Page 110 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

“You want me to pick you up after tutoring and take you to practice?”

“Nah, you don’t need to do that. Her house is a couple blocks from the arena, so you can meet me there.” He glances at me out of the corner of his eye.

“I thought your tutor was that Anthony kid?”

“Uh yeah, but his schedule and mine didn’t work so good, so I got reassigned to this girl named Samantha. She’s a senior, and she wants to work with kids who have language exceptionalities or something, so it’s a good fit.” His cheeks flush and the steering wheel tapping amps up a few notches.

“Is she cute?”

His cheek tics. “I guess. She’s nice, and she’s patient, and she doesn’t mind explaining things more than once. She’s got that nerdy library girl look going on.”

I make a sound. “Is that your type? The nerdy library girls?”

“Eh, I don’t really know if I have a type yet.”

“Will her parents be home?”

That flush of his deepens. “Dunno.”

My phone buzzes so I slide it out of my pocket and check the message. It’s from a number I don’t recognize. I key in my passcode and tap on the message.

I’d like to retract my statement about you not wanting to date me.

This is Skye btw.

Skye:We had coffee at The Coffee Emporium, and I stuck my foot in my mouth and then I stuck my tongue in yours.

Skye::/

Skye:Why isn’t there an unsend feature on text messages? That needs to be an option.

I laugh and compose a response.

Sidney: I highly appreciate your lack of filter even in your text messages.

Sidney: Especially in your text messages.

Sidney: I hoped I’d hear from you.

Sidney: And I’ve been replaying the kiss often over the past two days.

A new message appears:

Skye: Good replay or bad replay?

Sidney: Definitely good. Does this mean you’re saying yes to the date on Friday?

Skye: Yes. I’m saying yes.

“Fuck yeah.” I fist pump the air.

“What’s going on?” Miller glances at me and then refocuses his attention on the road. “Who are you texting? Is it about the draft?”

“Uh no. It’s not about the draft. We’ve got lots of time and there are teams interested in you, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh okay. What’s got you so excited then? Did someone get signed or something?”

Miller and I don’t keep a lot of secrets from each other. Apart from the fact that I’m pretty sure he’s hooking up with his current tutor, but he’s a seventeen-year-old boy and we’ve had the safe sex talk. If he wants to do it, he’ll find a way. I’d rather it be in a house and bed than the back of a car.

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