Page 34 of Merritt and Her Childhood Crush

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I found a dozen different reasons to sit in my front room right next to the window just so I could watch him. I may be committed to this whole friend zone thing (loosely committed?) but I can’t NOT notice the man. Honestly, it’s almost laughable to me now, thinking about Simon with his starched shirts and neatly tailored suits. I’m not sure I ever saw the guy with a single hair out of place. Hunter is so much … I don’t know what he is. Just different. Messier? Manlier? Sweaty and dirty, yes, but somehow so much sexier.

I force the image out of my mind—impossible since it literally feels like it’s burned on my retinas—and focus on Sadie’s text.

Sadie:I’ve got a surprise for you tomorrow

Sadie:(please read that text in a singsongy voice)

Merritt:No. Too loud. Too late.

Sadie:Boo

Merritt:What’s the surprise?

Sadie:You’ll see

Merritt:You're the worst.

Sadie:Incorrect

Sadie:I am the BEST

Sadie:Just wait

Merritt:For what?

Sadie:The SURPRISE

Merritt:When did you stop using punctuation in your texts?

Sadie:I use some

Sadie:Just not always periods

Merritt:Why not?

Sadie:They’re rude

Sadie:Please note my use of a very polite and not at all rude apostrophe

I’m about to ask her why periods are rude, but I honestly do NOT have the energy for Sadie right now. Punctuation or not, she’s too much at this precise moment.

Merritt:When will I know what the surprise is?

Sadie:You’ll KNOW

Yep. She’s the worst. And now I can’t sleep thinking about Hunterandwhatever surprise Sadie has for me.

Sometime after two a.m., I must fall asleep, because when I wake up, it’s impossibly bright and a body has just landed on top of me.

“Surprise!”

My New York instincts kick in. I flail violently as my brain tries to piece together where I am and who’s holding me down.

Where is my pepper spray?

My leg makes contact with something—no, someone—and there’s a thud and a groan.

“Merritt! Ow!”

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