Becca: He doesn’t believe me anyway.

Josh sends through a picture of him, his goofy grin from ear to ear. He’s sitting at Grams’s kitchen table, probably having lunch with her. I show Joey the image, but he just shakes his head. “That could be taken from any online image search.”

Becca: He’s still suspect.

Josh: Give the kid your phone.

I hand it to Joey, who’s practically bouncing with anticipation. A second later, the phone vibrates in his hand, alerting him to a video call. He hits answer, and swear, he actually squeals like a girl when Josh’s face lights up the screen. “Dude!”

Josh smiles. “Yo. What’s up?”

“Shut the fuck up right now. No way!”

Josh laughs as he walks outside, closing Grams’s door behind him. “It’s Joey, right?”

“Y-yeah, man. Holy shit!”

“Nice Santa costume.”

Joey rips off the Santa hat and fake beard from around his neck. “Fuck!”

With a chuckle, Josh says, “It’s all good, man. It’s a cool thing you guys are doing.” He walks across the driveway toward the garage and a moment later, I hear the door lift. “What size do you ride?”

“Um. A 7.75.”

“Dude, I got plenty of those,” Josh says, flipping the camera so it’s pointing away from him. The screen fills with a bunch of different style boards. “Take your pick.”

If possible, Joey’s eyes fall out of his head. “Dude!”

“I have the new J-Ward signature one. You want that?” Josh asks.

“The one that hasn’t been released yet?!” Joey yells.

I wish I could speak so I could get in his face and say, “I told you so!” But I can’t, so instead I just watch and listen to Josh acting in a way I’ve never seen before. The old Josh would’ve shied away from the attention like he did the first time he took me to the skate park. This Josh… I don’t even know this one. But I think I want to. And that has to mean something.

Josh records himself signing the board. “I’ll send it to Becs. You should have it soon. I gotta jet, though. Becca’s grams is waiting on me.” He waves, a cheesy smile on his face. Then he hangs up, leaving Joey with his mouth open and me with a cocky grin.

“Holy shit, Becca! I just… Josh fucking Warden.”

Before I get a chance to respond, I get another text.

Josh: I’ll be in Oregon during your spring break. I’m going to buy you a plane ticket. I’ll e-mail you the details.

Josh: In other words, I miss you and I really want to see you, Becs.

Josh: If you can make it, I’ll be the happiest man on earth. If you can’t, I’ll cry myself to sleep.

Josh: No pressure, though.

PART III

23

—Joshua—

“Twenty-one,” Ry says, settling next to me on the plane to Dallas.

“What’s twenty-one?”

“That’s the number of days it takes to create a habit.”

I shake my head and eye him sideways. Ry’s the newest member of the team, plucked by Chris from a skate park somewhere in Cali. He’s only eighteen and had never left the state until Chris knocked on his door, wooed his mother, and he’s been with us ever since. That was three months ago. Now, he’s attached himself to me, calling me his big bro. Not that I mind. He’s more on my level than the other two guys. Maybe because he’s young and new and the fame and rewards of the skate world haven’t ruined him yet.

We spend most nights on the road skating in random places, while the others hit up bars and hit on girls.

“What habit?” I ask.

He points to the phone in my hand opened up to a picture of Becca pouting. She’d sent it to me New Year’s Eve with the text, “I miss you.” I hadn’t known what to make of it, or why she’d sent it, but I didn’t care. I missed her, too, and I wished she was with me, or I with her, it didn’t matter, and I told her that. We spent way too long, stayed up way too late, texting back and forth with promises to keep in touch. It was the only promise we made. Nothing about who we were to each other, or what we’d be the next time we were together. She’s in my life and obviously thinking about me, and for the past two months that’s been enough.

Ry says, pulling me from my thoughts, “If you don’t talk to her or look at her for twenty-one days, she should be out of your system.”

“Who says I want her out of my system?” I ask incredulously.