Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
He leaves, not giving me an opportunity to respond in any way. Perplexed, I walk back toward my office.
“Hey, Chance!” Stephen calls out, stopping me.
Distracted, I nod. “Yeah, what’s up?”
He furrows his brows, looking at me curiously. “You good, man?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I repeat, filing away the heavy thoughts Cameron laid at my feet.
“You know where Samantha is? We have an appointment today, but she’s not in the counseling room.”
“She has a test today,” I answer without thinking. “You shouldn’t have a session scheduled. Maybe you got the day wrong?” I suggest.
“No, it was today,” he answers tightly. “Guess she forgot.”
That’s not like Samantha, but she maintains her own schedule of classes and mentoring, so I can’t be sure. The test I know about because she’s been studying for weeks and I helped her with flashcards over breakfast. “Is there something I can help with? I have a minute,” I offer.
But Stephen shakes his head and starts walking away. “Nah, that’s okay. I wanted to talk to her.”
I’m not too worried about him. Stephen has been showing huge strides in his confidence, and that’s the main thing he was lacking. He’s even been acting as a mentor for some of the newer members, and I can understand why, if he’s got something going on, he might prefer to talk to Samantha about it. Especially if it’s info from class or girl-related.
Still, I call after him. “Hey, Stephen!” When he looks back, I smile. “You meant Miss Redding, right?”
He blinks a couple of times before he gets it, then nods, “Yeah, Miss Redding.”
But his voice has gone hollow and when he walks away, his head is down, and I remind myself to ask Samantha about her schedule later.
CHAPTER 25
SAMANTHA
I’m kicking ass and taking names! The last week has been amazing.
Chance told me his siblings came by and said dinner after we left was even more of a showdown than before, so in a lot of ways, I’ve been wiped from their memories as the instigator of Family Nuclear Meltdown ’23. Plus, he reassured me again that he’s not mad at me for any of it.
Jaxx and I are still selling. In addition to the four—four!—products Wanda bought, I had three other tenants in the building come by to purchase things. Thankfully, they hadn’t heard my loud recommendation of the Mad Hatter, but they did get a glowing referral from Wanda.
I aced my test at school, which was more of a presentation followed by a mock counseling session with my professor. And on the flip side of the student becoming the teacher, my classes at the club have been going well.
The last one, ‘Make Your Own Meet-Cute’, was a big hit. I’d worked with the guys on genuine approaches that don’t feel creepy, ways to be an actual nice guy, not a pseudo-nice guy, and small talk that helps you both decide whether you’re compatible. My favorite part of that class was when I had the guys practice some typical pick-up lines . . . on each other . . . while I videoed it. They’d quickly seen how gross it feels when a guy leers at you and tells you that ‘you’d be a lot prettier if you smiled’ and been horrified that their ‘sexy eyes’ were more ‘I’m going to wear your skin like a coat’.
Lucas had nearly jumped Enzo during the latter’s demo, and not in a sexy way. Jim had to come in to stop their arguing, but in the end, every single guy learned a lot and several came up to me afterward to thank me. Swoon!
I’ve also been working with Evan on the podcast they asked me to guest on. Rather than a typical chat session, we’ve decided to do it up big with a He Said, She Said discussion. I’ve invited several girls from school, and we’ve hand-selected a few guys from the club, all with the intention of putting them in a room, throwing out a topic or question, and seeing what sparks fly.
It has the potential to be fantastic or a complete failure, which is ridiculously exciting. And sitting down in the meeting room we’ve turned into a temporary studio, I can feel the excitement in the air.
“Thank you for agreeing to be part of our discussion today,” Evan says as everyone shifts in their chairs. “I’m Evan White, and before we begin, I’d like to go over a few rules. First, please stay in your chairs. The mics we’ve got aren’t exactly ready for a lot of movement, and I’m not good enough with the tech to do reworks on the fly for ten-plus people.”
Evan continues with the rules, covering language, respect, staying on topic, and more, and though everyone’s listening, they’re mostly eyeing each other, sizing up the verbal competition.
“Okay, since Samantha is the only one who knows all of you, I’m gonna let her do the intros,” he says, turning it over to me.