Page 40 of The Puckable Playbook

Before she leaves, I call out, “Have fun. I’ll need a full report later so we can plan your next steps.”

She waves without looking, the door closing behind her.

A moment later, she returns. Giving me a sheepish smile, she runs in, then grabs her laptop bag before exiting again.

See? Adorable.

When the front door closes for good, I shut my own bedroom door and lean my forehead against it.How did I get myself into this?

I doubt even the author of that treasure-hunting story could come up with this storyline. Dating coach? Rooming with an ex-girlfriend’s best friend?

Who does that?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Len

Ice crystals sparkleon the tips of the frozen blades of grass. An overcast sky lingers, allowing them to shine without being melted away, and every few steps on my way to the newsroom, the air clouds in front of me with a release of breath…and my so-called confidence.

The way Zaiah said “If you can…”

If I can? Of course, I—I can’t flirt. What am I doing?

I physically, possibly even mentally, don’t know how to do such a thing.

My stomach churns. It’ll just be me and Clark, like it always is. Me, getting all the tingles while we work on the formatting. Him, being his cute little pre-Superman self.

I should be ecstatic. So why does my mind wander back to Zaiah?

Holy penis, that’s why.

I flush all over, remembering the accidental flash. For a split second, I’d imagined he meant to. That his smirk was pride in showing me his…let’s face it,thickcock.

“See what you do to me?” he says in my erotica daydream.

He runs his fist up and down his length. My body floods with desire.

“I can’t wait to take you, Sexy Girl. On your knees.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, willing my heart to calm. In what world would he ever call meSexy Girl? Plus, thinking about Zaiah that way permeates into dangerous territory. Not only are we roommates now, but given my history with him, I could get carried away. Fast.

I’ll admit, I was jealous of Trish. When I spilled the beans about her cheating, I worried I was being selfish. If my envy over their relationship clouded my judgment. Don’t get me wrong, I knew what she was doing was terrible and selfish, but who was I more loyal to?

Trish didn’t have a problem bringing that up in that last fight.

Zaiah deserves so much more than her, though. He shouldn’t be second to anyone, and neither should I.

The fact is that he doesn’t see me like that. He never has. I need to put all thoughts of him away and focus on someone I could possibly have: Clark.

I get to the newspaper building and stall because that realization still doesn’t help me with flirting. Calling Zaiah now and asking him how to do it would make me want to crawl under a rock, so I gather other resources. One, I send a quick text to Izzy. I’ve just met her, but I miss having a girlfriend I can talk about this stuff with. Two, I pull up trusty Google since I don’t have the time to look for better resources. In some instances, however, Google can be good, and I hope this is one of those times.

Top results: Playfulness, Authenticity, Respect, Kindness.

Teasing and joking.Okay, I can do that. I do that with Zaiah.

I do that with Zaiah?!

Before I can look too far into it, my phone buzzes with a text from Izzy.

---