Page 73 of Challenge Me

She didn’t respond, which wasn’t a surprise at this point. I’d been trying to get her to talk to me all morning, and I’d become more annoying about it once Avery went to take a shower. Since we were alone again, I decided to take another swing.

I came around to the front of the couch and sat crisscross on the floor. “Let’s review.” I tapped the pen on my temple, matching the rhythm of her movements. “You keep ignoring these parentheses. Why is that?”

Nada.

“Oh, silence, you wretched beast,” I lamented loudly. She made a sort of grunt and covered her ears. Dropping my voice to a normal volume, I continued. “You mock my sums, refuse to cease. Parentheses, those crooked liars, have burned more men than old Roman fires.” I glanced at her and found her watching me. “Pretty sure Pythagoras would’ve quit by now, too, Little Valkyrie.”

She rolled her eyes, which was more of a reaction than usual. Scooting closer, I moved the pen across the back of her hand. She stiffened and watched with a tight expression as I drew a smiley face with vampire fangs.

“If I help you master this feat, will you promise to no longer call me a cheat? I’ve battled math before, you see, and won each round spectacularly.”

“You’re annoying.”

“Hey!” I said triumphantly. “She speaks. She’s alive.”

With a grunt, she held her hand out. I passed her the pen, and she started to spin it around as if she’d practiced it for a long time.

“I might be annoying,” I told her, “but I wouldn’t bother if I didn’t want you to like me.”

“No point.”

“Sure there is.”

Her eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “Not real.”

“What?”

She gestured at me but didn’t respond. I sat there, trying to work out her meaning. I was attempting to connect with her, sure, but I wasn’t being fake. Did I come off as some shitty caricature?

After a minute, she stopped spinning the pen. “You. Him.”

“Sorry, I’m not really sure what you’re getting at, Mal.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

With a thoughtful hum, I leaned my elbows on my thighs. “What do you think you know? Oh, don’t go silent on me now. You’ve already opened your mouth, so there’s no point getting shy again.”

“I’m not shy.”

“No? So you just don’t like me, huh?”

“You’re not boyfriends.”

I pursed my lips, then clicked my tongue on the roof of my mouth. “Why do you think that?”

“He looks at you like my mom looks at my dad. Like he isn’t allowed to love you.”

“Ah damn, kid.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “That’s . . . fuck.”

“Swearing means you owe me money.”

“Send the bill to your dad.”

“You can’t have his money.”

This time, I laughed. “You think I’m an asshole who wants to use him?”

“Don’t know.”