“Is he replying to you?” I ask, my eyes wide.
“Nope, see? I hadn’t hit send on anything. He sent you this unprompted. See? Itoldyou no one means it initially.” She turns my phone back to herself and types quickly.
“Yes, we should. When?” she reads out, then she walks around the counter and hands my phone back to me.
As I grasp it, my phone buzzes with Xander’s immediate reply.
[Xander]Whenever is good for you.
“What do I say?” I gaze up at Phoebe who already seems bored and has gone back to her pizza.
“Tell him now.”
“What? But it’s so late!”
“So? You’re awake, he’s awake. He’s clearly thinking about you. Tell him now and I’ll drive you.”
“I… I can’t.” This is too much, too fast, and my heart starts to race.
“Can’t or won’t?” Phoebe side eyes me. “Don’t chicken out now, and my offer to drive you is a one-time offer. You won’t feel this confident in the morning.”
She starts prodding my shoulder.
“I… okay. Okay! I’ll… let’s go.”
Phoebe drives like a maniac, which would be terrifying, but everything falls to the background compared to the twisting of nervousness that wraps up my insides when she pulls up outside Xander’s building.
“He lives here?” Phoebe lets out a low whistle. “Girl, you gotta apologize to him.”
“Phoebe!”
“What? I’m just saying. Now get out of my car.”
I want to tell her I’m too scared, but the look on her face forces me to drag myself out into the street.
I’ve barely closed the door before she drives off, abandoning me while grinning.
I still can’t tell whether this makes us better friends or not.
Turning, I face Xander’s building as my heart pounds up into my throat.
Showtime.
36
XANDER
“Tea?” If I had it my way, Snow would still be in the hospital and wouldn’t leave until her incisions from Fred’s surgery were nothing more than a shadow against her skin.
If I hadn’t fucked up, I’d still have that power.
“If it’s not too much trouble,” Snow replies in a small voice.
She sits at the kitchen table with all three cats around her, each one smothering her with affection.
They missed her as much as I did, but I keep that locked up for now.
There’s no telling how this will go.
