Page 42 of The Surprise Play

I never talk to people like this. Seriously. It’s the most confrontational I’ve ever been. Ever! I have no idea what’s come over me, and I’m so relieved when he gives me an abashed look and then swallows.

“You know, Satch.” He wags his finger at me. “You’re good for me.”

I flush, my shoulders twitching. “What do you mean?”

“I need someone in my life who’s gonna call me on shit like this.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. I mean, my sister, Blake, usually does, but we haven’t lived in the same town since I left for college. And I’ve had no one here to check me, you know? Most of the people I hang with are guys who are just like me or girls who want to get with me. But you…” He grabs a fork out of the holder and starts wagging it at me. “You’re?—”

“Here we go.” The waitress appears, her chipper voice cutting off whatever he was about to say.

It’s a good thing, because my heart had lodged itself in my throat and I was about ten seconds away from choking on it.

Placing our food down, Alexis gives Wily another flirtatious smile. He grins back, his eyes starting to trail downward until he shakes his head, his gaze snapping to mine.

I smile at him, both surprised and impressed. He gives me a little wink, thanking the waitress and not looking at her when she wanders away.

“Wow. How much is this killing you right now?”

Staring down at his steak and potatoes, he picks up his knife and looks up with a triumphant grin. “It didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would.”

I laugh, not sure I believe him.

Grabbing his chocolate milkshake, he raises it in the air. “Cheers, Tutor Girl. Looks like you’ve got more than justMoby Dickto teach me.”

With a hot blush, I lift my glass. “Cheers.” We clink, then sip, and for reasons I can’t fathom, I find myself smiling at this jock who I should seriously not like at all.

But there’s something strangely charming about him.

Annoyingly charming?

Or just plain charming?

Dammit.

No wonder everybody loves him.

CHAPTER 13

WILY

I can’t believe Satch called me out like that.

She dropped it once we started eating, but it kept humming in the back of my mind while we talked about the one concert she’d been to for her sixteenth birthday—Taylor Swift. Why am I not surprised that she’s a Swiftie? Her mom took her, and the animated way she told me about it showed how much that night meant to her.

I then told her about the various concerts and sporting events I’d been to since I was old enough to attend, and she sat there trying not to gape at me. But of course I’m gonna go to the Super Bowl every year, and Blake needs a bodyguard when she goes to see all of those bands she loves so much, right?

And all the while I was talking and she was trying to hide her surprise… I couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said before the food arrived.

The whole “turning girls from humans with souls to just bodies” thing made me feel like total shit.

I don’t do that.

Or maybe I do a little, and fuck… I am a total creeper.

When the waitress eventually comes back to collect our plates, I make sure I look her in the eye when I say thanks and force my gaze back to the pages in front of me when she walks away.