“Okay, the first time you called in, anonymity was kind of our selling point for the podcast and we planned to keep true to our word,” I said. “We would keep the callers anonymous for the listeners. I didn’t think it was a big deal. I didn’t know any of the callers, anyway.”
“Until me.” He ran his finger up and down each one of mine in his hand.
“I wasn’t sure it was you at first, either. You were disguising your voice. Alana didn’t think it was you.”
“Alana … so you assumed I was talking about her the whole time?”
“Yes, she liked you. And everything you said on the podcast made it seem like your crush was her.”
“Like what? Because I was pretty sure everything I was saying made it seem like it was you …” He paused and smiled. “You know, since it was you.”
“Like how she treated everyone the same, how she liked another guy.” I paused, frowning. “What did you mean by liking another guy?”
“We talked about this. Your ex.”
“Oh, right.”
He smiled again. “Oh, right.”
“You also talked about how she left when you invited her places and never stuck around when you were in places together.”
“I talked about the fact that you did that.”
“I did not.”
He nodded. “You did. Always.”
“I guess I didn’t think about it.”
“Because you didn’t like me. I was right at first, when I worried you didn’t like me back.”
“Yes, I guess it’s good I told you to have patience because if you’d told me right away I would’ve been too worried about Alana’s feelings to even think about it.”
“So I should take Frank out to dinner, then? As a thank-you?”
“Frank? Why?”
“Because she started liking him, and then you didn’t have to worry about girl code.”
“No, actually … I just started liking you too much. I talked to her about it. We came to an agreement.”
He raised one eyebrow. “What kind of agreement?”
“The kind that lets me have both you and Alana in my life.”
“I like that kind of agreement.”
“Me too.”
Diego was quiet for a moment. “So you’re telling me that Alana doesn’t like Frank? When Liza yelled out on Friday that you liked your best friend’s guy, I thought maybe you had started liking Frank.”
“What? No! I mean, Frank and I may be getting along better but that would be a jump. Alana liked you.”
“I never thought of her that way.”
“Not even when she asked you to my Cousins’ Night?”
“I thought she had somehow figured out I liked you and was helping me out.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“So when she asked you to the Fall Festival?” I pressed.
“I thought you were asking me. You were both standing by my car, if you remember. When I realized it was her, I was confused. But when she hung out with Frank most of the night I thought that maybe she knew Frank was going to ask you so she asked me so we could all hang out.”
My head felt like it was spinning. I laid it on his shoulder. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize I liked you.”
“When did you realize?” he asked.
“The first time we stood here, actually, behind this stadium.”
“That long?” he asked, his voice showing his surprise.
“Don’t forget you were my best friend’s crush. Totally off-limits. I’m glad I realized at all.”
He laughed. “I should just count my blessings?”
“Yes. Totally.” I squeezed his hand that was still in mine. “That’s not when I started liking you, though. It’s just when I realized it. I started liking you the day I hit my head on the locker.”
“I guess that’s a little closer to when I started liking you.”
“When was that?” I asked, looking up at him.
“The first day you came to the tutoring center. You were so fun to talk to. We had a whole conversation about magazines. It had never been so easy for me to talk to a girl before. You found out more about me in that one meeting than I’d ever told most of my friends.”
I pulled my knees up to my chest. “I feel the same about you,” I admitted. “It’s just easy. But I still haven’t found out everything. You like to keep things inside.”
“I know. I’m working on it.”
“How are things going with your parents, anyway?” I asked. “Are they mad you’re here right now and not studying?”
“It’s still a struggle, but we talked about things, actually. Isn’t that your motto?”
“Yes, it is. What did you talk about?” I asked.
“About how I should be able to go out, if I have all my other responsibilities done.”
“So you didn’t talk about how you want to travel?”
“One step at a time.” He leaned over and brushed a soft kiss on my forehead. A shiver went through me.
“How did you know I hadn’t read the magazine, by the way?” I asked.
“I didn’t. For the longest time I thought you had. But then I guess Liza read through it in your car and she found me this morning and told me.”
“She did?” I took a breath of relief. “She doesn’t hate me after all.”
“That girl adores you.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Then I nodded my head toward his pile of golf balls. “Hey. I know a guy who can hit a golf ball through the goalposts all the way over there.” I pointed toward the football field.
Diego looked over. “Oh yeah? That would be hard to do. That’s really far away. I don’t know if I believe that.”
“Well, he is pretty amazing.”
He pulled me onto his lap. “You’re pretty amazing.”
My heart raced, and I traced my finger along the collar of his T-shirt. “I talked about you on the podcast today,” I said.
“You did?”
“Right before you called.”
“What did you say?” he asked.
“I guess you’ll just have to listen.”
“Should we listen together?”
I leaned over and kissed him, happy I could. “Yes. Friday.”
That afternoon, when I got home, I went straight over to my aunt’s house and smashed Liza in a hug.
“Stop,” she said. “I’m still mad at you.”
“You aren’t. I know you aren’t. You talked to Diego for me.”
She smiled. “Fine, I’m not. Just don’t ever talk about me on the podcast again.”
“Never.”
“Thanks for editing it out.”
“Did Tommy find out, anyway?”
“Yes, but we laughed about it and I told him about how I liked Kurt so it worked out fine.”
“Wait. You like Kurt?”
“Yes. But no, we’re not talking about me right now. What happened with Diego? Did you guys finally spill your guts to each other?”
“We did.”
“Good. I like Diego.”
“Me too.”
I left Liza’s house feeling lighter, and I called Alana as I walked down to the marina. A guy answered her phone. “Hello.”
“Um, did I call the wrong number?”