Page 38 of The Red Zone
“I admire the confidence, but absolutely not.”
She shrugged off my rejection and continued scanning our groceries.
I turned to look at October with a scowl. “See, this is why I can’t take you anywhere.”
“Oh, you didn’t tell me you were planning on us going out to more places together.” His smirk only made my displeased expression more prominent. “Geez, ask me out to dinner first, March. I’m not a piece of meat.”
“Yeah, he’s not a piece of meat.” The cashier echoed loudly with a glare as she scanned my Pringles. People in other checkout lanes all twisted their heads to look at us.
Jesus, someone remind me that the Friday night shoppers are a tough crowd next time.
Take the high road, Mae. Take the high road.
A light bulb flashed in my head, but I maintained composure as I eyed October staring at the cashier girl with a satisfied grin.
One little moment of weakness was all I needed to make my move.
“Oh, I know he’s not a piece of meat… he’s a cash cow, actually.” I smirked, perking up as I snatched the kettle chips she’d just scanned off the belt before the bag boy at the end could grab them. Cracking the bag open, I turned back over my shoulder with a little wave as I walked away. “Thanks for paying for me, Toby boy.” I winked over my shoulder as I headed toward the exit.
“You don’t have the—"
“Keys?” I finished for him, waving the keychain I’d snatched from his back pocket while he was reveling in the high of his “victory” of embarrassing me. “Better be nice or I’ll make you walk home.”
* * *
Back in the car, October and I sat in comfortable silence for the first half of the ride.
“We should get to know each other,” he said confidently without taking his eyes off the road.
“What is wrong with you?” I turned and gave him a blank stare from the passenger seat. What was up with him tonight? “Did you block out the part where we met when you were six or something?”
“No, March.” He rolled his eyes like I was the one asking the dumb question. “I mean, sure, I’veknownyou for that long, but I feel like I don’tknowyou, you know?”
“That’s a lot of ‘knowing’.” My lips quirked as he snatched a handful of chips from the open bag in my lap and shoveled them into his mouth.
“You’re impossible,” he said after a minute. And I could’ve sworn—I’m talking, willing to place big money bets on it—that he had the tiniest twinge of a smile on his lips as he spoke.
“What do you want to know?” I asked, but cut him off before he had the chance to respond. “Wait—I have an idea! Why don’t we… I don’t know, play a drinking game or something?”
“Or something?” He lifted a brow, looking over at me for the first time since we’d gotten into his truck.
The best part about being best friends with someone like Lea was that she’d taught me far more about seduction than I ever would’ve learned on my own. In her world, the art of seduction and having a cunning personality were the key to getting whatever she wanted. Most days, the tips and tricks I’d picked up from her went unused. But now that October was around, I couldn’t help but give some of them a try.
What October didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Right?
A wry smile turned up the corners of my lips as I lifted a shoulder. “Or something.”
THIRTEEN
OCTOBER
“You’re drunk.”
“I’ve had one beer. I’m nowhere close to being drunk,” Mae scoffed, popping the top off her second amber colored bottle of the night. “If anyone’s drunk, it’s you.”
“I haven’t had any alcohol…”
“That’s beside the point.” She snarled.
