Noah’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Brandon, you seriously can’t be this dense.”
“No, I’m serious. One hundred percent. Think about it, man. She knows both of us pretty well. Sure, she’s your classmate, but she’s been working with me for a few years, and she’s still here. She’ll figure out why we held back soon enough, but then she’ll realize she has a choice to make. If she even wants to make one. We spend some time with her, just us out of our usual environments. No other students. Get to know one another.”
Noah thought my words through. “So... both of us hang out with her, then we get her to make her choice down the line? I guess I’m following you.”
“See, it can work out. We’re all mature, responsible adults. We can work this out.”
“Brandon, me and her are still literally teenagers.”
“I’ll be your wise relationship sensei then.”
“Seriously, you’re like, twenty.”
“Hey, we’ll work it out.”
He continued his stink eye at me, so clearly unsure of my mad plot and what I was on about.
Eventually, he relented. “Fine. Lord help you if you ruin my chances at making me and Grace a thing.”
“I’m sure we’ll all be fine. May the best man win.”
His scornful face turned into a more concerned one soon enough. “There’s something that might complicate things, though.”
“What could make this even more complex?”
He scratched his head bashfully. “Uh... well... she may have a thing with Ryan and Sam.”
“Your friends from school, the twins?”
“Yes, them.”
“What? Both of them?”
“I don’t know!” He threw his hands up. “I was talking things through with Sam, and he said they had a thing with her, but there was no real final word on it, just they may have a thing. They may not.”
Face in palm, I shook my head. “A thing, huh?” I didn’t ask about the thing. As Noah wasn’t more forthcoming, I guessed he knew nothing more.
Well yeah, that did make things more complicated. I wasn’t surprised that more guys threw their hats into the ring. It was obvious Grace was special; I wouldn’t be the only one with eyes to see it. Three of us, four of us, five of us, each person you added tended to make everything exponentially more confusing and complex.
“Well, uh,” I said, scratching my head and thinking it all through. “We just gotta roll with it, I guess. Are you going to let the chance that she’s already got eyes on some other dude cheat you out of your chance to win her heart?”
He shook his head. “The hell I ain’t. I guess we’re still doing Hibiki Grill then, huh?”
“Guess we are.”
I was going to either find my soulmate or have an aneurysm.
CHAPTER TEN
GRACE MILLER
I’m so tired.
For two days after graduation, I did pretty much nothing, apart from anxiously worry that I may have done something wrong. I was exhausted, as well. Probably due to the end of school, at least that was what Mom put it down to.
I thought all the stress and excitement of staying up late and doing things with the twins that I’d never done before might have been what tired me out. Losing my virginity was one thing, but why did I do it in such an outrageous way? I wasn’t usually the sort of girl who goes for dramatic action.
By day three, I was glad to get back to normal activity in the real world.
My volunteer work always felt like a reprieve from all the pressures and stresses of teenage life. And I liked helping people in need.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my grown-up life. Going to college wasn’t it. I just filled in the applications because everyone did that. Really, I wanted to help people or look after animals.
I’d started volunteering in the soup kitchen when I was just sixteen because I liked the idea of doing something for the needy in the community. I liked volunteering in the kitchen because I liked working with people who were committed to helping others.
Ever since, I’ve turned up once a week, almost every week. I’d done every task. I could probably cook dinner for a hundred people singlehanded and in my sleep, so long as they weren’t worried about having a wholesome budget meal and didn’t expect fancy finishes.
I washed my hands, put on my apron, and got to chopping through a mountain of potatoes. I enjoyed the mindless repetitiveness of my simple catering chores; washing dishes, sweeping the floors, or chopping veggies. I did every job there so often that I was the one who’d show the new kids how to dice an onion. I could do it in my sleep.
Little did I know simply turning up ready for whatever needed doing to help feed the needy would result in me being asked on a date.