Page 131 of With a Little Luck

“Thank you.”

She disappears back into the house.

Noah notices Pru and Quint in the car and waves, before turning back to me, uncertain. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? Because I like Maya a lot, but I also value your friendship, and if you’re not—”

“Noah, please.” I smile, trying to look reassuring. “I am more than okay with this. I swear. I’m really just here for the dice.”

Noah rocks back on their heels, not looking entirely convinced. “The fancy red one?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d lost it a while back, but Maya found it.” I scratch the back of my neck. “Actually … if you want to know … that dice sort of gave me the courage to ask Maya out in the first place, and now I’m kind of hoping that it might help me ask out another girl. Someone who’s really special to me. Someone I should have asked out a long time ago.”

“Wait,what?” Maya appears in the doorway again and there—there—clutched in her hand. The most breathtaking sight I have ever seen.

Hope wells up inside me as Maya sets the dice into my open palm. It feels exactly the same. The surprising weight. The sharp angles. The strange warmth of it.329

“My parents want to get photos of us,” Maya says to Noah, before turning back to me. “But first, who are you asking out? And what does the dice have to do with it?”

I wince. I hadn’t meant for her to hear that.

“It’s a long story.”

Maya folds her arms and leans against the door frame.

“Um. Okay.” I inhale. “I know this sounds unbelievable, but I sort of think the dice might be … magic.”

They stare at me.

“I mean, in all reality, maybe it’s more like a … a magic placebo?” I say, because that doesn’t sound quite so far-fetched.

Their confusion doesn’t fade.

“The thing is, after I found this dice, I kept getting really lucky. Everything I tried worked out for me. But as soon as I lost it … everything went to hell. But now I have the dice again, I can use it to … to ask out Ari.” I pause. “I guess that wasn’t such a long story after all.”

Maya straightens, her expression brightening. “I knew it! I knew you had a thing for her! It was so obvious, and I couldn’t understand why you thought you were intome!”

“I also feel that I could have picked up on this sooner.”

“This is great,” says Maya. “Are you going to her house?”

“No. Prom, actually. Ari went with Ezra tonight.”

“Oh,” says Noah. “That’s why you’re dressed like that. This is a quest. You’re going to duel for her hand!” They tug on their suspenders. “Sort of sexist, but I also kind of dig it.”

“I’m not dueling for her hand,” I say. “I just want to tell her how I feel and see if maybe she feels the same way.”

Maya beams. “But Noah’s right. It is like a quest. You have a magic spell, and you need to find the maiden … Jude!” She punches me in the arm. “This is romantic!”

“Thank you?”

“So,” she adds, “what do you need from us, Dungeon Master?”330

I laugh, but her expression is earnest, and Noah looks equally grave as they take Maya’s elbow. “Whatever you need, we’re here for you.”

“After we let my parents take their photos,” says Maya.

Noah juts a thumb toward her. “After that.”

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