Page 46 of Bullet
I gave something between a shrug and a shake of my head. “Whatever. The ball’s in her court. I’m so exhausted with it at this point.”
“If she calls, just know you’re on the edge of a breakthrough and hang in there,” Seneca told me.
“Really?”
“Yeah. She claims to be afraid of commitment but keeps coming back. Must be something about you that she’s into.”
Celia had said something similar when she showed back up after the last time she ghosted me. “Here’s hoping.”
“See ya, Bullet,” Seneca said, turning around to head down the walkway.
“Harry,” I called after her, and she looked back at me. “You can call me Harry. Or Bullet. Whichever.”
She nodded. “Cool. See ya tomorrow, Harry.”
I kept watch as she mounted her bike. As long as my godfather and I had been looking for my younger sibling, I’d been hoping that it would be a younger brother, but Seneca was making me wish for the opposite. A little cutthroat girl to keep me in line that I could protect didn’t sound half-bad. Seneca gave me a final wave after pulling her helmet on and then rode off. I shut the door and trudged back to my bedroom. My bed felt like clouds as I face-planted it, immediately followed by the feeling of tiny paws stepping all over my back and head.
“I’m not the floor,” I grumbled into my blankets, but neither cat seemed to care.
I was just fading from consciousness when my phone rang. It took some doing to get into my pocket in a way that didn’t disturb the cats now curling up on my back, but I finally got it out and my heart leaped when I saw it was Celia. Despite knowing I should probably play a little harder to get after today’s display, I was more relieved to hear from her than anything, and I answered.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” Celia said back.
“Hi.”
She was silent for a few minutes and then said. “Harry, you obviously mean more to me than just a friend with benefits. I mean, wedofeel like friends and there arecertainlybenefits, but I see you as… a boyfriend.”
The word shot straight to my heart. “Really?”
“Yeah. I just freaked out in front of my friends, and I don’t know why, but I’ve never really introduced anyone to them before. Plus, they make it harder by being nosy and judgmental. I like that no one’s really in our business, but I also understand that what I said was upsetting. It was entirely inaccurate.”
“Okay,” I replied.
I wanted to ask her what Ididmean to her. If I was the kind of boyfriend that you hang around with for a few months and then ditch, or if I was the kind of boyfriend that you hope might turn into something more someday, but it felt stupid to ask.
“Are you done with me?” Celia asked.
“I don’t want to be. It’s really up to you. Would I be wasting my time to continue seeing you?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “I want to prove it.”
“Prove it? How?”
“Saturday is my next night out. I’m going to plan the date this time. I’ll make all the arrangements, pick you up, all of it. I want to show you that I’m in this for real.”
A smile curved onto my face. “Okay.”
“Okay,” she said, and there was relief in her voice. “I’m sorry again, for today.”
“That’s okay.”
“Can… Can I come over?” she asked.
I very nearly said yes, but then I remembered how drunk I was, and I didn’t want to seem that desperate. “When you prove it, you can.”
She let out a little snicker. “Fair enough. I’ll see you Saturday then?”
