And also, Nora would never let me live it down.
I flop back onto the couch, clutching the phone to my chest. “What do I even do?” I ask Cocoa. He blinks at me, then burrows back into the pillow, unhelpful as ever.
I could have seconds to prepare for whatever happens next.
Should I own it? Should I pretend I sent it to the wrong person? Should I move, change my name, and start a new life in a city where the only hot neighbors are cacti?
I stare at the screen, sweat prickling down my back, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But as my eyes burn into the screen, it doesn’t.
He’s probably sleeping.
I seriously consider getting up, breaking into his apartment, stealing his phone, and deleting it. But knowing me, I’d get caught, and that would besuchan embarrassing phone call to Nora.
I sit on my hands, forcing myself not to check my notifications for a full thirty seconds. When that’s done, I peek, just to see that it still hasn’t been read.
I splay out on the bed and groan as Cocoa snuggles up next to me. “We are never showing our faces in public again.”
For the next several minutes, I rehearse every possible response in my head. I consider pretending I was hacked, or that it was a dare, or that I’m performing psychological research on memes relating to modern masculinity, and he just happened to be a subject.
Or … I could just go with the truth.
Chapter Fifteen
Dominic
When your neighbor is a total snack and all you have is a microwave.
I stare at the meme in my direct messages and then smile. I’m not sure if Nicole’s just messing with me…
Or if shelikesme.
But either way, she thinks I’m hot.
“What’re you grinning about, Texas?” Marcus is standing in front of his locker, two down from mine, already halfinto his practice jersey.
“Nothing,” I say, raking my fingers through my dark hair, attempting to play it cool in a way that obviously shows I am, indeed,notcool.
He leans over, his head close enough that I can smell his eucalyptus shampoo. “Is that from … agirl?”
“She’s, uh… She’s a friend.” I quickly shove the phone into my locker.
“Yeah, okay.” He side-eyes me and chuckles, unconvinced, but lets it drop.For now.
I sit on the bench, open my bag, and try to focus on taping my left ankle, which I’ve rolled more times than I can count. But even as I work on that, all I can think about is the meme and how giddy it makes me feel.
I’m such a loser.You’d think I’d never had a girl hit on me, but honestly, Nicole is kind of out-of-this-world gorgeous. And not just gorgeous, but also super smart, and creative, and tenacious…And she thinks I’m hot.
I just can’t let that go.
A heavy slap lands on my back, and for a second, I think I might actually have a heart attack. I look up to see Marcus again; he’s grinning like the world’s happiest wolf. “I’m not buying it,” he says. “I bet she’s more than a friend.”
“She’s not,” I insist, but I can hear my own voice, and it’s pathetic. “She’s just … my neighbor.”
“Oh, the dog girl?” he asks, dropping onto the bench next to me. “She’s the one who makes those cookies? She’s um, what’s-his-face’s daughter—the tech guy.”
“Yeah, that’s her,” I admit. “She’s nice.”
