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"He cares," Emily says

I shake an told s"

Eain

"I an can be pretty intuitive about sos And he feels certain that Sean wants you Bad And Sean said as much"

Friday bites her lip, then adds, "I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but…"

"What?" I ask

"You kno he got a new tattoo last week?" she asks

I didn’t know so I don’t answer "What did he get?" I ask instead

She inhales, weighing her decision to tell me Then she blurts out, "It’s a honeybee"

"Oh shit," I say

"What?" Emily asks "What did Iall sweet"

Friday nods

"I blehen I told hian says boyfriends are friends that get to ets this dreahs "Over and over and over"

"What if I blewmy eyes

"Oh, don’t cry," Friday says "You’ll mess up your makeup"

"You look hot, by the way," Emily says

"Thanks," I murmur

I adjust the top of et down to the booth The sale will only last an hour, and then the kiss happens"

Ee guy?" she asks

"Then I guess I get to kiss soet out of it now "I’d hoped that Sean would, you know… But he didn’t"

"You’ve got yourself in quite a predicament," Emily says

I flop down in a chair "Tell me about it"

"Why did you want to be just friends?" Friday asks "I don’t think you ever told s for him"

"I was afraid," I admit "I can’t live without hi and then it all falls apart? I will lose him forever" I shake my head "I just can’t let that happen" I wince "Ihi to chance it If I don’t, I’ll never know I love him I just need for him to love me back"

"What ht after

I shake my head "It doesn’t matter He’ll either show up or he won’t"

I slide onand heavy, but I don’t have to walk too far "You guys want to come?" I ask

Friday snorts this time "I wouldn’t miss this for the world"

We walk up to the booth, and I set up es for a solid hour People write their nah the out the ones that aren’t even close We keep the two closest to the actual number, both over and under There will only be one winner, but it’s whoever coet to kiss an and three of his brothers There’s a wide path around the boys, that’s for sure They’re also head-turners in every sense of the word But none of the Reed boys are as handsome as Sean His brown eyes meet mine, and he looks away He pulls his baseball cap do, shielding his eyes in shadow so I can’t even see theuesses

"Oh, I don’t think so," Emily breathes

He winks at her, and she crosses her arer at her, and she shakes her head She signs sons back All the tension leaves her body, and she deflates

"I’an "Give him his money back" I h his entries and keeps one out to the side I take it from her It’s close It’s really close

"E on

Logan’s brothers all have guesses, too, and each of theh theed to Logan Thank God Emily would kill me if I kissed her boyfriend I wouldn’t be able to do it I just wouldn’t

So far, Logan’s brother Matt is the closest, but I can’t tell hi the money as I talk with the men who stop to buy tickets When the hour is up, an hands me a tissue and points to s and the announcer callscontest," the announcer says He looks at Friday who has the winning ticket in her hand "Do we have a winner?"

She nods and walks across the stage She stops and takes a bohen she gets catcalls and whistles She’s very Katy Perry-pretty with her tattoos, vintage dress, and old-fashioned hairstyle She puts the winning ticket in the announcer’s extended hand

"And the winner is," he sings He waits, opening the folded piece of paper slowly, drawing out the suspense I can barely hear hi like crazy Is it too late to back out? Shit I don’t want to do this "The winner is the person who guessed twelve hundred and forty-eight!"

The crowd is silent, and all the participants look to one another But then I hear a thump, thump, thump, thump as someone comes up the stairs onto the platform I see the baseball cap before I see the rest of him, and I hope to God that’s Sean’s cap But Sean didn’t even buy a ticket Not a single one

Yet it’s his brown gaze that meets mine It’s his baseball cap, and they are his tattoos They’re his broad shoulders and his long strides that eat up the distance between us

He turns his hat backward and looks down at ratulations," I squeak out "You didn’t even buy a ticket How did you…?"

"I bought one hundred and forty-two tickets, dummy," he says

My heart trips a beat "You did?" All he had to buy was one I put the winning nuave him

He nods, and he takes my face in his hands His thuers thread into the hair at my temples