Page 11 of More For Me

“Leo—”

“I mean it, Bodhi.” He leans across the table, eyes flashing. “It’s bullshit. There’s no one on this earth that you’re not good enough for.”

“Seriously, man,” River says, slapping me on the shoulder. “You’re the best. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

I feel really tired all of a sudden. “Can we stop talking about this?”

“But what about the plan?” Fox asks. “We haven’t even told you about the plan.”

I close my eyes, knowing I’m going to regret this. “Fine. Tell me about the plan.”

“Okay, so this is what we’re thinking.” River sits up straighter, looking excited. “First thing we need to do is get her to start looking at you in a less platonic way.”

I raise an eyebrow. “And how do we do that?”

“You stop wearing a shirt around the house,” Fox says.

I blink at him, then turn to the others. “Are you serious right now? That’s your plan?”

“Hey, don’t underestimate the power of a shirtless dude,” River says.

“You have a great body,” Fox adds, then frowns. “Not that I’m into you or anything.”

I roll my eyes, since I have a front row seat to Fox’s efforts to hook up with every unattached woman in the greater Los Angeles area.

“That’s totally not the right move,” Rose says, shaking her head. “Everly isn’t going to be swayed by some shirtlessness.” She pats my arm. “Even if you do have a great body.”

“Hey!” Leo says, but she ignores him.

“It needs to be more specific than that. You need to play up the things Everly likes.” She grins. “Roll up your shirtsleeves.”

I blink at her. “Uh, why am I doing this?”

“Just do it.”

Since none of my arguments seem to be working in this conversation, I do as she says. Rose grins as she watches me.

“Perfect. You have great forearms.”

“Thank you?”

“Men, I swear,” she sighs, then leans toward me. “Everly has a thing for forearms. What you just did, rolling them up like that? Gets her every time.”

“Why?” Will asks, sounding about as confused as I am.

Rose shrugs. “It’s very common actually. Girls like forearms.”

“You’re telling me she’s going to get more worked up over that—” River points at my arms, “then she is over a hot dude walking around shirtless?”

Rose rolls her eyes. “I’m not saying she won’t appreciate you shirtless. But women like a little subtlety sometimes.” She points at my arms, grinning. “And Lele will be very into that.”

“Girls are so freaking weird,” Fox mutters.

“Okay, so he needs to roll up his sleeves,” River says, tapping something into his phone.

“Dude, what the hell are you writing?” I ask.

He gestures around the table. “I’m taking notes. Don’t worry, I’ll make it a shared document for all of us.”