Page 38 of The Crafting Con

I glance over my shoulder at him, where he stands contemplating the game shelves alongside Hiro. His expression is so serious as he examines the various titles, occasionally asking a question or commenting on something to Hiro. It’s adorable. But then he reaches up to grab a box off the top shelf, and his T-shirt slides just high enough for a sliver of back to peek out, and adorable goes straight out the window.

Declan is legit hot.

Thankfully my phone buzzes with an incoming text before any drool can escape my mouth, and I whip it out like a lifeline, desperate for any kind of distraction. Well, you know what they say—be careful what you wish for. Because of course the text is from none other than Mr. Dad of the Year.

Dad: Hey hon, your mom said she talked to you about calling me back, but I still haven’t heard from you. Call me, we need to talk.

Blarg. I guess I’m going to have to. It’s either that or have him keep bugging my mom to be the go-between, and she so doesn’t need that noise in her life.

Me: Out with friends. Will try to call later tonight.

The three little dots instantly pop up, and I brace myself for his response.

Dad: Sounds great! I’ve been turning my ringer off at 9 (6 your time) since Becky’s been going to sleep pretty early, so if for some reason I miss your call, I’ll try to catch you after school tomorrow.

I finally agree to call him back, and now he’s got stipulations? For some reason, this makes me even more annoyed, and I jam the cell back into my jeans’ pocket with a vengeance.

“Everything okay?”

I look up to find Declan standing beside me, his brow furrowed with concern. I shake my head. “It’s fine, just… Dad stuff. I don’t know.” Just mentioning Dad around Declan feels weird, given how close the three of us were back in the “before.” He had almost as big an influence on Declan as he did me. Heck, he was the one who taught Declan how to make his first duct tape pattern. He’s the reason I haven’t invited Declan to my house. Why I told my mom I’d be out with Stasia all afternoon.

Why I’m not entirely sure I can be more than friends.

I swallow back a lump of emotion and nod toward the games. “Find anything worthy of following up Settlers?”

Declan cocks his head, and for a moment I don’t think he’s going to let the dad comment slide without further question, but then his lips quirk up in a smile. “I was leaning toward Mexican Train, but Hiro wants to play Headbandz. Care to be the tiebreaker?”

“Definitely Headbandz. My brain is too fried to learn anything new.”

“If you’re tired, I can order a ride and take you home. We’ve already been here for two hours, and you weren’t even planning on coming in the first place.” Declan winces. “Not to mention the four of us can be a bit much when we’re together.”

“Please. Your friends are hilarious. And besides”—I wiggle my brows—“it’s almost time for the musical act to begin. The Merry Minstrels? No way I’m missing that. What if they play the lute? Or one of those handheld harps? Or—gasp—both? It could be the show of the century up in here.”

“Wow.” Declan laughs. “That does sound epic.”

“Right?” I grin. “Definitely worth sticking around for.”

Something flickers over Declan’s face, but it’s gone before I can properly analyze it. He nods across the room toward our booth, where Zeke and Bailey are currently snuggled together, laughing over something on one of their phones. “Shall we?”

“Yeah, let me just hit the bathroom real quick, and I’ll meet you over there.”

Declan nods solemnly. “Good idea. One can’t properly frolic to minstrel music with a full bladder.”

“I’m assuming we’re the frolickers in this instance?”

“Obviously.”

“Excellent. I’ve been needing a good frolic.”

“Who hasn’t?”

I laugh, shaking my head while I push through the heavy wooden door to the women’s room. It dies when my phone once again buzzes with an incoming text. I really don’t want to think about Dad right now, but I check it anyway, just in case it’s from Mom. When I see it’s from Stasia, I let out a sigh of relief. Relief which quickly withers upon reading.

Stasia: CODE RED! I ran into your mom at the grocery store while Ben and I were getting snacks for movie night. She seemed to think you were with me? Guessing you haven’t told her about helping Declan with OA Con yet. I maaaay have panicked, and told her we bumped into Tyler, and the two of you went out for fro yo. Sorry! You know how bad I am at improv.

She really is. We took drama class together freshman year, and she barely scraped by with a B-. Thinking on her feet is not one of her strong points. Still, it would have been nice if she’d come up with something a little less specific in this case. And with less Tyler involvement.

Me: No worries, I’ll figure something out. Thanks for the heads up.