The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

An hour and a half later, I climbed into bed and checked my phone. I’d missed another call from Max. As I nibbled on my lip and debated if I should call back, my phone buzzed with an incoming text. Normally, I had Siri read me my texts and send responses to save time because of the disconnect between my brain and letters, but when I glanced over and saw Max’s name, I started to read.

Max: Are you avoiding me or busy?

I smiled and texted back.

Georgia: I had a busy day.

Max: Busy now?

Georgia: No, I just climbed into bed.

A few seconds later, my phone rang.

“I really wanted to FaceTime to see what you wear to bed,” Max said. “But I figured I’d be a gentleman.”

I chuckled. “I appreciate that. Because I took a shower and didn’t feel like drying my hair, so I have a braid and no makeup on.”

“Braid, huh? Sorta like Princess Leia…”

I laughed. “Are you actually a Star Wars fan, or do you just have a Princess Leia fetish?”

“I wouldn’t say fetish. But what little boy wasn’t hot for the princess? She was a badass.”

I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed Yoda. “You know, I still have your action figure. I forgot that you put it back in my pocket when I tried to return him.”

“Make sure you take care of my lucky charm.”

I rolled Yoda between my fingers. “How did this little guy become your lucky charm, anyway? Is it because of your fondness for Princess Leia?”

“Nope. It all started with a girl named Amy Chase.”

“A girl, huh? Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“Don’t get jealous. She hates me.”

I laughed. “I’ll bite. What’s the story with Amy and Yoda?”

“Amy was in ninth grade when I was in seventh. She was friends with my brother Ethan, who worked at the movie theater around the corner. He used to sneak people in to watch movies for free. One weekend they were running a Star Wars marathon. I think there were six movies back then, so it was something like twelve or fourteen hours long. I went with Amy and a few of Ethan’s other friends, but everyone dropped out after two or three movies. Only Amy and I stayed for the whole thing.” He paused. “Not to be disrespectful, but she had a great rack for a ninth grader. Anyway, we were sitting in the last row of the balcony during The Phantom Menace—which is the worst one, by the way—and we started to get a little bored, so we were talking, mostly about school and stuff. Then out of nowhere, Amy asked me if I’d ever touched a boob. I said no and asked her if she’d ever touched a dick. She said no, so of course I suggested we remedy that.”

“Aren’t you only like thirteen in seventh grade?”

“Yup. And Amy was fifteen. In her defense, I looked older. And I was as big as any ninth grader. Anyway, we gave each other thirty seconds to check out each other’s assets. She stuck her hand down my pants, wrapped her little fingers around my junk, and gave it a good squeeze. Of course, I was fully hard and had been since she’d said the word boobs. After she was done, she let me play with her boobs, under the bra, for half a minute.”

I couldn’t help but crack up at the way he’d emphasized under the bra. “So that’s why I have Yoda? Because you got to cop a feel in a movie theater in seventh grade?”

“What could be luckier than getting to watch six Star Wars movies for free and touching boobs for the first time?”

“You’re a little nutty. Though I guess you’re right—at least at that age.” I laughed. “But why does Amy hate you?”

“Oh, because I told all my friends about it, and they started calling her second-base Chase. I was thirteen and thought I was cool. It wasn’t my finest moment. My brother kicked my ass when he found out I’d told people, and Amy got even by lying and telling everyone my dick was limp when she touched it. But it did teach me an early lesson never to kiss and tell.”

“I bet.”

“So…were you going to call me back?”

“I…” I was about to say I would’ve, but why not be truthful? “I’m not sure.”

“Did you not have a good time last night after the game?”

“No, I did. It was the most I’ve laughed in a long time.”

“Not attracted to me?”

“Is your mirror broken? I’m guessing most women between eight and eighty find you handsome.”

“So the problem is the dumbass then?”

“Dumbass?”

“What else would you call a guy who tells you it’s okay for you to see other people while he’s living out of the country for a year? Dumbass.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“You didn’t say you weren’t going to call me back. You said you weren’t sure. So that means there’s a part of you that is interested.”

“There definitely is. I’m not going to deny that I like you. That’s actually the problem. I think it was easier to go out on a date when I knew the person wouldn’t be someone I was into. I’m just not sure I can be invested in two things at the same time, even if there’s nothing technically holding me back.”

Max was quiet for a moment. I thought he might’ve hung up.

“Are you still there?” I asked.