Slow Burn by V. J. Chambers Page A

romantic feelings for me. Why would he? “He doesn’t have a reason to ‘have it bad’ for me. It’s not like something happened one night, our eyes met, and fireworks were going off in the distance.”
    “Do
you
have a reason for liking him?” said Stacey.
    “Well...” I thought about it. “I guess not.”
    “That’s not how love works,” said Stacey. “It’s not back and forth like in romance novels. It’s not bursting in at the last minute, stopping someone before they get to the altar. It’s not a slow burn. It’s an explosion. You meet someone. You talk. You feel something. Or you don’t. It’s simple.”
    I groaned. “If it’s so simple, then why has
nothing
happened between us?”
    “You guys did kiss that one time.”
    “Yeah, and then he rejected me, and I went and got more drugs. It was my hitting bottom moment. Not romantic at all.” I sighed. “I thought that when a guy liked you, you didn’t have to chase him everywhere. I saw that episode of
Sex and the City
, ‘He’s Just Not That Into You.’ If a guy’s playing hard to get, it means he doesn’t want to be gotten.”
    “That’s a television show, not real life,” said Stacey. “And besides—”
    “What are you girls talking about in here?” Griffin’s head appeared in the doorway. He was grinning, and he looked
so
good.
    “Nothing,” I said, standing up. When Griffin came to find us, it meant girl talk was over.
    We joined Griffin and Jack in the kitchen, where the two of them were eating vegan cheesecake. It was actually really good, even though Stacey had made it from tofu. We sat down at the table.
    “How many pieces of that have you had?” said Stacey.
    Jack shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “Because,” she said, “I did make it, and I kind of wanted there to be some left for me tomorrow.”
    “Sorry,” said Griffin. He set his fork down. There was half a piece of cheesecake on his plate. “You can have the rest of this piece.”
    “Oh, I wasn’t talking to you, Griffin,” said Stacey. “I meant Jack.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
    He held up his hands in surrender. “Geez. I’m sorry.”
    “Good,” she said. “As long as you’re remorseful.” She smoothed a flyaway piece of crimson hair. “So, Leigh and I were just talking about what she and Griffin were going to do over spring break.”
    Griffin looked confused. “We’re doing something?”
    I didn’t know where she was going with this, but I imagined it had something to do with the idea that Griffin and I needed to do something romantic.
    “Yeah,” said Stacey. “Don’t you think it would be neat to do something together, just the two of you?”
    Griffin ate a bite of cheesecake. “Look, Stacey, I don’t know how to tell you this, but this matchmaking thing you’re trying to pull off between me and Leigh? It’s not going to happen.”
    I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. The air went out of me.
    “Oh, whatever,” said Stacey. “I’m just trying to help you plan something fun. That’s all. You can read into it whatever you want, but there’s nothing else to it.”
    “We don’t need to make plans,” said Griffin. He finished up the cheesecake. “This was delicious, by the way.”
    I tried to catch Stacey’s eye, to tell her to let it go, but she wasn’t looking at me.
    “You’re a city boy, right? Leigh says you’re from New Jersey. I bet you’ve never been camping.”
    Griffin actually grinned. “Camping? Actually, I haven’t. Not exactly.”
    Stacey rubbed her hands together. “Great. Then you and Leigh should go to Blackwater Falls. It’s right down the road. And we have everything you might need. Tents, sleeping bags, coolers.”
    “Camping?” I said. “Like outside? With animals and bugs?”
    Griffin turned his grin on me. “I take it you’ve never been camping either.”
    I made a face. “I don’t know that I’ve ever wanted to.”
    “It’s so much fun,” said Stacey. “You guys are