Page 47 of Butterfly Effect

“What?”

Was that a compliment?

“Nothing.” Wade hands me the remote.

I click through the cable guide: news, boxing, Gordon Ramsay, poker,Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Nothing elicits a response. I linger on an episode ofGilmore Girlsbefore skipping past.

“Go back.”

“Sorry?”

He shushes me.

Dean and Tristan face off at Rory’s dance, and Dean goes deliciously protective when Tristan attacks her.

Like Wade with Kurt.

Wade rests his elbows on his knees. Eyes shiny with attention, lips moving as if reciting the lines.

The scene fades out as they leave and cuts to a commercial.

He reclines with a sigh, stretching an arm across the top of the couch. Suspiciously close to my shoulders. I tilt my head toward him.

“Youdon’twatchGilmore Girls.”

“Sure, I do. Donovan and I have watched it in nearly every hotel lobby on the road.”

“Why the lobby?”

“Before the management stopped it, I used to share a room with Jaeger the Snorlax. And Fletch roomed with Landy.”

“Radek doesn’t likeGilmore Girls? I feel like he would.”

“Only serial killers don’t like this show.Nah, Landy loves it. But he loves having phone sex with Indi more.”

I groan. “Aw, come on. That was uncalled for. I already know way too many gory details about their sex lives.”

“Hey, if we have to know about it, so do you. Now,shh, I love this part.”

Dean and Rory return to the screen, coffees in hand, sneaking into Miss Patty’s after the winter formal. When Dean asks why it’s so heavy, Rory reveals she has a book in her purse. I sink further into the couch, mirroring how they settle into a bean bag as Dean starts reading Dorothy Parker to her.

The combination of the acoustic guitar in the show’s score, the sweet idea of being cared for and read to, and the warmth of being so close to Wade—it’s soothing.

My breathing relaxes. So does he.

Maybe Wade Boehner’s not as greasy as he makes himself out to be. He treats his one-night stands gently, knows how to accept the word ‘no’—when it matters, anyway—cooks frequently, reads classic literature, and watchesGilmore Girls.

A weighty slumber settles over me, along with Wade’s rounded bicep, and I don’t fight either.

Chapter 9

The Most Frustrating Woman I’ve Ever Met

Wade

Me and my big mouth.

Now, she knows too much about my extracurriculars. And that I think her freckles are cute. That’s too much insider information.

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