Surviving the Aces (#Wattys2018)

Meet Hunter

Diego's show was amazing; he was charming and hilarious. It was probably the best talk show I had ever seen, and I wasn't being biased, but I also hadn't seen many talk shows.

Diego's guest singer was Hunter Hayes and his guest star was some name I didn't remember, but everyone else seemed to care about him.

I was mesmerized by the background of the show, which was literally a mural of Diego. It was in black and white pixels and took up a good part of the back wall. There were also pictures of his family inside the collage but it was mostly him.

Gregg had his arm around me the entire time, which made me slightly uncomfortable because Ash was sitting near us. I could tell he was watching me, though he was occasionally distracted by the twins, who he was sitting by. Whenever I looked at him, he would smile but it never really reached his eyes.

I felt absolutely horrible, though I knew I couldn't help the way I felt. Even if I tried to like him back, it would probably be forced. I loved him as a brother and nothing more.

If we even pretended to think that we would work as a couple, we would only end up hurting each other, and then we would not have a relationship at all. He meant too much to me to take the risk of losing him.

"Where do you want to go?" Gregg asked me in the car after the show. "What are you in the mood for?"

"A smoothie." I told him and me mouth nearly watered just saying it.

"Smoothie it is." He agreed with a grin.

I texted Ash and told him I would be home a little later so that he wouldn't begin to worry. He quickly replied with an okay and a sad face. I sighed and tucked my phone away, turning back to Gregg.

"You get to start school next week." Gregg said teasingly.

"I'm so excited." I dead panned, causing him to laugh.

"It won't be so bad. Didn't you have friends at your old school?" He asked me.

We arrived outside the mall and Gregg hurried around the front of the car so that he could open the door for me. He intertwined his fingers with mine and we made our way into the huge franchise.

"Of course." I said, rolling my eyes as we walked into the small shop that sold smoothies.

A small blonde greeted us at the counter and asked us what we would like. When her eyes landed on Gregg, she froze and stared at him in awe; I had to work hard to hold back my smile.

"I'll get the peach papaya Greek yogurt and an apple cinnamon pretzel." Gregg said to the wide eyed cashier.

"I'll have the banana boat and three sourdough Parmesan pretzels." I said next. She placed in our orders then we went to find a booth. I picked a private one in a corner.

"Have you ever heard that dark booths are the best place for dates?" Gregg asked me, smirking. "Do you have an ulterior motive?" He teased, licking his lips.

I punched his arm, blushing a dark shade of red.

He grimaced. "Goodness Dakota. You have a mean punch." He whined.

I smirked at him, all embarrassment gone. "Back home, I was friends with the football team. They taught me how to take care of myself." I explained proudly.

"Wow. That sounds pretty cool." Gregg said honestly, surprising me.

I shrugged just as our orders arrived. "I guess, but I didn't make any girl friends. Ash is my one and only best friend. And he's all male."

Gregg snorted. "What makes you so sure?" He teased.

I gave him a dubious look.

"Anyways, since you're here, it can be another first." Gregg continued.