12. Maddox

TWELVE

MADDOX

She steps out from her row, turns in my direction, and throws something at my face.

I might not be a wide receiver, but my hand snaps up on reflex, and I snatch the granola bar out of the air.

Her hands are pressed against her chest like she's trying to keep her heart inside her body, and her eyes are wider than I would've thought possible.

"Sorry." Her voice is high pitched. "I didn't mean to…"

She trails off, and I have to chuckle. "You didn't mean to chuck this brick at my face." I open my palm and look down at the package. "I didn't think people actually ate these."

She drops her hands. "I wasn't really looking forward to it."

"Don't tell me this is your lunch?"

She lifts a shoulder.

I lean forward in the chair. "I was about to eat. If you'd like to share."

I want to get up and walk to her, but I'm kind of a giant compared to her, and sitting keeps me more on her level.

She presses her teeth into her pink lower lip. "Is that what you're doing here?"

"A little lunch. A little first aid follow-up." I raise an eyebrow. "So… lunch?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think I should."

Not I don't want to .

"You're hungry, though, yeah?" I give the green wrapper a little shake.

"Yeah, but I can just have that." She points to the crumbly-as-shit granola bar she chucked at my head.

"This is rabbit food." I smirk at my own inside joke. "You need more than that."

"It's fine. I —"

Before she can argue more, I tighten my grip on the wrapper, crushing the hard bars inside into pieces.

"Hey!" She takes a step toward me.

Victory.

"One sec." I hold up a finger, rip open the top of the package, lift it to my lips, and tip my head back, dumping the contents into my mouth.

When I lower my head back to look at her, I find her another step closer with her mouth open in disbelief.

"That was mine," she accuses.

"You threw it at me. Makes it mine."

She purses her lips. "I don't think that's a real thing."

"Well, either way, you have to eat with me now."

She props her hands on her hips, and I have to force my eyes to stay on her face. "How am I supposed to eat with you when you just inhaled my food?"

"Inhaled?" I press a hand to my chest. "I'm insulted." She rolls her eyes at me, and it's way cuter than it should be. "And lucky for you, I eat a lot."

She gives me a look. "How is that lucky for me?"

"Because." I reach down next to my chair and drag my backpack over so it's in front of me. "I have an extra sandwich." I unzip the main compartment. "You like ham and cheese?"