More Than Maybe - Erin Hahn Page 0,33

Zack.

“So, my turn?”

He shoves me at the bench, replacing the weight and adding some. “That was pathetic, Greenly.”

“I choked.”

“You could politely decline her advances.”

“I did. In a way.” I lift off the press bar and grunt. Zack raises a brow but doesn’t say anything. Fuck, this is heavy.

“Nah. You didn’t.”

I replace the bar after five, lowering my arms and letting the blood rush back into my fingers.

“Do you think she meant she was humiliated, or I should be?”

“Definitely both.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to use you.”

He raises his brow again.

“Fine, I absolutely meant to use you. I’m sorry I purposely used you.”

“Better,” he says. “But since it backfired, it’s fine. You owe me Iris’s turtle brownies.”

I grimace, though my mum makes brownies for Zack every week anyway, so it’s not like it’s a big deal. “You came up with that fast. Almost like you’ve been waiting for me to owe you. Basketball?” I ask. I need to get out of view of the fitness floor.

“Basketball,” he agrees.

* * *

After he soundly trounces me on the court, we head to Chipotle, and I check my phone while we wait for our orders. Cullen posted our latest podcast link this morning, and we have the usual three first commenters: Phil, Zack, and Vada.

Phil Josephs  @PHILtoCHILL

The only Teen Wolf worth talking about is the Michael J. Fox version. I’m ashamed to know you.

9:07 AM

Zack Granger  @ZackAttack

I’m way hotter than Derek. No contest.

10:11 AM

Vada Carsewell  @Vader18

Yeah but who keeps someone else’s @bestbuy order? Stand your ground, Luke!

10:15 AM

I snicker and tap to respond.

Luke Greenly  @TheLukeGreenly

*nods* THANK YOU. It’s sacrilege. What are we living, The Purge?

12:31 PM

I look up to see that Zack had grabbed our food. “What are you smiling about?”

I dig in, not bothering to wait. “Vada.”

He pauses, burrito halfway to his mouth, and I swallow. “I mean, something she tweeted at the podcast. She agrees that I can’t just stream Teen Wolf and forget my missing orders.”

“That’s stupid, for the record.”

“It’s not. It’s the bloody principle.”

“That no one cares about but you!”

“And Vada. That’s two. We’re practically starting a revolution.”

Zack smirks. “And while you have your little two-person revolution against the United States Postal Service, someone else is watching your DVDs, and you could have already streamed the episodes five times over.”

I ignore him, standing to fill my drink.

When I get back, my phone lights up with another notification. “No way!” I say after scanning it. “Vada tagged Best Buy in her comment, and they are in my DMs asking what happened!”

I forget my lunch as I type out a message to them. “That’s amazing,” I say, picking up my fork. I drop it again. “I need to tell her.”

I type out a quick text message.

LUKE

I owe you! Thanks for tagging Best Buy! They are resending my TW order!

I set it down and pick it up.

LUKE

*TeenWolf gif*

I pause, smiling to myself.

LUKE

YouTube: Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf”

“Okay,” I say, dropping my phone at last. “Now I can eat.”

Zack blinks at me, his burrito gone.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He shakes his head.

“Okay.” My phone lights up with Vada’s reply, and I forget my lunch again.

12

VADA

The following Thursday, I’m sitting in Red Robin waiting for my dad. I glance at my phone to check the time, and Luke’s last message pops up. He’s working the bar with Kazi tonight and cracking me up. Apparently, Kazi has to leave early again because of his shift at Whole Foods, and we’ve been hypothesizing for the last two hours about what he does there. After another glance around, I type:

VADA

Whole Foods called, Kazi, and they’ve got an opening in soy candles.

Gray dots, then …

LUKE

Gluten Digestives is looking for a tester, Kazi, and we think you’re our man!

I snort. Luke hasn’t worked there long enough to know, but Kazi honestly calls off at least once a month due to gluten contamination. But for real, Celiac is a mother effer. My mom went gluten free once and I had to eat at Meg’s every night for a whole week.

VADA

We need someone to trim our organic herb gardens on Saturday afternoons from 1–4. We pay in dried pomegranate bookmarks.

LUKE

But you can only wear 100% locally sourced cotton or that’s an auto fire.

VADA

But for the love of Whole Paycheck, don’t cut your glorious dreads. Your scalp is our aesthetic.

LUKE

We offer room for job advancement. If you don’t suck, we can promote you to wine and cheese pairings. But only at the farmers’ market.

VADA

We offer valet to elderly rich people who have nothing to do but grocery shop every