The Trouble with Dating Sue (Grover Beach Team #6) Read Online Free PDF

obviously trying not to clap her hands in excitement.
    “Get a grip, Mom!” I laughed, not bothering to be as quiet as her. But then I pushed her back into the kitchen, where she’d emerged from. “The girl’s weird. I’m not sure you’d really want her as Ethan’s girlfriend.”
    The edges of her mouth sank. “What do you mean ‘weird’?”
    “Well, I talked to her today, and she was really…unfriendly.”
    “Oh.” She pivoted to the sink and wiped her hands on the dishtowel lying on the counter, even though her hands weren’t wet. “But maybe that was just a mistake. What if he really likes her?”
    “Maybe he is interested in her. But that doesn’t mean you should get your hopes up. Don’t push him, Mom,” I warned. Especially since he hadn’t seemed in the least concerned about Susan Miller five minutes ago.
    As I opened the fridge and retrieved a can of Sprite, a random thought journeyed through my mind. Would he have been be a little more excited if I’d told him about a guy wanting him to call? That was probably a topic neither of us would ever stop speculating about. Not until he told us the truth about him being gay—or came home with a girl on his arm, for that matter.
    I popped the cap and took a long drink, then wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “You know how he’s going to crawl back into his shell if you bring it up again.” We’d had silent Ethan long enough after Will’s accusations last spring. I really didn’t want a brother who wasn’t talking to anybody again. Things had just gone back to normal in the fall. Comfortable. “I want to keep happy Ethan.” The brother who loved playing basketball with me in the yard, not the mulling and hiding one.
    Mom needed to accept that she couldn’t help him make a decision in this. Whatever that decision was going to be, she would love Ethan all the same. And if this was only about the grandchildren Mom hoped for one day, I would give her a barn full, if it made her happy. Just not before I was forty, I decided, as I abandoned the mother ship and returned to my room.
    “I’m off to work in half an hour. Last-minute call from a client,” her voice drifted after me. “You guys have to fend for yourselves tonight, but I’ll leave you some pizza money.”
    “Okay!” I shouted back before closing the door. My finger on the computer mouse, I was about to restart the CD when I remembered I still had to send Ethan the nerd’s number.
    I flung myself into the dark purple, comfy chair in the middle of the room and scrolled through the entries on my contacts list down to Weird Geek . Hmm, what would Ethan talk about with this crazy little imp? I’d never actually seen him do it, so I just couldn’t picture him flirting with a girl. And snappy Susan Miller could definitely do with a little flirting to loosen up.
    In fact, she also deserved a little something for stamping her graffiti on my arm today and forcing me to almost scratch my skin off.
    Here was her number—who said I couldn’t use it?
    I chuckled to myself and, instead of sending Ethan her number, pressed the call button.

Chapter 3
     
     
    SUE’S ANXIOUS VOICE drifted through the line. “Hello?”
    “Hey, sweetness,” I drawled in greeting, knowing she’d recognize me straight away with that form of address. Talking to her this time would be fun, but I wanted her to know who I was and not confuse me with Ethan again.
    Her disappointed groan, though, cut the fun immediately. “Why are you calling me, Chris?”
    Really, it should’ve been obvious. “Because you gave me your number.”
    “I didn’t give it to you .”
    “No?” I stared at the faint blue remnants of her phone number on my skin. “The handwriting on my forearm objects.”
    A pause, followed by a deep sigh, then she elaborated, “Fine. I didn’t give it to you to call me.” Yes, that much I’d figured, but it didn’t matter. I enjoyed speaking to her. Probably more than I should.