Page 11 of Bookworm

"Well—"

"—like it was one of your romcoms."

"I wouldn't say—"

As we got to the school exit, Bo stopped suddenly and turned to face me. Startled, I came to a halt too, glad for the reprieve.

"I guess I should be flattered," he said, "that a girl like you would stalk me."

"No," I said, trying to lighten the mood, "if anything, Stryker, you should be flattered about that bet. Must be cool knowing so many peopledesireyou and want to be the one who finally breaks through. In books, that kind of thing always leads to happily-ever-after."

Bo just shook his head.

"This is my life," he said. "Not a book."

"I know," I said. "Andseriously, I'm sorry. I'm sorryfor following you and invading your privacy. I really am—but you didn't even give me a chance to get to the apology part."

His next words were anything but flattering.

"Apology accepted," Bo said, "but maybe you should stop reading romance. Go out there and find your own."

I swallowed thickly.

"Just a suggestion, Kent."

"Maybe I will," I retorted.

His eyes gleamed in challenge, and I tried to match it—though I suspected we both knew it was a lie.

As I watched Bo leave, I had the strongest sensation to call him back, to tell him I was a freaking catch. Iwas Charlotte Louisa Kent, bookworm extraordinaire, mediocre violinist, lover of helping people, hater of being cold, and hopeless-yet-hopeful romantic. Any guy or girl would be lucky to have me stalk them(though I definitely wasn't doing that). Unfortunately, though, I did end uptrailing behind hisblack truck on the way home.My sister Scarlett had something after school, so I was riding solo. Turningoff the main road, I tried taking the long way at one point, but Bo and I somehow ended up pulling into our driveways at the same time.Our car doors even slammed in unisonupon our exits.I winced at the sound.

Being next-door-neighbors with someone you wanted to avoid sucked.

Bo did something then that he never did.

"Hey Kent," he called just as I got to my door.

"Yeah?" I said in surprise and turned to face him.

Bo was still standing beside his truck.

"I know you're dying to see me make out with someone, butwe discussed this. You gotta stop following me."

Though his voice was serious, I saw the twitch at the corner of his mouth.

It made my own lips turn up.

"Maybe you're the one following me," I said with a flip of my hair. "See you around, Stryker."

Though hopefully not anytime soon, I thought.

There was a lot for me to unpack.Walking into the house, our conversation played out again in my head.Bo's words rang through me.

Maybe you should stop reading romance. Go out there and find your own.

CHAPTER 3

Okay, so I was never going to stop reading romance altogether.

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