Girl Get Rid Of That Jerk by Melissa Johns

Allison hesitated, caught off guard by his question.

She mumbled a soft, "Yeah."

"He knows you like blue, too," Joshua said, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips—though his tone was sharp enough to cut. "That's nice."

Allison pressed her lips together and glanced at the bouquet of blue flowers sitting on the passenger seat. Joshua's taste had always been impeccable. He never picked flowers at random—this bouquet was exactly her vibe.

Joshua noticed her staring at the flowers and spoke in a flat, unreadable voice. "I was going to give them to you, but since you already have flowers, I guess these are just extra."

Allison didn't know what to say. She hesitated, then offered awkwardly, "Well... I should get going?"

She turned, ready to leave.

"Wait!" Joshua called out, his voice suddenly urgent. "It's not like two bouquets are too much to carry. Why don't you just take these, too? They're just taking up space in the car."

With her back to him, Allison couldn't help the small smile that played at her lips.

She turned around and met his eyes. "Taking up space, huh?"

you don't want

a quiet laugh. "No way. They're too pretty to throw out.

around the car, and

bouquets to

just a bit when

At this point, with where things stood between them, politeness was all

car, balancing the two bouquets in

"Allie, where'd the second bouquet come from?

their parking spot, neither Linda nor Javier could see Joshua's car, so they'd missed the

up front, glanced back at Allison but stayed

about the Fisher family—and how much he disapproved of her and Joshua—Allison

could tell Allison didn't want to talk about it, so

just told the driver,

Lizzy was on the couch

her big sister walk in, Lizzy lit up with a huge smile. She jumped off the couch, Mary Janes tapping on the

laughed and gently patted Lizzy's head. "Did you

her sweet,