Page 61 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
Mr. Franz angles his brow at the word, but he doesn’t question it.
“Well that’s nice of you to watch after them,” he says to Zachary and gets up and walks out the door after his goodbyes. “Night, you two.”
Kaitlynn and I say goodbye at the same time, and Zachary’s still frozen halfway between us and the exit. He sighs, looks at me once, and nods.
“I’ll see you in a little,” and then practically runs out the door.
* * *
“How bad would it be for me to sneak off with you before he can catch us?” I whisper after Kaitlynn and twist the deadbolt to lock up the shop.
“Coward,” Kaitlynn blurts back. Her eyes never leave her phone.
“You got a partner’s brother crushing on you?” I ask. It sounded better in my head.
“So Haydenisyour partner now? Or is it Zach?” Kaitlynn’s focus zooms in on me, and she puts a hand on her hip.
“No!” I cut back.
“Not what you just said.”
“But…” I roll my eyes.
“You’re crushingsohard, it’s adorable.” She elbows me.
“No I’m not!” I pull my coat tight. It’s not that cold tonight, but enough so that I wish I’d brought a thicker jacket. “Let’s go.”
“Too late.” Kaitlynn grins.
Shit.
“Almost missed you!” Zachary calls from behind.
“Almost,” I mutter, then put on a smile. “Oops. Wondered where you were.”
A lie.
“Y’all closed up quick tonight,” Zachary says, which makes me wonder how he knows that, or if he’s just blowing smoke.
“It wasn’t bad tonight,” I say.
“This is fun and all, but I’m off.” Kaitlynn smiles at Zachary, then me. Her grin turns mischievous when she meets my eyes, and then she fast walks down the sidewalk and disappears inside her car.
Fine. Just leave me.
“You look cold.” Zachary gets my attention back.
His gray eyes are squinting at me, considering me. I don’t know what is going on behind them, but I feel like I don’t want to know, or well, I do, but I don’t.
“I’m good,” I say snappily. Was he going to give me his jacket? Maybe I should have said yes.
“Okay.” He nods and starts walking toward my car.
I follow at his side like some freaking couple down the sidewalk. Does he not realize this is a bad idea? We shouldn’t be hanging out. Not after the other night. Not after he, or we, you know…kissed.
“It’s cold, isn’t it?” he says more than asks.
“Yeah,” I say. Just get it over with, Zach. What do you want?
