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“Wouldn’t you just procrastinate more? You’d get distracted.”
“No, I’d be inspired by a real photographer.”
Wow, charmer. A giddy feeling bubbles in my stomach. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
I smile as my eyes drop down. Looking up, I catch a glimpse of his smirk and dimples. How dare he.
“Ah, I’m getting to you!”
I’d say he isn’t, but that’d be a lie. “Shut up.”
“So that’s a yes.”
“It’s a shut-up.”
He pulls out his phone, taps on it, and shows me his QR code, the background patterned with guitar emojis.
“We can inspire each other,” Jase says.
“Or distract each other,” I say.
“Inspirations are never distracting.”
I grin at this. He’s too good, and the giddy feeling stirring inside me bubbles stronger. “At least we can agree on that.” I dig my phone from my tote bag and scan his QR code. Since my account is private, I have to accept Jase’s message request, which I do.
When I first saw Jase, I thought we were completely different. Him being the charismatic guitarist who could rally a crowd and me being the shy photographer who couldn’t even ask him what songs his band was playing. But maybe we share more in common than I would have guessed.
Chapter Twelve
I’ve been praised for my patience, but clearly, the universe loves to test it every time I take my friendship photo.
“Not again,” I murmur to Nora as we watch a father and his son, who looks about eight, throw chunks of bread at the ducks paddling through Star Lakes. And of course they’re throwing them from the bridge. They’re launching the bread so aggressively I fear they’re going to hit one of the ducks.
“I got this,” Nora says.
She strides towards the father and his son, the golden hour sunlight outlining her hair in soft yellow.
“Why good morning to you, good sir and child!” Nora greets.
I press my hand against my mouth as a laugh sputters out of me.
The father furrows his eyebrows and scrunches his face. Anyone seeing him right now would think Nora insulted him. His son tilts his head to the side.
“My bestie over here needs to take a photo.” She gestures to me like I’m royalty. “So could you guys please step off for just a moment?”
“We were here first,” the father says. Of course the universe tests my patience even more with another unwilling opponent.
“It’ll just be five minutes.”
Clearly, five minutes is too long for this man because he and his son continue launching more bread at the ducks. Those poor ducks. I’m sincerely convinced the father and son aren’t feeding them but actually hurting them.
Nora turns back to me with a look that says we shouldn’t give up but wonders what we should do now. I could just take my photo somewhere else, but my mind flashes back to Sandra and Aaliyah taking their photos on this same bridge. How I let them do what they want and I just backed out. As I hold my camera again, the buttons smooth and the chassis metal, I call to Nora, “Think you can walk from the opposite side of the bridge to here?”
Her eyes widen in surprise, a proud grin lifting across her face. “While they’re still on the bridge?” she clarifies.
“Yeah.” The word slips out easily. The fire I’ve had since signing up for this competition grows stronger than ever. I plant my feet further into the grass and hold my camera tighter. Let’s do this.
