Page 76 of Bookworm

"Hey boyfriend," I said brightly.

Satisfaction rolled over me as I watched his head snap upin surprise. Thescowl as he lost hold of the ribbon was an added bonus.

"Need help with that?"

"No," he muttered.

Rolling my eyes, I waved him aside. "Make room, Stryker."

Bo scooted over but only slightly as I sidled up next to him.

"Does this have to be done in a certain way?" I asked, and he shook his head. "Well then, when we were younger, my sister desperatelywanted to be a cheerleader. She was always practicingthe routinesaround the house. Scarlett is a lot louder than you'd think."

"She doesn't cheer now though. Right?" Bo said.

"Oh no, she literally calls those 'the dark days'." I chuckled. "It ended up not being for her, but she didn't know that until she tried it."

Bo didn't interrupt, just watched my fingers as I worked the ribbon.

"Anyway, my dad—who is awesome—always tried his best to give us what we needed. And for the most part, he did," I said."But Dad didn't have any clue how to do hair, makeup, fashion, or things like cheer—specifically the importance of hair bows."

I looked over to him.

"Do you know about cheer bows, Stryker?"

"Do I look like I'd know something like that?" he deadpanned.

"No, no you don't," I said."Finger please."

Bo held out his hand, and I placed his index finger in the center of the bow to hold it together.

"Have any zip ties or wire?"

"There's garden wire in the drawer next to you," he said.

"Thanks." After locating the wire, I continued. "I ended up checking out craft books from the library and, of course, watching online tutorials. The first three bows I made were terrible. By the tenth, I had the technique down, and Scarlett's friends wanted to know where she got herawesome bows.Anyway, this led me to figure out how to do other bows too, for birthdays, presents, etc."

I finished the ribbon off with a flourish.

"Ta-dah."

Bo glanced my way. "Thanks," he said. "Looks great, Kent."

I shrugged.

"I spent way too much time on that, and you finished it in like two minutes."

Before I could tease him, another guy walked into the room. He just appeared out of nowhere. At first, it seemed like magic, but then I realized there must be a back entrance for employees. Darkbrown hair was spiked all over his head; his eyes were dark too yet held a lightness to them;and he had a tall, lean build. The thing that stood out most, though, was his playful smile.

"After a brief but brutal brush with death," he said to which Bo rolled his eyes, "I'm back and better than ever.Ready to fluff, cut, and arrange some floral. Bo man, I thought you would throw me a welcome back party or something."

"You were gone three days," Bo said.

"Yeah, but they were the longest of my life."

The guy flopped onto a stool in the corner.

"For a second, I thought I was a goner.But I knew I had to hang on for your sake, Bo. Your life wouldbe so sad without me."

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