“Try-hard.”
“Walking red flag.”
“And you’re not catching any flags, are you?”
That was offensive.
“Menace to society is whatyouare and also-”
“OKAY, enough with the aggressive flirting because we have something important at hand.” Allison looks my way with a wicked grin, and I look at her with a worried expression. She says things like this at least once a day, and it’sneverimportantor a good idea. “This summer, we have the never list to get over with.”
She outs me to the world, and my mouth drops open.
“Allison, don’t you dare speak about-”
“Our dear Maddie needs to get a life,soshe showed me a list of things she would never ever do, and folks, we’re here todothem.”
I look down at my plate and completely ignore what happened.
Okay, I can’t ignore it.
“What’s the first rule about the never list?”
She stares at me blankly, and West points a finger at me.
“Never talk about the never list?” He references Fight Club, and my eyebrows raise.
“Surprisingly, yes, but it’s a never list for areason.” Pause. “As in, I don’t want to do it,ever.”
“Blaspheme!”
I’m slightly surprised she knows how to use that word correctly.
“Boys, back me up.” She crosses her arms, and West and Riden are left slightly speechless. Still, of course, West manages to quip.
“And what is in that never list, if I may?”
“You maynot.” I retort quickly, and his smile grows even bigger.
“Now I really wanna know.”
I roll my eyes, and Allison straightens up.
“If you’re not saying it, I will.”
And before I can stop her, she discreetly pulls up her phone and apictureof my list.
“When did you take that?!”
“Yoga, meditate, do anything before noon, babysit, sing in front ofanyone, ask for a guy’s number…”
“Oh,wait.” Jake pulls out his phone, and I already know whatever it is he’s going to do is at my expense. “Here. The most valuable number you could ever get.” He smirks, joking and playing with me, and I lean back against my chair.
“Yeah, not really what I meant when I wrote that, besides the fact that I’m not entirely sure you’re even human, let alone aguy.”
“Oh, because of my superhuman good looks and god-like features?”
“No, because I’m convinced you’re half demon and half hellhound.”
