“Thank you.” I squeezed her hand. “That means a lot.”
“You know, you could always go out with Greg. Something tells me that would push Zane toward admitting how he feels about you.”
“I’m done playing games, Clo.”
Because for once I wanted somebody to fight for me. To choose me. Not because I was Celeste Rowe-Delacorte, but in spite of it.
“Yeah, I think I’m over the whole dating thing too.”
“But I thought you liked Warner?”
“Warner is nice enough. But he isn’t…”
“A certain mysterious guy that just happens to attend DA?”
“Am I that transparent?” She gave me a shy smile.
“You know, you could just try asking him out?”
“I’ve made it more than obvious I like Nate. He’s clearly not into me.”
“Impossible. You’re beautiful and smart and sassy. Guys dig that.”
“Guys, right. Except the only guy I want.”
“He’s a complicated guy. Maybe you need a less obvious approach,” I said, as if I was any kind of expert.
“Why is this stuff so hard?” Chloe let out a heavy sigh.
“Because love isn’t supposed to be easy, Clo.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said around a sad smile, “but does it have to be this hard?”
* * *
By the time Friday rolled around, I needed to talk to somebody.
Max was already gone when I got up, and the last person I wanted to talk to was Mom or Dad. So I headed into school and hunted down Nate.
“Rowe, this is a surprise,” he said, slamming his locker closed. “I thought after our Teller Valley adventure you’d iced me out.”
“Can we talk?” I rushed out.
“Uh, sure. You want to go somewhere a little more private?” He glanced up and down the hall.
“Yeah, that would be great.”
“Come on.”
I followed Nate out of the building and around to the athletic field. “Up you go.” He motioned for me to climb the bleachers, and I slipped past him, opting for a row near the back.
It was cold out, the wind picking up, so I burrowed into my coat, waiting for him to join me.
“What can I do for you?”
“Can I trust you?”
“I don’t know, can you?”