Page 14 of Zero Chance

It was humiliating and painful and constantly reminded me I was absolutely no one.

The sting of his rejection might not have been so bad if he hadn’t even known I existed.Then there would’ve been a valid reason for his apathy.Nearly everyone looked right past me, not even seeing me.But Keene saw me.He acknowledged me.He even talked to me, which was probably reason number one why I had such a big, dreamy crush on him in the first place.My hormones really could not handle that level of hotness looking directly at me and saying words to my face.

But since the moment he laid eyes on me last year at this very counter, he’d never once hit on me or done anything flirty in my direction.

Deflating at my scowl, he frowned right back.“Seriously, are you ever going to tell me why you hate me so much?”

I scoffed.“If you can’t figure it out, you don’t deserve to know.”

“Jesus, Frankie.You’re no fun.”

I rolled my eyes.“That’s too bad since entertaining you is what Ilivefor.And stop calling me that.You’re not allowed to use that name.That’s Xander’s nickname.”

I wasn’t even sure I wanted Xander using it.Except I kind of did.It made me feel…seen.Which I usually didn’t like.But whenshesaw me, I liked it.

In front of me, Keene’s gaze lit with challenge.“Oh, that is theonlything I’m going to…” His voice trailed off as something behind me caught his attention.When his eyes flared slightly, I started to turn to see what he was gaping at because I was the only one currently working at this station.

But he clapped his hands suddenly, making me jump and jerk back to see what his problem was.

“Frankie Frank,” he taunted.“Library Girlis a thing of the past.I officially dub thee Frances Franklin Franks, aka, Frankie.”He swirled a hand around as if using an imaginary sword to tap the tops of my shoulders and make the title official.

I had to admit I wouldn’t miss Library Girl.That was a moniker that made me feel about as low as a person could.I mean, could no one rememberWaverly?I knew it took up three whole syllables to say, and who could be bothered with a mouthful like that?But Library Girl took upfoursyllables, dammit.

Still.

Frankie?

Surely, there was something else better out there.

Anywhere.

Blinking at Keene dryly, I deadpanned, “Joy.”

He pointed.“See.I knew you’d come around.”Smirking as if he’d actually won that round, he jumped off the counter to leave and bounced his eyebrows at me.“Catch you at the party later tonight,” he said, only to snicker.“Oh, wait.No, I won’t.”

And chuckling to himself, he turned away to stroll off in the direction Alec and Xander had gone.

“What an ass,” I muttered to myself as I scowled after him, only to heave out a sad sigh.

Because seriously,what an ass.It was the perfect taut roundness that shifted in a way with every step he took and made my mouth start to water and my fingers itch with the need to grab.But I’d never be allowed near it because Keene Dugger had no interest in me whatsoever.

Most of the time, I didn’t mind being a drab, dull nobody that people tended not to see or hear because I really did hate an overabundance of attention.It made me nervous and twitchy.My thoughts blanked out, my mind liquefied to mush, my tongue stopped working, and I turned into a complete ninny.I liked being left alone so I could do my own thing in blessed peace and quiet.

But this was one of those times being a dull, drab no one did not work in my favor, because it meant I’d never get a taste of Keene Dugger.

I wassogoing to grow old, alone and unloved, with no one to blame but my own timid, introverted self, who was too afraid to reach out and simply connect with someone else.

I truly hated life.

Life was hard.

Depressed, I turned back to focus on my work.

Remembering I’d been cataloging call numbers before all the interruptions, I blinked at the cart of books I’d been organizing, only to squint in confusion.

Wait a second.

Tilting my head, I read the call numbers once, only to read through them again.

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