Page 114 of False Start

“You told me to bring her to the barbecue!” I argued, sitting up straight.

“No.” Rob paused the game, setting his controller down beside Noa’s. “I told younotto bring her to Topaz because it’s a rip-off.”

“Right, and then I said the barbe—” I rubbed my eyes. “It doesn’t matter. She said she just wanted to be friends, and now she barely texts me back. It’s…driving me crazy.”

“It’s nice to know that someone can drive you crazy when you spend all your time driving the rest of the team crazy,” Rob laughed, picking up the controllers.

He handed one to Noa, but he batted it away. “So, did you ask her to date you?”

I sighed. “No. Not really. We didn’t quite get to that conversation.”

A lie. I’d thought about asking Kit, but never actually done it. Why did I have to ask Kit out if we were already together?

“But you want to be with her?”

“Yeah.” I squirmed in my seat. “I do really want to be with her. But?—”

“But you’re a shit show?” Rob said.

Noa held up a hand, silencing both of us.

“Trent, buddy.” He pitched forward, setting his elbows on his knees, his dark brown eyes boring into mine. “If you want something, you need to ask for it.”

Rob bobbled his head. “That’s actually good advice. I told that to Mila the other day.”

“But what if—” I countered, my heart racing at the thought of just telling Kit I liked her and I wanted to be with her and I hated not seeing her every day.

Noa’s eyes stayed locked on mine. “So, ask.”

“It’s not like she’s completely ignoring you, right?” Rob grabbed a beer off the counter and popped the top on the edge of the table.

“No, not completely.” Her texts had been infrequent, but consistent. She’d send a couple of messages before she left for work and another before I got into bed. “Our schedules are out of sync. But she graduates this weekend, and I’m going.”

Kit hadn’t tried to duck out of the promise I’d made during the rally. And even if she did, I wouldn’t let her. She deserved this, even if she didn’t want me.

“That’s perfect,” Noa said. “Tell her then. Better yet, buy her flowers, dinner, do something big. Romance her.”

“Romance her?”

I couldn’t remember ever romancing anyone. My relationships tended to burn hot and fast and end spectacularly. They didn’t need labels because they never lasted that long. They were the exact opposite of what I wanted with Kit.

“If you’re going to threaten her with a relationship, you may as well do it right,” Rob added, unhelpfully. “Now, are we playing games or are we running our mouths? Because Lena’s only going to corral those two kids for so long, and I want to destroy some zombies.”

I picked up the controller, but my mind stayed on Noa’s advice. I needed to do something big. Something romantic. Not some generic bullshit, either. Kit would see right through her name in lights or a giant bouquet. She’d hate a public declaration of love. She deserved something as special as she was.

Mid-zombie massacre, it hit me. The perfect way to romance Kit.

“I gotta go,” I said, setting down the controller, fingers fumbling for my phone on the way out the door. I had Derek onthe line by the time I waved goodbye to Lena, Mila, and Kalani, still splayed out on the porch.

I was going to romance the shit out of Kit. And hopefully, it’d be enough.

THIRTY-EIGHT

KIT

Black eyeliner smearedmy cheek as I jolted, surprised at the sudden jingle of my ringtone.

TRENT

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