Page 31 of Say Yes to the Nemesis
“Oh, now you’re protecting me?”
His smile slips. His voice softens. “You’re too good for this.”
It’s the softest he’s ever spoken to me. And I hate that it hits harder than any insult ever could.
“You mean too good for you.”
He shrugs again. “Same thing.”
“Eventually, I’ll find someone I don’t want to strangle every time they talk.”
“What does that mean?”
“You know what? Don’t answer that. You’re exhausting.”
“And yet,” he says, “here you are.”
I glance around. We’ve been talking too long.
“Yeah, I should go.”
“Sure. Run back to your room. Try not to dream about me, Chirp.”
I fix him with a glare. “You’re not even a real person. You’re just nice teeth and a smirk.”
He laughs. “You love me.”
I turn away, my cheeks flaming bright red. He says I’m too good for this. But he’s the one who keeps pulling me in. And I’m the one who keeps letting him.
I don’t say thank you. I don’t say anything. I just breathe him in and pretend, for one selfish second, that this could be real.
nine
RYAN
My phone buzzesin my pocket and I pull it out to discover a text from my little sister.
So? How’s the show?
I grit my teeth and text back.
Horrible. This whole thing feels like a circus.
You’re the ringmaster, dude. Own it.
Dude? You’re not supposed to call your brother dude. You sound like Aunt Diane.
I love Aunt Diane. She gives you that face when you’re being dumb.
I huff out a laugh and slouch deeper into the booth.
All three of us have that face. I’ve seen it in the mirror. It’s haunting.
Maybe that’s why your dates keep bailing.
No one’s bailed yet. I did let one of the girls go because she was too conservative for me. I asked if she would go to a drag show with me and she nearly puked. Which would have been pretty funny if I wasn’t supposedly interviewing women to be my wife.
God. How did you not melt into the floor from secondhand embarrassment?
