Part of me perks up, but another notices the weird pinch to his lips. Collecting my things, I stand up and give Zach a small smile. “I’ll consider going to a game … eventually.”
The friendly jock smirks. “Before I graduate?”
“Eh…” I try to look like I’m really contemplating it, then stick my tongue out at him. “We’ll see.”
He waves me off with an amused grin, with Corbin hot on my heels as we leave the library. “You know he likes you, right?”
I scrunch my nose. “What? Who?”
Corbin glares. “Who do you think?”
I shake my head, moving hair out of my face that keeps falling into my eyes. “Don’t be stupid. Zach and I are friends.”
He grumbles something under his breath that I can’t quite make out. “You down for running lines tomorrow? I think I have most of them memorized but wouldn’t mi
nd somebody to go through them with me before the audition. My coach found another one to practice for too. The auditions are on the same day.”
My hand instantly goes to his wrist. “I’d love to help you! What is it for?”
“Commercial,” he evades.
When he doesn’t make a move to explain, my mind tries figuring out if I’ve seen any ads in the paper. Nothing comes to mind, so I jab his side to try getting something out of him.
“Is it embarrassing?” I laugh at the prospects that has him blushing right now. “Oh my God, it is! Are you representing a new hemorrhoid cream? Is it for an STD?”
He groans loudly and pushes me gently away from him. “Would you quit it? It isn’t for anything like that. I just don’t want to jinx it.”
“I’ll find out tomorrow,” I remind him.
“Good,” is all he replies with.
Frowning, we walk the rest of the way to our lockers in silence. It gives me a chance to think about what he said earlier. Zach doesn’t like me as anything more than a friend. Right? We tease each other a lot, but so do Corbin and me. It isn’t that out of the ordinary.
Shoulders dropping, I loosen a sigh. “Do you really think Zach likes me? Like … likes me likes me. Because I don’t get that vibe from him. Unless he said something to you…”
I lean against the locker next to his as he digs through his bag for who knows what. “Is that what you want?”
His tone is dry as he side eyes me.
“For him to like me? I don’t know.”
“You don’t know,” he murmurs, slamming his locker closed.
We stand face to face, him looking like he’s about to bust a vein in his head. “What’s your deal? It’s not like I said I want to date him. I just want to know why you think that.”
“It’s…” His nostrils twitch. “He just looks at you like he does, okay? I’m a dude, I know this shit. So, do you?”
Did I miss the question?
He sees the confusion on my face. “I know you’re not that familiar with guys liking you, but—”
“What is that supposed to mean?” It isn’t like he’s wrong, but his tone is making it sound like nobody could ever possibly like me as more than a friend.
He starts walking, leaving me to quicken my pace until I match his steps. “I’m just saying that you don’t have experience with guys. It isn’t surprising that you can’t see he’s flirting with you all the time.”
“He does not—” I stop myself, trying to think to all the conversations I’ve had with Zach over the past few months. “He asked if I was going to the game. I’d hardly call that flirting.”
Corbin halts and stares at me with distant eyes, as if to silently say, are you that dumb?