Page 71 of Zero Chance

And she hung up before I could reply.But I blinked at the endearment.

Rack up another reason why Xander Union was perfect.She was even able to express her feelings openly when making a friend.Gah, I wanted to be her so badly it was pathetic.

Sighing heavily, I shoved my phone into my pocket, grabbed my purse, and headed for my brother with lifted, expectant eyebrows.“Well, are you ready or what?”

He rolled his eyes, not amused by my joke.

And together, we trudged down the stairs and through the house to the back door.I unlocked my car with my key fob so Gates could get in while I latched all the bolts on the back exit, and I rushed after him to the driver’s side.

On the way to campus, I concentrated on driving, so I didn’t have much time to think about everything Xander had told me.But once I got to work, relieved my coworker at the front desk, and showed Gates to a study room he could hang out in, my brain began to whirl.I spotted two other people in the building total, and they were zoned in on their laptops, so I finally let my thoughts spin as I checked in a stack of books that the last shift had let go.

Did Keene really want to find methatbadly, though?

It seemed too good to be true.And even if it was, he’d totally change his mind if he knew it was me.I knew he would.Which was why I needed to figure out a way to avoid him for the rest of my natural life.Because I had no idea how I would react the next time we?—

“Please, for the love of God, Frankie,” his voice claimed, making me gasp and jump out of my skin as a body heaved itself up onto the counter and sat down about five feet away.“Just yell at me for sitting on this counter, will you?Or tell me to quiet the fuck down and use my library voice.Just…anythingyou’d usually get on my case about.Because I really needsomethingin this world to make sense right now.You know?”

16

WAVERLY

Keene Dugger was sitting on my checkout counter.

Oh my God, he wasrightthere.

Panic seized control of my limbs, took over my breathing, and made my vision momentarily darken at the corners.My chest heaved as I tried to calm myself, and I blinked my view back into focus to find him with his back slumped in gloom, hands restlessly tapping in his lap and his attention nowhere near me.He was gazing out into the rest of the library, shaking his head, and not even looking in my direction.

Realizing he had no clue about last night, I was finally able to exhale and relax enough to see he was genuinely upset.Probably about the fight he’d had with Parker.

Sympathy flooded my veins, and I just wanted to help him through this.I cleared my throat discreetly.“You know, there’s a perfectly good stool you could sit on right there, right?”

He glanced toward the stool and grimaced.“Looks uncomfortable.”

I smiled, glad I’d been able to distract him from his doldrums.

Falling into my role as nitpicker with ease, I sniffed.“And the counter’swhat?Nice and cushiony.”

He laughed.“Yes!Thank you.That’s exactly what I needed you to—holyfuck!”Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at me, like really looked at me for probably the first time since he’d plopped down on the counter.Eyes wide with shock, he blinked one time before swinging a knee onto the counter with him and twisting his torso to face me completely.“What the hell?”he demanded.

Oh shit, he knew.

My hand instinctively went to my wrist, hoping to cover my tattoo, only for me to realize I’d followed Xander’s advice—thank goodness—and worn long sleeves.My tat was still concealed.

Then how did he know?What had tipped him off?A look in my eyes?The flush in my cheeks?The way I turned in towards him like a flower soaking up sunlight?

“What did you do to your hair?”he uttered, shaking his head as if traumatized by the sight.

“What?”I started to lift my hand to my hair, only to remember I had bangs now.And then belatedly, I recalled that lifting my hand might cause my long sleeves to slide down and reveal things it shouldn’t.

I jerked up my second hand to hide the first hand’s wrist, only to realize how extremely odd that must appear.So I used the second hand to draw the first down away from my new bangs as if that had been my plan all along.

God, why did I have to be so strange and awkward?

Keene was still gaping at me as if I’d grown horns, and not pretty ones.

So I scowled back, irritated at him for not liking my new hair.Ithought it looked amazing, thank you very much.

Then again, could we really trust my opinion?

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