Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Every other comment on my post is someone asking if it’s true that Finn is going as my date. Of course, the follow-up question is, “Are you together?” which … I can’t answer. I know neither one of us is hooking up with anyone else. I also know he doesn’t want other guys touching me. But that’s it. We’ve never gone on a date or gone to each other’s apartments. We’ve never hung out alone at all—the times we’ve hooked up don’t count.
It’s a sucky realization, but thinking about it reminds me that I want to get in touch with Scarlet, my only friend and connection at Onyx, to ask her a few questions, so I do that.
“Time is just a man-made construct,” Livie says.
I snort out a laugh but keep my comments to myself. Every time Olivia and Damian smoke together, they turn into dollar-store versions of Socrates and Plato. Their nonsense makes a twenty-minute car ride feel two hours long, especially when I’m the one driving. By the time I pull up to the mall, I feel like my head is going to explode.
“So is money,” Dame says, as I park and turn off the car.
“If money is a man-made construct, why don’t they just print more of it?” I ask, knowing it’ll take them a while to think of the obvious answers, but at least they’ll shut the fuck up while they think.
We’re pretty efficient at the mall. I find my new outfit—sneakers and cute cotton shorts with a matching crop top and hoodie. It takes us an hour to get our dresses for the Alma Foundation fundraiser, but even that seems to go by fast. We leave Damian’s tux for last, since it’s near the food court and we want pretzels.
“Who’s F?” Damian asks out of the blue.
My head snaps up while my heart drops a little. “Why?”
“The flowers,” he says. “Is it Barlow?”
“That starts with a B,” I try lamely, which earns me a look. “Fine. It is but it means nothing.”
His brows hike. He’s quiet as we walk, pensive, and I hate it. Livie, on the other hand, starts chatting away about the meaning of different flowers and how Finn definitely did his research.
“I don’t want details,” Dame says. “But I’m confused by the gesture.”
“Welp,” Livie says. “If you want to ask him yourself, you can in about a minute. He’s headed our way.”
My heart does a full drop now as I see Finn and Will walking with bags from Neiman Marcus. I nearly roll my eyes, because of course, those two shop there. Someone stops to take pictures with them, then another stops them for autographs, and finally, they reach us.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Will says.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Damian says. I pinch his arm, which makes him hiss and look at me.
Thankfully, the expression on his face tells me he’s not going to ask Finn about the flowers. When I dare to look at Finn, I find him watching, checking me out. I feel my face heat and bite my lip, as our eyes lock and his expression darkens. I’m wearing one of Damian’s old Fairview t-shirts with a pair of shorts.
“What’d you get?” Livie asks and starts walking, so we all move with her. “Come with us. We’re getting pretzels.”
“Not much,” Will says, lifting one of the bags. “Underwear, socks, and some other stuff.”
Laughter bubbles out of me. “You buy your underwear and socks at Neiman?”
“Sometimes.” He shrugs. “What’s wrong with Neiman?”
“Nothing,” I say. “I always thought guys bought that kind of stuff online or at like TJ Maxx or something.”
“Hammie’s probably never been there,” Damian quips.
Will shoots him a look. “I’ve been there several times.”
“You went once to pick up your grandma while you were on vacation in a cabin in the middle of nowhere,” Finn says.
“Twice,” Will counters and looks at me, eyes lit with amusement. “Where do you buy your underwear?”
I look at Finn, whose eyes are locked on mine. He looks tense as he waits for my response. I tear my gaze from his and look at Will. “It depends what kind of underwear we’re talking about.”
“Lingerie,” he says, his eyes doing a quick sweep of my body.
My eyes fly to Finn again, and I note the clench of his jaw and the glare he shoots at his friend before he pulls his phone out of his pocket and focuses on that.
“That depends on what kind of lingerie you’re talking about,” Livie says and even though sometimes it annoys me when she does that, right now, I’m so grateful I could kiss her.
“Oh god. I’m gonna go get our pretzels,” Dame says, and we all turn in that direction.
“I can’t even remember the last time I came to the food court,” Will says.
“Probably the last time you picked up your grandmother at TJ Maxx,” I respond, smiling up at him.