Page 80 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
“Hey, Aunt Eliza.” He looks beside me and nods.
Eliza steps up and gives him a hug, “How was school?”
“It was okay. The Duke scout was at practice today. Fingers crossed he liked what he saw.” Hayden crosses his fingers and looks to the ceiling with his eyes closed like he’s praying. I can think of a number of better things to pray for, but I keep my mouth shut.
“A scholarship would be great.” Eliza is rooting him on.
“And to be a Blue Devil starter!” Hayden purses his lips.
“Let’s take things one at a time.” Eliza slaps him on the shoulder. “And right now, you two lovebirds need to get out of my shop so I can lock up. Y’all have a date.”
“Fine,” Hayden moans way too over the top.
I’m still trying to process the feeling I had when he walked inside. It was like old times, before the coma, before I let everyone think the most perplexing lie, before Zachary. Simultaneously, I’m super annoyed I don’t get to grill Eliza more and that I’m actually going on this date.
“Y’all have a good one,” Eliza coos with a little extra New Orleans in her drawl, and shoos us toward the exit.
“Night, Eliza,” I say, scooting out the door behind Hayden and giving her an annoyed grin when he turns away.
We pass dimly lit storefronts, each door decorated with blandClosedsigns, on our way to one of the very few restaurants left in downtown that isn’t a brewery. It’s mostly little local shops, cobweb-filled abandoned windowpanes, and like three breweries. They keep popping up.
“So how was school?” Hayden asks after an excruciatingly long minute goes by with nothing but the buzz of the streetlamps.
It’s such a freshman question to ask your date. Right? Or am I being too critical? I don’ttryto hate this, but had the Kenzie from three weeks ago gotten that question fromtheHayden Marcus, they’d have lost their freaking mind, maybe even had a heart attack and fallen dead on the spot, and I would have been happy about it. Now…
“Good. It w-was good.” I bounce my head and try to think of something else to say.
The scholarship! I throw my foot forward, kicking it through a shallow puddle. “So you got a scholarship? For Duke?”
My right thigh vibrates. My phone. It’s probably Kaitlynn checking in. I told her to text me with an “emergency” if I sent herthe text. Basically “HELP,” which I’d promptly delete frommy phone, but I’m sure she’s going to bombard my phone all evening for updates.
“No.” He smiles and shakes his head. There’s an attractive confidence in that grin that rushes my head with dopamine again. I cough and look away before he starts again. “I’mhopingto get one. We just had one of the scouts at practice today, so I’m hoping he liked what he saw and that’ll work for me. I really want to play ball for Duke!”
“YouareMitchell’s star player,” I say, but it’s also a question. I’ve always heard he was, but with my bias, I would have assumed he was the best at anything he did.
My phone vibrates again.Stop it, Kaity!I need to check it. Well, I guess I don’tneedto, but I want to. Is that rude on a date? This is my first, so I don’t know.
“I wouldn’t say star.” He grunts and shakes his head.
Okay, there’s some humility. I thought the other day in the hospital I’d discovered a new version of him that wasn’t so humble. Not the idyllic vision I’d built of him from innumerable visits to the coffee shop, religiously ordering the same iced latte with cinnamon to sip between the most swoon-worthy lips.
“But,” he says, dragging out the word and swaying his head from side to side. “I do have the most points and field goals this season so far. And coach says I should have no problem getting a scholarship somewhere. Duke’s just harder, but I can do it.”
And there it is again. Or maybe I’m just in a bad mood because I can’t decide what I want and I shouldn’t even be here. To mask my annoyance, I pull out my phone. “Kaitlynn’s texting me.”
“That your friend?”
“Yep.” I unlock my phone, but it’s not what I thought.
ZACHARY: He late?
ZACHARY: Oh right! ::facepalm:: Prob not looking at your phone.
ZACHARY: Has he effed it up yet?
I suck in my lips and laugh. My heart does a little jump, and I shake to calm myself while I type back. “It’s your brother, actually.”
MACKENZIE: Not yet.
