Page 70 of The Crafting Con

Man, I wish she was coming today.

She put so much energy into planning this workshop, it almost seems wrong to do it without her.

I glance up the road toward her house, which is quiet and still in the early morning gray. I picture her and Tyler posing for photos out front on the steps, and I wonder what her dress looks like. I’ve never felt much desire to go to something like prom, but thinking about Ava all dressed up and swaying about on the dance floor in my arms makes it suddenly appealing.

Next year, I’ll ask her first.

“You gonna space out all morning, or can we get this crazy train rolling?” Hiro’s voice snaps me back to the present, and he slaps the side of the truck as he heads for the passenger door. Zeke and Bailey are already climbing into the Jetta. “We’ve got a workshop to dominate.”

I throw Ava’s house one last look before hopping down and slamming the tailgate shut. “Yeah, man. Let’s go.” I’m halfway to the driver’s side door when a low-pitched yowl draws my attention back up the sidewalk, where Persnickety glares at me from in front of Mrs. Bingley’s house.

I quirk a brow, folding my arms over my chest. “Is that any way to talk to someone who risked life and limb to rescue your fat butt the other day? Hmm?”

Persnickety turns and waddles up the street, tail swishing behind him.

“That’s what I thought,” I call after him. I turn back to the truck, where Hiro is looking on with bemusement.

“Dude. Did you just throw shade at a cat?”

“That’s not a cat, it’s the spawn of Sauron,” I grumble, showing him the lines scabbing over my forearm. “And this is its handiwork.”

Hiro winces.

I crank the engine, feeling thoroughly justified.

My phone vibrates from the center console, and I cut it a quick glance, my heart giving an involuntary flip when I see an incoming message from Ava.

Ava: Have you left for the con yet?

My forehead wrinkles in confusion.

Me: Just about to now. Why?

A beat passes, and I fidget in my seat. Wondering if I forgot to pack something. Then,

Ava: Wait for me. I’M COMING!!!!!!

She’s coming? I blink, the words failing to process. Like, coming to give me something? Or…? A banshee yell tears through the quiet morning, and there’s Ava, flying down the sidewalk with a rainbow-colored lanyard streaming from her neck. A rectangular card that looks a whole lot like the ones attached to Hiro’s and my lanyards flaps at the end of it.

She’s coming.

The words click into place, striking my awareness like a bolt of lightning.

SHE’S COMING.

I leap from the truck and race up the sidewalk, where we crash together in a tangle of arms. I grab her shoulders, pushing us apart long enough to look her full in the face. “You’re coming to the convention?”

Her head bobs, her eyes glowing with excitement. “I’m going to OA Con.”

I let out a whoop. “What about your dad?”

She grins, wide and wicked. “Forget him. I’m done letting him ruin everything good in my life.”

“Heck yes!” I grab her waist and spin her around, relishing the delighted squeal she releases. She’s flushed and breathless when I set her back down, but it doesn’t stop her from reaching up and pulling my face down toward hers.

She tastes like strawberry-kissed victory, and I’m weightless, a stray balloon drifting up into the clouds.

The blaring of a horn brings me crashing back to earth. We break apart, turning as one while Hiro calls out, “If the two of you are done sucking face, we’ve got a workshop to get to. Chop-chop, people.”