I figured the whole thing was a one-day insanity that would die on its own. Nope. Every single day for the rest of break, the man worked out. Mom even bought him a fitness tracker as a reward.
One night, Zane was in my room keeping me company while I studied. Out of nowhere: "Zo.
"My abs are getting bigger. Wanna feel?"
My hand slipped and I ticked the wrong answer. I whipped around, horrified. He looked the picture of innocence, already grabbing the hem of his shirt. "I'm serious—"
"Zane, that's enough!"
He let the shirt drop, wounded. "Okay."
Two minutes of quiet. Then: "When I'm back at school I'm joining a gym. Chest, legs, closing my rings every single day—and I'll send you proof. Every day."
I gave him a noncommittal "mm-hm."
"Zo, if I actually do it... can I have a little reward?"
I'd completely lost the thread of my studying. I put down my pen and turned around. "Sure. Name it."
He smiled at me. "Delete Derek. Be my girlfriend."
"On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that he will never like you as much as I do."
My heart skipped a beat. My face started burning, slow and unstoppable. Zane kept saying he liked me—all the time now, it felt like—and the way he looked at me kept getting warmer. My brain short-circuited, and I heard myself say: "Fine. And if you fail?"
Zane froze for a beat. Then the corner of his mouth curled. "If I fail—name anything, and it's yours."
"It'd better be."
Near the end of break, Zane booked his ticket home. "Zo... will you come see me off tomorrow?"
I stared at him. In all our years, he'd never once asked me to see him off. Coming or going. Summer, because he didn't want me in the sun. Winter, because he didn't want me in the cold. And now? Now he was just getting greedy.
Hard no. "It's not like you don't know the way. I'm not going."
Zane didn't even get mad. Just a quiet "oh." "I know you're busy."
Mom set down her fork and turned to me. "Zoe, busy with what, exactly? It's not another guy I've never met, is it? Listen to me. There are a lot of creeps out there. Don't get scammed."
I knew she was still on about Derek. But I hadn't texted Derek in ages. He'd figured out I wasn't interested, and we'd both let it fade—down to the occasional Instagram like, nothing more. Zane didn't know that, though. And explaining it felt weird, so I didn't.
My brain was scrambling for an excuse when Zane cut in smoothly. "Mrs. Bennett, Zoe's prepping for the GRE. She really doesn't have time."
"Right, right, I was just asking.
"It's been so long since I was home. Now that I'm leaving again... I'll miss you both."
Here's the thing about Zane: the man never begs. So when he does, it's nuclear. Mom looked at him, visibly torn.
"Don't be silly—I'll take a personal day and drive you to the airport myself."
Zane set down his bowl immediately. "Please don't, Mrs. Bennett. I can get there fine on my own."
"I promised your grandmother I'd look after you. None of that polite stuff.
"Zane, you're like a son to me. During the semester, stay put—don't wear yourself out coming back. Because every time you do, you do all the cooking and cleaning, and Zoe's gotten completely spoiled."
"Excuse me, I can cook!"
Mom patted my hand, nodding along, zero sincerity. "Of course, of course. Instant ramen. Cup noodles. All yours. And remember that time you fed Zane a vitamin and he thought he was dying?"
"That was his own fault for having the immune system of a wet paper towel—he caught that flu from me!"
Zane chose that exact moment to chime in. "Mrs. Bennett, I've been working out. Consistently."
I glared at him. "Let's see you actually stick with it first!"
Zane looked straight at me and smiled—warm, bright, completely shameless. "Mrs. Bennett, Zoe promised me that if I got in shape to her satisfaction, she'd be my girlfriend."
I said nothing. Mom said nothing.
Clatter. Somebody's fork hit the floor.
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