Read Online Catch by Michelle D. Argyle - Free Book Online Page B

playing. Between the lights and the
water shooting up like fireworks against a violet velvet sky,
everybody fell silent.
    Miranda’s phone buzzed halfway through.
    I saw Ryder today. Ugh! He was with Amber.
Can you believe he’s still with her? She’s a total skank.
    Miranda’s heart fell as she realized it
wasn’t Ollie. It was her friend Cammie, who usually only texted her
when drama was happening.
    She typed back, Eh, who cares about them?
I don’t miss him at all.
    She wanted to say, Oh, and I’ve met
someone new … but she wasn’t sure if that was entirely true.
What exactly was this thing they had going, and why hadn’t he
messaged her today? Especially when he knew she was leaving the day
after tomorrow. Especially when she’d been screwed over by one too
many guys. She had to face the possibility that Ollie could be
another one, simply because she had taken a chance and opened her
heart the tiniest bit. As her history proved, that was always a
mistake.
     
*
     
    “I wonder what Grammy thought about men and
love,” Miranda mused as she sat down to breakfast with her family
the next morning. Ollie still hadn’t contacted her, and she was
beginning to worry. Had he gone back to his father? Had the
situation escalated into something worse? Or did he want to call it
quits and sever ties with her? He had seemed so into her when
they’d had coffee together. Maybe she was really bad at reading
body language.
    “She was not a romantic, if that’s what
you’re wondering,” Miranda’s mother said as she cut a piece of
French toast. The syrup on the top pooled on the white plate
between each piece. “She loved my father, yes, but I don’t remember
her with stars in her eyes, or ever talking about love in a
passionate way. It seemed very straightforward and logical for
her.”
    Julia took a big bite of watermelon then a
sip of orange juice, making Miranda grimace. “That’s kinda sad,”
she said with her mouth full. “I mean, nothing about me and Gavin
is logical.”
    “No,” Miranda teased, “it’s all crazy
physical passion for you two, isn’t it?”
    Julia smirked and said, “Mmmmm, yes.”
    “Just be careful, please,” their father said
with a growl in his voice.
    Miranda speared a piece of cantaloupe with
her fork. “I already told her that, Dad. She will be. Right ,
Julia?”
    Julia laughed. “I’m not stupid, you guys. I
know all about the birds and bees. Sheesh!”
    “As long as you know,” their mother sighed.
“But mistakes do happen, especially when it comes to that.
Understand?”
    “Yes, Mom, I do.”
    “Then we’re good.”
    And that was that. Miranda chuckled to
herself and ate the rest of her cantaloupe. It was perfectly ripe.
When she was done, she started sipping her coffee and closed her
eyes at the memory of drinking coffee with Ollie. She wanted to
feel like that again. Excited and … illogical. In the past, she had
been like her grandmother. Levelheaded. Logical. She’d avoided
passion like the plague because she was scared of giving too much
of herself away too fast. Then Christian had happened and she’d let
herself slip and fall harder than she’d ever fallen before. But not
for long. Even before the end of her relationship with him, she’d
put her guard back up little by little, letting that logical side
of her take over. But why? Why ? Julia was passionate with
Gavin and still careful … so far, anyway.
    “Was Grammy happy?” she asked her mother.
    Gabriela frowned. “You know what, Miranda?”
she said in a droopy voice. “I don’t remember her being the
happiest person in the world. It’s sad when I think about it, but
I’m going to face it and write that memoir anyway.”
    Miranda took her time finishing her coffee
then checked her phone once again. No messages. She couldn’t even
call him. She didn’t even know his last name. Maybe if she did a
little research she could find out who his father was, and that
might lead her to him. Or maybe