I’m just about to look anyway when the door flies open. Asad skids into the room, plunks himself down in his rolling chair, crossing his feet up on a control panel while he leans back with his hands behind his head.

“Here’s the thing, Ava Lee. I’m tired of waiting and wishing. I want to be like you—go out and grab life.”

My eyes flick between Asad’s face and the bouquet. How is he acting so calm with those flowers sitting right there? With “the question” looming between us?

“Okay, so what exactly are you grabbing?” I say.

He puts his feet on the ground and inches toward me, his dark pupils dancing.

“So remember how I told you one time that quantity is not key when it comes to chicks?”

“Right, right, your dubious chick count of girls you’ve invited to your lighting booth seduction lair.”

Asad scoops up the flowers next to him.

“Exactly. Because I’ve been waiting for the right one. And I think I found her—actually I found her a while ago.” His smile drops slightly. “But I’ve been too scared to tell her because she’s…well…it’s like in The Phantom of the Opera, where Leroux writes love is only unhappy when the lover isn’t sure their love will be returned. And right now, I’m unsure to the max.”

I push myself off the control panel, filling the space between us.

“You should just tell her.”

I take another step closer to him, my skin buzzing, but not with the itch I’m used to. This time, the buzzing is wonderfully alive, electric as it zaps pieces of my skin I thought were long past feeling.

“That’s where I need your help,” he says with earnest eyes. “You’re her closest friend. Do I even have a chance?”

I stop my advance midstep, the buzzing switched off, replacing the electric heat with ice through my veins.

“Piper,” I say, more to myself than to him. “This is about Piper.”

Asad blinks up at me, confusion clouding his face for a split second as he lowers the flowers between us.

“Of course. Who else?”

39

“The flowers are for Piper.”

Asad holds up the bouquet. “Took me forever to find her signature hot pink.”

Piper pink.

“I know she busts my balls a lot, but we’ve been hanging out a lot more this year, and I think maybe she’s starting to see me differently. Or see me at all.”

I back slowly toward the door, feeling the walls of the already-too-small room closing in. How did I not see it? He took her to get the tattoo. He wanted her to try out for drama. It’s always been about Piper.

“You like Piper. She’s the one you like,” I say, still trying to make sense of the words.

Asad scrunches his eyebrows.