Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting, #1)(12)
I sat next to her on the bed, still taking in her collection of figurines.
“That’s my Funko Pop collection. I paired them up the way they should be on the shows.” She gestured at one in a green hood and the blond figure next to him with the glasses. I realized it was from Arrow.
“I ship Olicity the hardest.”
“‘Ship’ them?”
“I want them in a relationship. Like I’d put them in a ship together so they’d be forced to see they’re perfect for each other, bribe the writers to get them together, ship them. Partnership, friendship, please-God-put-them-in-a-relationship-already ship them.”
“Oh-kay.”
“It’s a common phrase. Oliver and Felicity are totally my OTP, which means one true pairing, if you haven’t somehow heard of that, either. I also ship Alexa and Clarke on The 100 a crazy amount, and I was pretty mad at the writers for a while, but something happened and…well, I won’t spoil it, but I might’ve teared up. Then of course there’s Stydia and Captain Swan”—she pointed at a blond figure wearing a red jacket and a goateed dude with a hook for a hand—“I used to be all about Damon and Elena, but there toward the end, I shipped her and a coffin. Which sounds mean, I know, but vampires don’t technically die, so a bit nicer?”
“I’m still judging you too much for saying ‘ship them the hardest’ to judge you for the vampire stuff.”
She smacked my arm and I laughed. Honestly, I was also trying to keep up with all the words she’d spouted, trying to make sense of them. We’d spent the past few afternoons on the boat, and the more time I spent with her, the more amused I was by her, even though I only understood about half of what she said.
Klaus crawled higher on her lap and she rubbed his chin. I never knew a lizard could smile, but damned if the thing didn’t grin. Kate caught my eye. “Just call me Khaleesi, mother of dragons. Or dragon, as it were. Please tell me you at least get that reference.”
“Game of Thrones. I’ve only read the first book, though. Okay, half of the first book, but I meant to pick it back up. But then I sort of just watched the show instead.”
She glanced around like someone might be listening and then leaned in. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve never read the books.”
I leaned a few inches closer, until I could see the different shades of green in her eyes. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“You’re starting to have a lot of my secrets, so I certainly hope so.”
Unexpected warmth swirled through my chest. I’d never thought I would want to be a secret keeper, but there was something about having Kate’s trust that made me proud to be one.
She pulled out a notebook and my tingly happy vibes faded a bit when I saw the outlined list, Operation Prom Date written across the top. Which was stupid, because that was why I’d come over.
The same organizational skills that had me inwardly groaning now had come in handy during the past few days of training, just like I’d guessed they would. She’d even done some calculations on how much faster we’d have to row to beat our previous times, even though she also joked she should hide them from me so I wouldn’t “get all crazy and practically kill us” trying to do better.
“Okay, so for reals, I’m going to talk to him this week.” She tapped the end of her pen to her still-shimmery lip. The same full lip I shouldn’t be noticing. But when I dropped my gaze, all I got was an eyeful of her legs—their crossed position made her shorts hike up higher on her thighs and now I was thinking about those. “Cooper?”
I jerked my head up and swallowed. “You talk to him. Say hi or whatever. Bring up football if you want. But you’re gonna need something more to really set your plan into motion.” I racked my brain for an idea, one that would work, because I needed to stop thinking thoughts I shouldn’t. “We need to do something big.”
Chapter Eight
Kate
The “something big” hung in the air, more intimidating by the second. Cooper seemed to be deep in thought, that little crease between his eyebrows that formed when he went into Mr. Serious mode on the lake showing up. I didn’t dare interrupt, hoping genius had just struck. Especially if it was the kind of genius that’d help me not feel like such a failure when it came to my prom plans.
I also hoped it wouldn’t be scary. Big sounded scary. Plus, like I said, Mr. Serious face, and that usually meant barked orders.
Finally his gaze returned to the present day and my room. “There’s a party tomorrow night. You’re going to go with me. And we’re going to act like…”
I’d never liked cliffhangers, not on my TV shows, not in books—especially when the sequel’s release date was months to years away—and definitely not in my real-world conversations. “Like what?”
“Like we came together, but not as a couple. As in a casual thing.” He ran his hand over his jaw and then rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you think you can do that?”
The amount of oxygen I took in thinned and my gut tightened. “So I’d go with you and just play it cool?”
“Yeah. But also, I might put my arm around you, or stand really close. Maybe make it look like we could be more than friends, but not like we’re in a relationship.”