AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So,” I say as he reads the back label of a huge container of protein powder. “What exactly is the point of that stuff?”
“Well,” Lucas says, “it’s all about the amount of protein you consume each day. When you’re trying to build muscle, you need a lot…”
My phone buzzes. I nod along to what Lucas is saying, but I’m not listening as I check the notification.
“…gram per kilo of weight—”
“She replied!” I shout, then remember where I am and lower my voice. I shake my phone in Lucas’s face. “She replied!” I repeat in a whisper-shout.
He frowns. “Who?”
“Cleo! The girl I went on a date with! She said, and I quote, hanging out was super fun, smiley-face. I’d def be down to hang out again. Are you free Thursday night? End quote. Wow. She doesn’t hate me after all.”
“Why on earth would she hate you?” Lucas asks.
I don’t reply. Instead, my fingers fly across my phone as I type a response. “Thursday…Night…Works… Same… Time…and…meeting…place…question mark. That sounds okay, right? Doesn’t matter, I’ve already sent it.”
I tuck my phone away and smile up at Lucas. “Sorry. I interrupted your protein speech. As you were saying?”
His mouth is a flat line. “You seem awfully excited about this Claudia chick.”
“Cleo,” I correct. “Why wouldn’t I be excited?”
“Do you like her?”
“Of course.”
His face darkens. “What exactly do you like about her?”
“Well, she’s pretty and she’s shorter than me, and she’s nice.”
“Pretty, short and nice. Wow. She sounds amazing.”
“Hey, you don’t need to be a dick. Besides, even if she looked like a gremlin, I wouldn’t care.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No. It’s all about personality.”
He laughs. “That’s a lie, and we all know it.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No,” I repeat, my tone firmer. “It isn’t. You’re only saying that because you’re hot and drowning in people who like you, so you can afford to be shallow and picky. Me? I’d be lucky to have anyone like me.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I cringe. Even though it’s the truth, it sounds so sad and pathetic spelled out like that. I wish I hadn’t said anything. Someone like Lucas would never understand.
Silence stretches out between us. I feel Lucas’s gaze at me, prickling at my skin, but I can’t bear to meet his eyes, so I stare at the tiled floor.
“You think I’m hot?” he asks eventually.
Seriously? That’s his response?
I sigh. “Come on,” I say, grabbing the container from his hands and placing it in the trolley with a thud. “We’ve got groceries to buy.”
*
