"No," he says.
"You sure?"
He hesitates, but he still says, "yes."
ChapterForty-Two
PATRICK
All week, my phone buzzes.
New entry from Hearts & Thorns.
The reminders rack up on my screen, in my emails, in my head.
I test my will, reading the snippets in my inbox.
I worry about her so much. It's not fair. She's almost grown and I'm not her mother.
Now, it's sexy too. I've been a bad, bad girl. More sexy because of the fucked-up implications.
Is there a reason to keep writing? For me, yes, but why would anyone keep reading when I spin the same thing again and again?
I resist.
It takes all my self-control, but I resist. Through boring shifts, after conversations with Luna, while I shoot the shit with Dare—his other best friend, the girl next door, is coming back from her study abroad for a few weeks, and he wants to show her a good time.
He's actually nervous.
Which is weird.
And kinda cute, in a weird way. It's a good focus for my attention. His crush. Even if he says it's not a crush. Even if he says it's because he admires her. She's smart. Not that I'd get that.
"Hey, I love smart chicks," I say.
"Chicks, seriously?" Luna asks.
I wink at her.
"Seriously, Moonlight, you're too easy," Dare says.
"Call me Moonlight again, I dare you."
"Oh, you dare me?"
"You think I can't take you?" she asks.
He gives her a quick once-over. "Yeah. What are you? five ten, one forty?"
"Excuse me!" She folds her arms.
"One fifty?" he taunts her.
"Seriously, Dare?" I shake my head. "Asking a woman's weight?"
"She's the one who wants to pick a fight." He turns to Luna. "I've got fifty pounds on you."
"I'm scrappy," she says. "And you're stupid."