“I mean that we all get a little wrapped up in a girl pretty young. But that one is special.” He takes his baseball hat off, gesturing to the way she disappeared. “Find yourself before you get too invested, okay?”
I wish I could say I don’t know what he means. But I do.
Amara Flores has been a subject of my dreams for quite some time now.
I bite the inside of my cheek. “What should I do?”
“Well, one thing's for certain, you better not be sneaking out of my god damn house. I swear if I hear that damn window open one more time, I’m going to tear you a new asshole, boy. Just use the damn door next time.”
One thing about Grandpa is that he doesn’t tend to sugarcoat things. Unless, of course, your first name happens to be Amara, last name, Flores.
“I swear it’s just an insult to my intelligence,” he continues to grumble. “But just wait. All good things come to those who are patient. You’re a good kid. It’ll happen in time.”
“How did you meet Grandma again?” I ask.
Half of me hates bringing her up. Every single time I do, Grandpa stares off into space, looking a little sad. But I love hearing about her.
“We met in high school. Knew she was the one for me the second I saw her.”
“You guys got married young, didn’t you?” I ask.
Grandpa chuckles. “Too young, in today’s standards. Wewere seventeen. Neither of us knew what we were getting into.”
“I think I could get married early.”
Grandpa looks at me for what feels like ages, and when we hear Amara making her way back down the hall, he takes his toothpick out of his mouth. “I think it’s best if you focus on the little things right now, kid. Tell you what. When you can park the truck without hitting the back of that damn garage, we can talk about grown-up things.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal.”
CHAPTER 21
COOPER
There’s no way I’m getting Amara to talk to me tonight. But I can get her to interact with me.
Which is why I stole her cat.
Can I really steal something that comes willingly? Maybe.
But okay, I didn’t actuallysteal her cat, and it started out completely genuine.
I had ordered groceries for delivery. Considering I’m heading into training camp shortly, there’s only so many times I can have takeout. And while most of the groceries were ingredients and different types of protein, there were two ingredients in particular that were more important than all the rest.
Peanut butter and fluff.
The new plan is simple.
I grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down the order of tasks.
But first, I took an allergy pill. Because the one thing that will ruin a good time? Sneezes. Snotall over.
I got to work.
Task 1: Make the fluffernutter sandwiches.
Task 2: Take them both to my room.
Task 3: Somehow get the incarnation of said sandwich into my room.
