Page 27 of The Strike Zone

“Can I be there when you tell Reeves to suck it and stick his friend zone up his ass?”

I laughed. “If it’ll make you happy.”

“You should give Scout your sweatshirt.”

Once again, the three of us turned and stared at Tanner, waiting to see if he was going to add any more explanation. “Girls like any shit that smells of guys. Give her your sweatshirt.”

“What? Like walk up and hand it to her?” I scoffed.

“No, just when she’s cold, give her yours. Then she’ll always have it and always be thinking of you. Smell is a strong association tool, I saw it on the Nature Channel.”

“Since when do you watch the Nature Channel?”

“Sometimes I can’t sleep.” He shrugged his response. “I’m going to do it with Millie. It’s part of Operation Strike Zone.”

My mouth held in a line, Ace stared, confused. In the end Lux was the one who spoke, with a barely contained smirk.

“Tan? What is Operation Strike Zone?”

“It’s my plan for Parker and me to get our girls.”

“The name is TBC,” I shot out.

“I like it, it has a certain ring to it,” Ace said, picking up his bowl of Froot Loops and draining the milk. “And I can’t wait to hear how exactly this is going to work.”

Not that I had one, but I didn’t get to answer before Tanner slung his arm around me,

“I can help you with this, I’ve thought about it a lot. You have to be everywhere Scout is. Not in a creepy way, obvs, but just be there. If she needs something, you’re there. If she’s carrying heavy bags and needs help, you’re there. She wants a volunteer for social, put your hand up, buddy. Until one day you’re not there, and she notices.”

Ace snorted. “Yeah, and she’ll be all, ‘Huh, where’s Parker, I miss him and his big strong arms and cute little butt.’”

“She doesn’t sound like that.” I threw him a scowl and turned to Tanner. “Is that what you’re doing with Millie?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I’m still working on her texting me back. But as soon as she does, then I’ll be helping her.”

“At least you have her number. I don’t have Scout’s, so maybe we’re even,” I replied and looked to Lux, who was generally considered the most sensible one of the four of us. “What do you think?”

“It could work.” He nodded, though it was a little too uncommitted for my taste.

“Scout likes me, I know it. I just need to be patient until she’s ready to date again, and make sure no other guy gets in first this time.”

Ace grabbed his phone and hit Speed Dial. “Hold up, let’s get a girl’s opinion.”

“Babe, I’m about to head into a meeting,” answered Payton, before the first ring sounded out.

“We’ll be quick, Parker needs your help,” Ace said, pushing the phone toward me with an overly enthusiastic nod. “Pleeeease.”

“Man, I knew I shouldn’t have answered,” she muttered, before barking out, “Parker…you’re on a clock. Shoot fast.”

“Oh. Hey, Payton…um…basically…” I began, trying to figure out exactly where to start. “It’s about Scout…”

It didn’t take long for me to explain the entire situation, mostly because she already knew I’d crushed on Scout for ages, which meant I could gloss over the finer details. But also because I talked so quickly it wouldn’t take up any of her time, plus it didn’t sound quite as lame when I strung every word together without taking a breath.

“Well, babe? What do you think?” Ace prompted after a couple of seconds of silence.

“Let me get this straight, you’re asking me if it’s a good idea to try and be a friend to a girl you have the hots for, in the hope that one day she’ll want to date you because you think she likes you.”

I didn’t correct her and say IknewScout liked me, because the four of us were all mentally checking she’d summed it up accurately. From her tone it sounded like she thought we were all idiots.

---