Hate to Love You novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Rain

I stared at the text for a full minute.

Then I typed, Friday.

Three dots appeared and vanished.

Appeared again.

Thanks, Henslow. You're a lifesaver.

I turned the phone face down on my bedspread.

It didn't take long for me to turn it back over.

For three days I answered him in single words, and for three days he sent me jokes.

On Thursday it started to rain.

It wasn't a drizzle.

It was the kind of rain that comes sideways off the ridge and soaks you through a jacket in a minute.

Mason had taken the truck to a team lift, and Dad was at the store until nine.

I had a library book, a thin raincoat, and a mile and a half to walk.

I made it to the corner of Maple and Third before the water found its way down my collar.

By the time I reached the crosswalk by the pharmacy, my hair was plastered to my face and my sneakers were making noises.

A car pulled up beside me.

It was an old green sedan with one dented door.

The window rolled down.

"Henslow," Shay said.

He was in the driver's seat, one hand on the wheel and a bag of groceries beside him.

His hair was dry.

I hated that I noticed.

"Get in," he said.

"I'm fine."

"You look like a drowned cat."

"Thank you."

"It's a compliment. Cats are great." He leaned over and pushed open the passenger door. "My mom's car. She'd kill me if I left someone in this. Come on."

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