Page 43 of Tell Me It’s Right

“Shut up.”

“Careful. I might be into that kind of thing.”

“Would you just turn around?” I twirl a finger in the air for emphasis. “Hold the board how you normally would down by your side.”

“You’re making me feel like a piece of meat.”

“Do you want me to do my job or not? Face forward.”

He obliges, and I shift side to side, trying to find the best shot.

The truth is, I’m just relieved nothing feels weird between us today. After three days of radio silence, he texted me the upcoming schedule, and I sent him what I managed to accomplish while I was off and asked if I could shadow him the next time he went skating for some pictures.

He hasn’t told me where he disappeared to, and I haven’t asked. Not that I’m not painfully curious, but I could tellfrom the hesitation in his body language when he showed up today that he didn’t want me to. It seems we’re also going to pretend him taking care of me at my bedside on Monday never happened, and I’m fine with that.

“Okay, fine,” I sigh, rising to my feet. “I think I’m all good here.”

He throws his head back in a dramatic sigh. “Thank God. You hungry? Think I’m gonna grab some lunch before heading back to the shop.”

I pause putting the lens lap on the camera. He’s asking me to eat? With him?

“I—yeah, I could eat.”

“That sandwich shop on Main okay?”

I nod as I dig my phone out of my bag to see what all the buzzing’s about. It’s been going off nonstop for the past ten minutes. There’s a string of missed calls and FaceTimes from Marti, followed by some texts in all caps.

I gasp and cover my hand with my mouth.

“What is it?” Liam demands.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, my hand shaking as I jab at the screen until it opens the texts. “Oh myGod.”

“What is it?”

I hear Liam’s footsteps get closer, but I swat at him when he tries to look at my phone as I read the text over again to make sure I understood it right.

“What the hell is?—”

“Jared Morgan was cast as Hunter.”

“I—what?”

My eyes snap up to his, and I let out a frustrated groan as I realize there’s no one around who will fully appreciate this news. I need to call Marti back, but preferably not somewhere in public where people will stare at me for screaming.

“There’s this movie adaptation being made for a book that a friend and I really love,” I explain in a rush, but Liam’s face just scrunches up further in confusion. “And we’ve been waiting on casting news, and they finally announced who will be playing the male lead. Jared Morgan.” I hold my phone out so he can see the screenshot Marti sent me.

Liam cocks his head and squints. “Didn’t you have posters of him on your wall in high school?”

My jaw drops open, and I yank my phone back.

As a matter of fact, I did, and there is no way he should remember that.

“So, this is good news?”

I throw my hands up and let out another string of unintelligible noises. “It’s…shocking.”

He quirks an eyebrow. “Shocking?”

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