Page 15 of The Prospect

I suck in a strong breath and then slowly release it, rubbing along my eyes as the crowd erupts into applause at Wilks winning possession over the ball.

“Do you want to go somewhere more private to talk?” Chelsie asks. “I don’t mind.Garywill understand.” Chelsie has always opted to call Wilks by his first name—his real name—I kind of love it, considering she’s the only one who does.

Her calling him Gary is essentially the parallel to me calling Green,Greenie. The difference, Gary’s actually her boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

Just the word alone takes me back to last night. Being wrapped under Green’s arm as I had to listen to him explain his “idea”.

There’s no escaping it.

The flashback is imminent.

And here it comes.

“Here’s what I’m thinking,” Green begins, an excitable look on his face as he squeezes me in tight. “You said you know all the signs when it comes to women, and guess what? I know all the signs when it comes to men.”

“Your point?” I struggle to make out exactly where he’s going with this revelation.

“My point? We help each other, Haze!”

I raise a brow. “Help each other to do what? Understand the signs?” I make an attempt to clarify.

“Yes, that, but…” He shifts slightly beneath himself, clasping his hands together as he places his grasp on top of the table. “You can help me get a girlfriend. Preferably…” He coughs within his hand, mumbling, “Amira,” under his breath. “And I…” He now uses that same hand to caress along the side of myarm. “Can help you to get a boyfriend. Anyone you want. It's a win, win. Don’t you see?”

Truly, I don’t know how we ended up here. In the span of twenty minutes, Green and I have gone from limited conversations about romance to him deciding we both need to become each other’s love coach.

The thought makes me feel slightly sick to my stomach—anytime I think of Green with anyone, it does that. I don’t know why. It’s not that it repulses me; it doesn't. I want him to be happy. As his best friend, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for him, but every time I’ve been introduced to a girlfriend, I can’t help but suppress that lingering feeling that something is off.

Does he really want Amira? He met her for a total of two whole minutes, and now, all of a sudden, she’s the one? The thought tortures me.

How can you know someone for so long and never have them see you but see them see someone else in the span of a few minutes?

I need to stop thinking about myself.

About us.

It’s never going to happen.

If it was going to, it would've by now.

I need to move on.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe this is a good idea? The reality is, setting him up with Amira won’t prove to be a highly difficult task, she was already visibly into him—much to my dismay, but when it comes to me, who would I get set up with? Who would want me? The better question…who else would I want?

“You’re quiet.” Green catches my wandering eyes.

“I’m thinking,” I tell him, twiddling my thumbs within my lap as my legs shake beneath the table.

“No you’re not,” Green argues, placing a hand on my thigh for me to stop. It sends tingles through my core. “You’re overthinking.”

“Which is a form of thinking, is it not?” I throw back at him, prompting his face to soften as he settles back into his seat and reaches for my hand.

Green has always been touchy like this. It’s exhausting. If I thought just a desperate look in his eyes was enough to sway me, feeling how he rubs along my palm is enough to convince me to commit a federal crime.

“Please, Haze.” His voice is tender—desperate. “Can we just try it out?”

“I…” I don’t know what to say. “I don’t know, Greenie.”

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