Page 29 of The Perfect Steal

I was surprised once again by his little kindnesses. He was certainly a different guy than I’d taken him for before.

Colt got up to go grab ketchup, and I leaned over, making sure I got Nate’s attention. “Thank you for my lunch as well.”

He grabbed a fry and stuck it in his mouth, avoiding my gaze. “I’m not sure what you mean.” He gave me a half-smile that caused my stomach to somersault. This was new territory, and I needed to stop things, just focus on getting our assignments done and getting through the rest of high school.

But this was fun, and even though there were a lot of unknowns, I liked talking and flirting with him.

“Well, thank you anyway.” I pulled open the package of dressing and drizzled it onto my salad.

I checked my watch as Colt returned, knowing we were going to get back late. My eighth-period class was the hardest, and I didn't want to be lectured about the importance of time management. That reminded me of Mrs. Rhodes.

I stabbed my fork into the lettuce, making sure to swirl enough ranch dressing on all the parts, which probably negated all healthiness of the salad.

“Oh, I should be ungrounded on Friday, so if you find time Sunday or even next week, I can meet you to work on the meal planning,” Nate said between bites of his hamburger.

The change in this boy was so drastic that I almost had to wonder if I was dreaming.“You just better not speed anymore, huh?” I laughed, and Colt joined in.

Nate wiped off a spot of ketchup with a napkin and said, “Yeah, my dad is probably happy I’m grounded right now. No need to be scaring off the voters today, with everyone going to the polls today.”

“Awesome,” I said, giving him a genuine smile. “How do you think the election is going?”

"I’m not sure. I’m dreading the functions after the winner is announced. They’re the most boring thing ever.”

Colt nodded. “I went to one with him once. Bru-tal.”

“You’ll just have to text me through it.” I smiled, but it was smaller, and I realized that I meant the words. I’d sent him a text the night before once I got home, and he’d sent me a fun meme, but it would be fun to know I was helping him get through something he didn’t want to do.

“You’re all excited about this project, Nate,” I said, moving some of the lettuce around to get more ranch. “Why the sudden change in attitude toward school? What makes you want to participate?”

I’d talked about it the other day at brunch with the girls, but for the kid who slacked off as much as possible, he was very engaged in our project. I would’ve liked to think it was because of something I did, but we hadn’t had enough time together for a good life-changing pep talk.

“As opposed to not participating before?” he said, with a chuckle.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “No, I’m sorry. That sounded bad. I’m just saying, you think about it even more than I do, and that’s saying something.”

Colt stood and walked away, mumbling something about needing more ketchup on his burger.

“Well, it was something my counselor said, that getting better grades was a better guarantee of getting out of here after graduation.” He grinned, the glint in his eye making me smile wider than I had in some time.

“Ahh, yes. The elusive hope to leave Pecan Flatts. Why do you think I’m killing myself to get all this homework done?” I smiled, remembering how much we had in common. “It does help that I get to do the assignment with you, though.”

Was I flirting? I was kind of flirting. Maybe it was because he’d done a string of nice things for me already today. That had to be it.

Nate dunked his fries in his shake and devoured them in one bite.

I squinted at him. “Did you really just put your fries into a shake?” I gave him a skewed smile, and he started laughing.

“You've never tried it?” Colt asked, sitting down again. He grabbed a couple of fries and swooped them through the shake too.

I shook my head, and I could swear Nate’s smile grew even bigger. He grabbed one of his steak fries and swooped it into his chocolate shake before stretching it out to me.

“No, I'm good. Really,” I said, shaking my hands in front of him.

“Brynn, you're not going to die if you try it.” Nate chuckled, slowly moving the fry closer to my face.

I laughed. “But if I throw it up at practice, I just might die.”

Low chants began from the table next to us, and the three couples turned in our direction. I took the fry from Nate, our fingers brushing and sending a ripple of excitement pouring through me. Closing my eyes, I lifted the fry and opened my mouth, taking a bite. The salty-sweet taste was actually really good.

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