Then he closes the door behind him and sags against it.
“Everly, how in the hell did you get in my apartment?”
Twelve
Present
“Do you enjoy cooking, Everly?”
“I live in a dorm room. I enjoy making microwave popcorn.” This guy and his getting-to-know-me agenda has no end in sight. “And just so you know, asking a woman you’re trying to seduce if she likes to cook is stupid.”
“I love a good homemade lasagna myself,” he says. “I can’t remember the last time anyone made me lasagna though. It’s a lot of work.”
Oh. My. God. I feel my face flush with humiliation and I drop my head into my hand. “He told you about that?” I ask from behind my hand.
“Of course,” he replies. “Called me the second he kicked you out.”
I groan.
“That was a bold move on your part.”
“It was crazy.”
“Spirited.”
I sigh and look out the passenger window. Breaking into Finn’s apartment and making dinner did not go as I planned. Oh, I planned on him kicking me out, and he did. But he didn’t even keep Steve. I mean, who can’t keep a goldfish?
This entire fall has been a disaster, really. Starting with the car ride home from my brother’s wedding. I tried to sex-talk Finn in the car and he turned on the radio. But I’m an aggressive girl and Finn’s shy so I didn’t let it phase me. Nope. Instead I placed my hand on his thigh, and as I started to slide it up his leg, Finn finally spoke.
He said no.
No, Everly. I deflate just thinking of it. No, Everly, just no.
I snatched my hand back, mortified. I’d never been turned down before. In my experience guys have enjoyed being pursued. Appreciated it, even. Maybe it would be nice to let the guy make the first move, but there’s a lot of competition for the good ones. If you don’t get aggressive and make things happen, some other girl snaps him up while you’re sitting around waiting for an invitation. It’s exhausting. And sure, it would be nice to be wooed, but it’s not realistic. Especially in college. These boys are lazy.
So Finn shocked me speechless when he rejected me in the car. But then he glanced at me and smiled. “You’re like a sister to me, Everly.”
“I’m not your sister,” I quickly interjected, and he just shook his head, saying it was against university policy. “You’re not my teacher,” I argued, desperate for a lifeline. But he just said it was a bad idea and ended the conversation.
Any other girl would have given up then. But not me. I’m not a quitter. I was prepared to wait until the spring semester to make my next move, but then I stopped by his office to find his trampy teaching assistant perched on his desk and I had to restrategize. There’s no way I’m letting her sink her troll claws into him. Not on my watch.
So I used one of the keys I’d had made during my brother’s wedding weekend to break into his apartment a few weeks ago. I’d made three copies of his house key when he’d asked me to move his car during the rehearsal dinner. I mean, who wouldn’t? There was a hardware store right across the street. It seemed like fate, don’t you think? And I swear Finn winked at me when he asked me to move his car. I swear it. So I moved the car and made three copies of his house key. Because I assumed he’d know I’d made multiple copies. What kind of an idiot steals someone’s keys and only makes one copy?
But… he only asked for his key back. I remember standing in his hallway in shock. I’d had it all planned out. He’d smile at me and ask for the keys back. I’d give him two copies but I’d still have the third for the next time I wanted to break in. But it never even occurred to him that I’d made more than one copy. It was like he didn’t know me at all.
I stood there, alone in the hallway, befuddled and questioning everything, when the door swung back open. My hopes lifted.
Then he shoved the goldfish bowl into my hands and said, “Take this with you.”
I was halfway through saying, “His name is Steve,” when the door shut in my face.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk home carrying a goldfish bowl? I mean, I got him there in one of those plastic bags filled with water that they sell them to you in. But I didn’t have the bag anymore. Just Steve sloshing around in his bowl, judging me.
“I think you showed remarkable restraint,” Sawyer says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I shift in my seat and take a good look at him. “You do?”
“Absolutely. You could have shown up with a kitten. Or a dog.”
“I thought about it,” I admit, examining my manicure. My nails are painted Sole Mate purple. I selected the color in anticipation of bumping into Finn this weekend. “But I wasn’t sure his apartment allowed pets.”
“See, you’re always thinking, Everly. I like that about you.”
I shrug. “Can we be done talking now?”
“Oh, did you want your phone back?”
“Yes.” I turn my head. “Can I have it?” Maybe he’s finally going to shut up.
“Nope.”