“I’m gonna need to see the other one. Just to be sure.”
I nod, check the time—plenty before my next class. And if this keeps going, maybe she’ll lock up early and I’ll get a private tour of the back room.
I tug the burgundy off, yank on the navy and immediately get stuck.
“Fuck,” I mutter, the hood twisted around my neck like a boa constrictor. I try to shake myself free, feel my shirt ride up, and silently hope my abs are making up for the fact that I am actively losing a fight with cotton.
“You good?” she calls.
“I’m fine!” I reply. Cool. Casual. Totally not sweating under a sweatshirt straightjacket. I struggle for another 30 seconds. God, this is embarrassing.
Then a new voice cuts through the moment.
Smug. Familiar.
And deeply fucking annoying.
“Well, I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Fine! Just a moment!”
My stomach drops. I go rigid mid-struggle.
No.No fucking way.
My mind drifts back to summer at camp. Delilah Greer. Smart as hell, but with a chip on her shoulder the size of the freakin’ Rockies. She seems to have it out for me for no reason and every time I try to win her over, it just seems to make her dislike me even more.
Short brown bob. Black boots. Bitchy energy radiating off her like a goddamn space heater.
Fucking. Delilah.
I plaster on a grin. “Just making a new friend,” I say, nodding toward—wait.
Where’d she go? I turn. The girl is gone. Of course.
Delilah raises a brow.
“Oh, did your imaginary friend run off?”
I sigh dramatically, then smile. “Oh! No, no. She probably just gotscaredoff by your”—I gesture vaguely in her direction—“loving and welcoming aura.”
Delilah bares her teeth. I ignore it.
“Mittens, help me out,” I say, holding up both hoodies. “Which color? Burgundy or navy? I know it’s hard to choose between ‘insanely hot’ and ‘devastatingly hot,’ but do your best.”
She doesn’t move or, I swear, even blink. Just stares at me.
I start flipping the hoodies back and forth.
“Navy. Burgundy. Navy. Burgundy?”
“Stop. I don’t have time for this.” Her voice is flat and bored. “They both look terrible.”
I scoff. “That’s a lie, and we both know it.”
I step in front of her path, just to watch her glare at me again.
“Burgundy or navy. Pick one, and IswearI’ll leave you alone forever.” I hold a hand over my heart.
