Page 42 of Forgotten Rules (Rules 4)

“Holy guacamole.”

Jenny muffles a laugh.

“It’s his first time seeing Luke,” she explains.

So… Ethan is gay.

Cue the disappointed girls all over the world.

I trail back to the counter, punching in on the computer.

“What’s wrong with you?” Ethan’s scandalized. “How are you not more excited about this? Are you blind? He’s smoking hot.”

It’s my turn to restrain my laughter.

Jenny calls us to order. “Okay, back to work you two. These fish tanks aren’t going to clean themselves.”

“Women, I swear. They don’t appreciate the gifts of God,” Ethan puffs as he walks away.

Climbing inside my car after locking up the store with Jenny, I wonder if it’d be okay to tell my mom I need a weekend on top of this weekend. Today was downright exhausting. Squeezing years of information into a six-hour shift will do that to you. Firing up my car, I eye my phone on the passenger seat and catch myself wanting to text Will.

I select our conversation before I can overthink it.

Kass: You’ll be happy to know I decided to give Luke a chance.

Five minutes go by.

Willy Wonka: Weren’t you just telling me how much you don’t want to date him?

Kass: I know but I felt bad. He asked me out in front of my co-workers. On my first day at the job HE got me. What was I supposed to do?

Willy Wonka: Say you have a boyfriend?

Kass: I don’t?

Willy Wonka: He doesn’t know that.

Kass: You were bugging me to date him just yesterday. What happened?

Willy Wonka: That’s before I knew how goddamn annoying he was.

Okay?

Kass: Stop. He’s nice. I even bet when he says “Netflix and Chill” he means “Watching a movie”

Willy Wonka: Can you hear me snoring?

Kass: Shut up. Just because a guy is a gentleman doesn’t make him boring.

Willy Wonka: Yeah but that’s not what you need.

My mind runs a marathon.

Kass: You don’t know shit about what I need, Willy.

Willy Wonka: Wrong.

Kass: Okay. What do I need?