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“Speak for yourself. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.” He stills, as if realizing how his comment could be interpreted—as a compliment toward me—but he doesn’t take it back.

We sit for a few moments in silence and my thoughts slide back to what we were just talking about. “So, you must be at the store a lot, then? For Dad to talk to you so much?”

“Yeah. We’ve joked about me getting a cot for the back room.”

“And your parents don’t mind?”

His expression darkens. “No. They don’t mind.” Before I can say more, he clears his throat and stands, pointing to a note on the counter. “Your dad wants us to inventory the Games Workshop paints this morning.”

Now it’s my turn to distract him from whatever emotions are underlying his words. It’s nice to be on good terms with Nathan this morning, and I don’t want to jeopardize that by bringing up anything that could upset him.

“To double-check if anyone’s stealing?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

He laughs. “Exactly. You can’t trust anyone around here.”

“Oh,thatI know all too well.”

As we start to work, I’m pleased to notice that I don’t have to search for products like I used to a couple weeks ago. I might not know how to play all these games, but at least I’ve learned enough to recognize their names and boxes.

I elbow him. “Hey, I guess it’s a little late for this, but Iamsorry for accusing you of stealing. It wasn’t personal.”

“Eh, it was my fault. I could have said something to you when I saw you behind the counter—I just figured it’d be fun to mess with you.” He adjusts his glasses sheepishly. “But then, I also figured you wouldn’t immediately try to rat me out to your father.”

“Well, now you know not to test me.”

“I didn’t know you were such a rule follower.”

I laugh. “Oh, believe me, I’m definitely not. Which is why I’m here with you on a Saturday morning.”

“Wait, Iknewthere was more to this story. Why are you working here? Really?” He must see my hesitation because he shakes his head. “As your pretend boyfriend, I deserve real answers.”

I purse my lips, wondering if there’s a way to get out of this, but he seems very intent. “Fine.” I sigh. “So, my best friend, Hoshiko, and I had tickets to seeWaitressin Columbus and we were both so excited. We’d been waiting months for the show.”

“That’s the title of the show? What’s next—Cook? Or, wait, maybeButcher? Actually, that one has promise…”

I groan. “Remind me to show youSweeney Todd,then. Are you finished?”

“Never. But I’m intrigued, so please continue.”

“So, the day of the show, Hoshiko’s car broke down. Mom couldn’t drive me, but we had to find some way to get there.”

“Did you ask your dad?”

I blink. Even though he lives close by, it never crossed my mind to ask him.

“No, I didn’t,” I reply slowly. “I drove. In my mom’s car. Without telling her. And, um…I don’t have my license yet.”

He falls back like somebody shoved him. “Are you serious?”

“When they found out, I got majorly grounded, and now I’m here almost every day because they don’t trust me at home alone.”

He throws his head back to laugh. “Okay, this makeswaymore sense. Honestly, I’m almost impressed. Was it worth it?”

“Yeah. Totally,” I say with a chuckle.

“Nice.”

The door opens and for a moment I’m upset that a customer is interrupting us. Then I realize it’s Hoshiko. “Yay, you made it!”