot towards the garage
,
most likely in search of a clean shirt
.
Dave almost never unloaded the dryer
,
and his clothes were
probably
still
in
there
.
When he walked back into the living room
,
still shirtless
,
Becka
made a face at him.

"What?" he laughed
.
"I turned the dryer ba
ck on so my shirt will be warm
.
I don’t say anything when you run around here in your underwear
.
"
H
e grinned
,
leaning on their breakfast bar.

"That was one time
, months ago
,
"
Becka
exclaimed.

"Burned in my memory
.
You
th
ought you were so stealth
,
too."

Becka
blushed
,
remembering that morning
.
Becka
had gone shopping the
day before and bought this amazing dress that she wanted to wear
.
She had washed and dried it that night but forgot to take it out of the dryer before she went to bed
.
It had
wrinkled a bit over night so Becka
turned the dryer back on to fluff it and was waiting for it to finish when Dave
pulled in from
work
.
Their washer and dryer
were
in the garag
e
and
,
since her back was turned to the door and the dryer was on
,
she
had
not hear
d
him. Needless to say
,
he got a surprise sho
w
that morning
.

"Whatever
.
You
didn’t see anything
,
"
Becka
huffed.

"Right
,
" Dave returned
.
He would always hold the
“I”
sound of it for an extra beat as his way of saying
“
bullshit
.
”

"So where are you girls headed tonight?"

"Jillian's
,
"
Becka
beamed.

It was
a mega bar with three stories
of
different style
d
bars
.
There were traditional bars and pool tables on the ground floor
,
then a grown
-
up
arcade
on the second floor
,
and lastly
a dance club
on the third
.
Having a boy for a roommate
,
Becka
was better than most girls at the arcade games
.
She always had fun there and preferred it
to
the bars and clubs off of Mill Ave
nue,
where most of her
friends liked to go
.
Becka
also knew that since Jillian's
was so close to their house
,
Crystal
would probably crash there
,
giving Dave another chance to try hook up with her
in the morning when he got home from work
.