Chapter 3
Eli
“Shesaid‘no?’”Finnlooks at me incredulously. Eyebrows to the ceiling kind of incredulity.
“Ya, bro. I guess it’s just not meant to be.” But he’s shaking his head before I can finish the thought.
“No, no, no. I’ve seen the way she watches you. There’s no way she’s not interested. Maybe you didn’t really ask her out.”
“Trust me, Twinderella, I asked her out.”
“What did you say? Word for word.”
“‘You wanna go on a date?’”
“Well, maybe she was distracted. Didn’t hear you.”
“I had her locked between my arms, dude. It was a clear no. She doesn’t want to date one of her friends.”
THWAP!
“What was that for, Finn?”
“You’ve been friendzoned? After all of this? Nope. I won’t have it.” We’re about to walk into the photoshoot with Summer, and Finn is looking more and more like he just ate those sour candies we used to devour as a kid. The ones he hated, but he’d compete with me to eat anyway.
“She told me no. I can respect that.”
“Sure. Ya. Mhmmm…You can respect that, or…and just hear me out…you can ask her out one more time like a badass.”
“Whatever—”
“Seriously. Show her that you’re not interested in being friends—”
“I dunno. I do like the friendship.”
“You’re telling me you can live with only the friendship?”
“That’s the thing. It really feels like this time I can’t live without the friendship.”
“Shit.” He heaves out a sigh so heavy I watch his oily chest puff out and deflate. Ya, we’re oiled up. This is utterly ridiculous, but there’s not much I wouldn’t do for her. I tried to hold out and say no, but when she showed up on her own to ask me, I caved. Fast.
“You have to ask her, Twiniffer. Just one more time. Do it right. Do it big. Then if she says no, back off.”
“Maybe.”
THWAP! He clipped the back of my head this time, and even though I really don’t want to say it, it slips out. “Watch the hair, dude.” The hair and makeup artists spent like an hour on this and more for my sake than theirs, I really don’t want to go through that again.
“Let’s go.”
And we walk into the firehall turned studio, me smoothing my hair. Big, bright lights. Shiny firetruck in the background. Right smack dab in the middle of it is the girl of my dreams. Summer’s there with two cameras clipped to her body in leather harnesses. A third camera rests on a tripod.
This is professional.
And—
“Shit!” I say just as I trip over a taped cord on the ground. Yes. It’s taped, and yes I still tripped. I was distracted by Summer. I grab onto the nearest item that looks stable. A tripod. Bad idea.
It crashes to the floor.
