Page 30 of Romeo

“Of course not.” I glanced down at my phone again, then looked back at Nash and sighed. “I can’t tell if he’s being friendly or if he’s... you know.”

“Flirting?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s he doing that makes you think he might be flirting?”

I thought about it. “He texts me every day. Multiple times a day. He asks about my life, remembers things I tell him, checks in to make sure I’m safe. He calls me Cher...”

“That’s Cajun for ‘dear,’ right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, that’s definitely flirting.”

“But he also deflects whenever I ask him anything direct. Like just now, I asked him beach or mountains, and he said it depends who he’s with. What does that even mean?”

Nash laughed. “It means he’s into you but doesn’t want to come on too strong.”

“You think?”

“Fi, guys don’t text girls every day unless they’re interested. Trust me.”

“But what if he’s just being nice? What if I’m reading too much into it?”

“Are you serious right now?” Nash shook his head. “You’re overthinking this. If a guy is putting in that much effort, he’s not doing it because he wants to be your pen pal.”

I wanted to believe him. That was probably the problem. Believing Jasper wanted me would have been easy. Too easy.

I’d believed Joseph wanted me too.

“What if I’m wrong?” I asked quietly.

Nash’s expression softened. “Then you’re wrong. But at least you’ll know. Isn’t that better than sitting here wondering?”

Before I could answer, footsteps sounded behind me.

“Hey, Fi.”

I turned to find Georgie standing there with his arms crossed. His gaze moved from me to Nash, then back again. Some of the tension around his mouth seemed to disappear.

“Hey, Georgie,” I said.

“You two having fun?”

“Yeah,” Nash said easily. “Just hanging out.”

Georgie nodded slowly, his gaze lingering on me. “That’s good. You should be hanging out with friends. Having fun. Not worrying about... other stuff.”

I frowned. “What other stuff?”

“Just...” He waved a hand vaguely. “You know. School’s important. You’ve got a lot going on. Don’t need any distractions.”

“I’m not distracted.”

“Good.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Keep it that way. Focus on what matters. Friends, school, family. The rest of it—boys and all that—it can wait.”

My cheeks heated. “I’m not⁠—”