It’s official.

I, Delia Devlin, have a crush.

On Marshmallow.

Ugh. Fine.

It’s on Zach.

We have been texting non-stop for three weeks. Hell, he bought a goat because of me! How can I not be crushing on him? Zach’s fun, and I need fun.

It wouldn’t be such a problem if I didn’t drop everything the moment my phone buzzes or chimes, or if he wasn’t the first person I thought of every morning…and the last every night.

Erase all of that and this crush nonsense wouldn’t mean a thing.

But it’s all true. So, it matters.

The familiar buzz of my phone alerts me to a text.

A smile forms, because I know who it is.

See? There I go again.

“What’s so funny?”

Shit. I didn’t realize I was laughing out loud, and I’m a total dick because we’re supposed to be having girl time right now and here I am texting Zach.

Again.

See why this crush is a problem?

“Oh, uh, nothing important.”

Zoe hijacks my phone and I try with all my might to snatch it back, but damn her and her freakishly long arms. I watch as she scrolls through my text conversations, her brows pinching together before they shoot up in surprise.

“Who in the hell is this, D?”

“His name is Zach.”

“Yes, I can read that, but who is he?”

I wring my hands together. “I, um…well, I don’t really know who he is. As you can see, there was a bit of confusion. After we talked—”

“Wait,” Zoe interrupts, holding her hand up. “You talked to him? Like in person?”

“On the phone. Twice.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“How sexy was his voice?”

Feeling the blush creep up my face, I cover the evidence from my best friend, but she’s fast, grabbing my hands and yanking them away. She holds them in her own, staring into my eyes with a mischievous grin.

“You little minx, you! You’ve been holding out.”

“It’s…gah! Zoe, it’s so hot. All gruff and deep.” I don’t care that I sound like a silly teenager right now. Zach’s voice is hot.

“What’d you guys talk about?”

“The first time it was to set the record straight on who we are. The second time…” My mouth feels dry, because I know what I’m about to reveal to Zoe will upset her. It’s not like I was intentionally hiding my Netflix night with Zach. I…well I don’t even understand what’s happening with Zach. How am I supposed to explain that to Zoe?

“D? The second time?”

“Friday.”

“As in this past Friday? Like two days ago?”

“Yes?”

Her eyes narrow. “Are you asking or telling me?”

“Telling?”

“Delia!”

“Fine! Telling! It was this past Friday. We kind of, uh, watched a show together.”

“He drove over here?”

“Over the phone. It began with texting but after he bought me dinner—”

“WHAT!” she explodes, interrupting me. “How?”

“He called around and found out where I had ordered wings from. We had planned to eat the same thing.” Zoe’s eyes are huge, her attention focused on my lips as she absorbs every word coming out of my mouth. “It was sweet, in a creepy stalker kind of way. Anyway, I called him after my food arrived already paid for and we never hung up.”

“That’s why you were sitting in the living room in the middle of the night.”

“That’s why.”

“Anything else I should know?”

I chew my lip, working up the courage to tell her about our night two weeks ago. Screw it. I have to tell her. She’s my best friend, and it’s only right.

“Remember our night out?”

She taps her chin. “Hmm…Lola’s?” I nod. “What about it?”

“Well…”

“Out with it!”

I hold my hands out. “Okay, okay. My cash was stolen out of my purse and you were shitfaced and I promised Caleb I wouldn’t walk home because it was late and I didn’t want any trouble so…Zach rescued us.”

She jackknifes off the couch, standing over me looking wild as a cat. “You put drunk me and sober you in a car with this guy? What!”

“No! He paid for our cab fare and even tipped the driver for us.”

She sits back down on the couch, folding her legs under her and placing her hands in her lap. She appears docile, and the act is almost believable. “Oh. Well, that was kind of him. So…are you planning to, like, meet him?”

“WHAT? No! I can’t do that!”

“But he’s local, yeah?”

I tilt my head, skeptical of where she’s going with this. “Yes…”

“Perfect!” She claps her hands together. “Then you’re meeting him.”

“No! No way!”

All at once, she’s hitting keys on my phone and bringing it up to her ear. I jump into action, but I’m too late.

I hear it.

“Delia.” His voice slides over the line, smooth and in control. “What have I done to deserve this pleasant surprise?”

I snatch the phone away as Zoe opens her mouth to speak; she’s too distracted by his voice.

“I-I…” I sound nervous—because I am nervous. I just don’t understand why.

“Spit it out, dear. I have work, you know.”

“Did you just dear me, Zachary?”

“First, my name isn’t Zachary. It’s Zach. S—”

“Is it really?”

“Yeah,” he says, his voice rising into a question. “Why is that surprising?”

“I assumed Zach was shortened down from Zachary or Zachariah.”

“Nah. My mom wanted something simple, I guess. It’s just Zach.”

“Can I still call you Zachary?”

“No.” His voice is stern. I ignore him.

“We’ll see.”

“Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, yes I did dear you, dear Delia. Now, what did you need?”

“Oh…nothing.”

“You just called to chitchat?”

“Technically I didn’t call.” I glare at Zoe, who raises her hands in innocence. “My friend stole my phone and scrolled through our texts. By the way, she agrees with me and thinks you’re a complete creeper.”

“I never said that!” Zoe shouts, loudly enough for Zach to hear.

“Ignore her.”

“Ask him out already!”

Zach chuckles. “Oh, so that’s what this is about. She wants to set us up, thinks we’re not capable of getting there on our own.”

“Yes, it would appear so.”

I glance to Zoe, who’s sitting next to me appearing rather satisfied with herself. She grins and mouths you’re welcome. I throw a pillow at her.

“…to dinner?”

“What?” I wasn’t paying a lick of attention to Zach, but I think he might have asked me to dinner.

“Well we’re off to a great start here, Delia.”

“Sorry, Zoe distracted me.”

“Zoe? Ah, the friend?”

“The friend.”

“I asked if you’d like to, I don’t know, go to dinner with me? Robbie thinks us meeting would be a smart idea too, especially after our Netflix night. I think our friends are trying to set us up.”

“It would appear so.”

“Are they right? I mean, should we…meet?”

I worry my fingers together, a nervous habit of mine. Dinner with Zach? I…well, shit, I don’t know if I want to. I like him—a lot. We’ve been texting non-stop, have even joked about meeting, but actually going through with it? I don’t know if I can. What if he’s not what I’m expecting? What if I’m doing exactly what I did with Caleb—taking a friendship and making it into more when that special spark isn’t there? I’m not sure if I can face him, ruin the image of him I have in my mind, ruin the blossoming friendship we have.

But the curiosity is killing me and my gut is screaming at me.

I think I have to meet him.

“Or coffee, or drinks…or we could forget I said anything at all and tell our friends to butt out of whatever it is we have going on here. Did I ruin everything?”

“Huh? What?”

“Are you distracted by Zoe again? Please tell me it involves naked pillow fighting.”

“Creeper.”

“Guilty…this time. But Delia?”

“Yes, Zach?” I’m out of breath, but my ass has been planted on this couch since the phone call began. There’s no reason I should sound like I just ran a 5K.

Zoe notices and is up on her knees on the edge of the sofa, perched and waiting for what’s to come. She presses close to me, her ear against the phone so she can hear what he says.

“Will you please go on a date with me? I’d really like to take you out sometime. I’ve been suggesting we meet up for weeks. Please.”

Zoe squeals and falls back with a huge grin stretched across her face like she’s the one who was asked out.

“Why?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zoe’s head whip my way in surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“I said what I meant.”

“Delia…” Zach begins, the charm so thick in just that one word.

“I want one reason why I should say yes.”

“Because I’ll let you touch my butt?”

My body quakes with laughter the moment the words leave his mouth.

“What? I’ll have you know I have a fantastic ass, Delia. You’ll want to touch it, and you’ll want to touch it often.”

Zoe’s staring at me with disbelief, because I’m laughing so hard no words are coming out as Zach continues to wax poetic about his ass.

“I work out and make sure to do my squats so my ass is perky as hell. If you say yes, you won’t be sorry, and if you say yes and ask nicely, I’ll even let you see it.”

“You had me at ass, Zachary.”

“Hey, Delia?”

“Yeah?”

“Bring my penis potholders.”

The first thought that runs through my head when I switch off my screen is, He gets me.

I’ve always had friendships where I was understood on a basic level. Apart from Zoe, I’ve never found someone I clicked with all the way, who accepted me for all my strange quirks, not even with Caleb, though it was close…until we ruined it.

But Zach? He understands me on a level I wasn’t expecting, understands my sarcasm and doesn’t get annoyed when that’s the mode I’m in. He appreciates the darkness behind it, and even better, he fires back with his own. Our conversations are seamless, flirty, and I like it way more than I should—not to mention my body tingles with anticipation every time he sends a text because I know it’ll spark an endless string of fun.

Zach makes me laugh, makes me feel light and airy. With him, I don’t have the weight of the real world hanging over my head, don’t have the anticipation of what graduating will bring.

I know I haven’t known him all that long—and hell, I haven’t even actually met him—but I like the way he makes me feel, and it’s not something I’m ready to let go.

I just hope I’m not making a huge mistake by meeting him.