Page 108 of Fall Fake-Out

The blanket.

The cider.

The marshmallow.

The line about thinking highly of me.

The whole night has been about the bet and getting my mom to like him.

I catch Wade’s eye in the glow of the fire. His mouth tips into a small smile.

For a second, I smile back. Then something about the look behind his gaze makes my stomach somersault. Because when he looks at me like that, it doesn’t feel like a man checking to see if his performance is working. It looks like a man doing it for me because he wants to.

Ari

I’ve learned the hard way not to romanticize things.

Especially when it comes to men.

After everything with Andy, I don’t let myself read into things that aren’t there or even hope for more. Hoping is dangerous.

Which is why I’m absolutely not reading into the fact that Wade Stevenson has shown up in my classroom every single day this week when it didn’t make sense for our fake arrangement.

Let’s review the facts (as I remember them happening), incident by incident.

Incident #1 - After school on Monday:

Wade pops his head into my classroom. “Need anything?”

I stare at him blankly from my desk. “No.”

“Oh, uh…” He points behind him. “Mrs. Albany said you might need something.”

“Nope.”

“Okay.” He just stands there, hands in his pockets, until finally he takes two steps inside my classroom. “What are you doing right now?”

“What did you actually come here for?”

“Uh.” He glances up at the ceiling then backtracks to the door. “Actually, I have to go see if…to ask…”—he shakes his head—“doesn’t matter. I’ll catch you later.”

There’s an about-face, and then he leaves.

Incident #2 - During lunch on Tuesday:

I’m halfway through eating lunch at my desk when Wade appears in my classroom, carrying a white box. Without a word, he sets it on the corner of my desk.

I look up. “What’s this?”

“Maple cream puffs and maple blondies.”

I smile. “Really?”

“Sadie mentioned you were looking for them when you went into Keller’s Bakehouse a couple of weeks ago.”

I stare at the box. “And you remembered two weeks later?” I lift the lid. The smell of maple practically punches me in the face.

“Yeah, well, she mentioned it that same night. I would’ve brought you some sooner, but she keeps those desserts under lock and key.”