Page 6

“Thanks, Mom.” I wasn’t sure she had any idea how much her words meant to me. Especially after failure after failure after failure. Maybe I used to be a shining star. But my light had certainly dimmed recently.

She walked into the kitchen. My mom liked to grade papers all over the house. She was never in her office for more than an hour at a time. And my dad must have been in the kitchen, because he walked out with a big smile on his face.

“Baby girl.” He plopped down next to me on the couch. “I never get a Friday night with you. I feel spoiled. Is it a movie night?” He rubbed his hands together.

“Did Mom tell you I was a loser that needed company?”

He laughed. “I’m the loser without anything to do tonight. Keep me company?”

I smiled. “Sure, Dad.”

He grabbed the remote and chose a movie without giving me any options.

Which was a good thing. If I’d had to choose I’d be scrolling all night. There were so many things I was indecisive about. Why couldn’t I be indecisive about Mr. Halifax? Why did I have to love someone who didn’t love me back?

“Dad?” I turned to him, surprised when he was already staring at me, a frown etched on his face.

His smile was quick, like he was trying to pretend he hadn’t been staring at me with concern. “What’s up? Because I was thinking my brother could use some frogs in his bed. Are you up for a prank?”

I laughed. “Maybe.” Seeing Uncle James’ face when he pulled back the covers would be epic. But also my dad didn’t know that RJ had hacked into the security feed at my uncle’s place. So...I wouldn’t be able to share that footage with him. Which made the prank significantly less fun. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything, baby girl.”

I knew he’d have very different advice from my mom. So I asked him the same question. “What would you do if you had a crush on a guy who thinks you’re invisible?”

“Well, I’ve never had a crush on a man before.”

I laughed. “Dad, you know what I mean.”

“Hm. What would I do to get a hot guy’s attention?” He made a face. “High five him? No. Sword fight him, I guess.” He scrunched up his nose. “Why are you making me do this? I hate this question.”

I laughed. “Let me word it differently. Say a girl was trying to get your attention. How would she succeed?”

“Oh. Easy. She should flash me.”

“Robert Hunter, I heard that!” my mom called from the kitchen.

“Then where are my tits?!” he called back.

My mom’s laughter floated into the room.

“I guess your mom doesn’t want my attention right now,” my dad said.

I shook my head. My parents were ridiculous. But my dad’s advice was sound. The only problem was that I’d already tried it. And Mr. Halifax refused to look at the pictures. “And if that doesn’t work?” I asked.

“Flashing always works.”

“Oh.” If that was true then...Mr. Halifax didn’t like what he saw. No. I knew that wasn’t true. The first time he’d looked at my pictures he’d been on my phone for over an hour. He’d loved those photos.

“Unless the guy is more of a sword fighting man, that is.”

I pressed my lips together. Was that it? Was Mr. Halifax not interested in me because he was only interested in men? I liked to think that the few times I saw him staring at me, his gaze was heated. He wasn’t looking at me like he preferred sword fights. He looked at me like he wanted me to flash him.

Or did he? Maybe it was all in my head.

Gah! I tried to focus on the movie, but the thoughts in my head were slowly killing me.

My dad put his arm around my shoulders. “Whoever this guy is that you’re thinking about? He doesn’t sound worth your time.”