I stop in the middle of the staircase and turn to look up at him. He’s three steps above me, so he’s even taller than normal. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Just got the feeling you hate me a little bit.”
I stumble and almost miss the final step into the outside world but manage to steady myself against my bike.
“Who said I hated you?” I say as soon as he’s out on the sidewalk. The sunlight is so bright, I have to squint against it to frown at him properly.
He notices my squinting and takes a couple of steps to the right to block the sun with his head.
Thoughtful. Now I can frown at him without squinting.
“Your entire body language says you hate me,” he says.
“Leave my body out of it. Look at my mouth instead.”
He focuses on my mouth.
Because I just told him to.
Some days I just shouldn’t speak.
I clear my throat. “What I’m saying is I don’t hate you.”
He holds on to his guitar straps with both hands. “Sure you do,” he says.
I swing onto my bike. “I’m not going to stand here arguing with you about how much I don’t hate you.”
“Okay, what do you want to argue with me about, then?”
“I— What?”
He gives me that enormous brain-cell-destroying grin, and I realize he’s just been teasing me this whole time.
“You’re right,” I say. “I do hate you.”
“You don’t even know me,” he says.
“Yes, but once I do, I’ll probably hate you.”
He tilts his head to the right again. It’s his thinking pose. “Oh, you can predict the future?” he asks.
I stare at him for a little too long. What would happen if I told himYes, I am able to predict a kind of future?
I stand up on my pedals, getting ready to go. “Why areyoudoing this?”
“Gramps asked me to. It’s a big deal for them if we win. Also, I have ajust say yesphilosophy.”
“What does that mean?”
“I say yes to anything anyone asks me.” At the disbelieving look on my face, he clarifies, “Nothing immoral or illegal.”
“But why?”
“Life’s short. Seize the day. Live in the moment,” he says, smiling. “You have any philosophies I should know about?”
Doesdon’t banter with extremely hot and possibly smart and interesting guys who are very definitely playerscount as a philosophy?
“I don’t have any philosophies,” I say.
