HORNS (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"I promised you fifty bucks," Kat said sourly, trying to shove the bill into my hand. "Just take it and get going! You said you had to leave, right?"

"I'm not taking your money," I scoffed back, closing her fingers around the bill with my own. "It was enough for me to see the look on your face."

"Pffft, yeah, right," she snorted, trying to open her hand to give me the money, but I kept my fingers around her own, exerting as little strength as possible. She sighed and gave me a deadpan stare, cocking her hip as she stared me down. The kids and I were standing in front of the doors leading out to the parking lot, having already paid our bill and leaving her a very sizable tip.

Rosie whined into my shoulder and I felt impatient but clean hands tugging on my jeans.

"Can we go play at Chuck E. Cheese?" Adam asked, and I sighed. "I wanna play!"

"Yeah, Buddy, in a minute," I promised, hefting Rosie a little higher and squeezing Kat's fingers. I stared at her with a halfhearted smile. "Keep the money, okay? I appreciate the thought, but I'm satisfied as-is. I mean it."

"Are you sure?" she demanded. "We did make a bet."

"I'm sure," I told her with a nod, then thought for a second and hesitantly added, "and to be real with you, it was... nice... to be called handsome and talked up by someone I don't know."

Her brows twitched high and she stared at me in confusion.

"Okay," she said after a long moment, pulling her hand away from mine and tucking the bill back into her wallet. "In that case, instead of money, how about we exchange cell numbers instead?"

I froze, heart flying up my throat in actual shock and surprise. I wasn't entirely sure if it was a good feeling, either.

"N-numbers?" I asked, instantly feeling sweaty and uncomfortable. "Uh... I... I guess...?"

To my further embarrassment, she laughed after looking at my face, which was twisting and wriggling weirdly as my brain tried to figure out what expression it needed to have. I hunched my shoulders and hugged Rosie against me for self-comfort as she cackled, watching as her pale face turned red with mirth for a few moments. It kinda wasn't fair... she even had a cute laugh.

"You look like you swallowed a lemon!" she teased, planting a hand on her hip; she smirked at me coyly through long, dark, attractive lashes. "What, never had a girl ask for your number?"

"No," I mumbled, feeling smaller and smaller by the second. However, instead of teasing me further, her smile dropped off and she seemed genuinely taken aback.

"Really?" she asked, sounding baffled. "No way, you're totally bullshi--" She stopped when I cast her a sharp look, brows coming down aggressively. Her gaze landed on the children peering up at her warily, then fell across the baby in my arms, and she sighed, "sorry. Slip of the tongue."

"It's fine," I told her, looking down at the floor. "I have to watch my mouth around them, too."

"Still, I find it hard to believe that you haven't had anyone try to pick you up before," she said with a serious frown, staring me dead in the eyes. "You really haven't had a girl ask you for your number? Like, ever?"

"I've only ever had two friends my own age, period," I reluctantly admitted, wincing when her jaw dropped. "Every time I've ever interacted with someone I thought was cute, I was brushed aside or treated like a joke. I'm not... really the best catch, you know?"