Kincaid made a you-said-it-I-didn’t face. “Would that be so terrible?”

“Did I miss the part where you’re actually a dude, and we’re suddenly in a locker room?” He puffed out his chest and deepened his voice. “Bro, you need to find some hot chick and drain the snake.”

She cringed. “Oh my God, gross, no one says ‘drain the snake.’” She waved her hand between them, trying to clear that disgusting image from her mind.

“Hit that?” he suggested.

“This further proves that we need to get you out of this bookstore. You don’t even know how to speak.”

“Says the girl who pronounces the word ‘fire’ with one syllable and ‘fair’ with two,” he said, overexaggerating the East Texas accent that had followed her from childhood.

“Shut up. And for the record, I would be an awesome dude who would never dare use the words ‘bro’ or ‘hit that,’ thank you very much.” She nudged his shoulder. “I just want you to come to prom with me and Graham. Isn’t there someone you want to go with? You’ve got to like somebody at school.”

Ash’s expression flattened, and his gaze slid away. “Not really.”

“Not really?” A shimmer of excitement moved through her, her internal sensors going off. “That’s not a no. Oh my God, you do have someone. Ash has a secret crush!” She stepped closer to catch his eye. “I must know. You must tell me right now. I promise I’ll keep it a secret.”

Ash let out a long-suffering sigh. “You are relentless.”

She nodded. “Yep. It’s one of my finest qualities.”

He shook his head. “Too bad. It’s not going to work. I’m not telling you because (a) you’re physically unable to contain a secret. You would hurt yourself trying to do that, and I don’t want that on my conscience. And (b) this person is unattainable, so it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“No one is unattainable,” she said resolutely. “Have you seen who I’m dating? Who would’ve ever thought the Graham Lowell would be dating the daughter of a woman whose best skill is getting her rent paid by a different guy every month?”

Ash frowned and adjusted his glasses. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t talk like Graham’s above you just because he’s got money and parents who actually know how to be decent humans. No offense to him, but that’s a life lottery situation, not an accomplishment. And you have no idea how badly he wanted to impress you when he was trying to get you to go out with him. You were out of his league, not the other way around.”

Kincaid’s chest squeezed at the fervor in his voice. “Aww, Ash, you do love me.”

He rolled his eyes.

“But see, then maybe your secret crush isn’t so unattainable either,” she went on. “Maybe you should try Graham’s method and write her some romantic letters. I think I was half in love with the guy before I even said yes to a date. After those notes he left me, how could I resist?”