♤DEALS♤

Chapter 26 - A Dealer's walls

Peyton Griffin's POV

"Let's try this again. Try not to make me regret risking another decade of my lifespan listening to you," I said as I tied my hair into a knot on my head.

With a cheeky grin, Jacob began another span of pickup lines.

"Can I please put you in my tea? 'cause your sweet as honey."

"I can see you have a leash on you because you have my heart wrapped around your palm."

"They should put you in the sky during the rainy season, because lady, you are blowing me away."

"It's either you fell from heaven, or you crawled your way out of hell, trust me when I say that you are beautiful either way."

I tried. Honest to Pinocchio, I tried. I was clutching my stomach and the stove to keep myself from doubling over.

My vision was still blurry, but I saw Marci throw a piece of her bacon to Jacob.

"If you want my opinion, you need a whole new character if you want a girl that's not worth my old black nail polish to go with you."

I sent a glare in her direction; I made a mental note to corner her about that comment later.

I saw Jacob let out a small laugh, but even I know that laugh is anything but hearty.

That was the same laugh I saw Charlie make when she walked in on Danny inside a redhead when we were sixteen. Let's just say that that day ended with two tubes of chocolate ice cream, binge-watching Netflix and some bandages.

Funny how those bandages were not for her emotional wounds.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" I nudge my head towards the door while giving Jacob a pointed look.

He started going. I followed him after pinching Marci's neck and laying Gail's breakfast in front of her.

We sat at the dining table in front of the corridor that had the music room.

"You good?" I drop my walls for a bit; I sense a heart-to-heart coming.

Jacob sighs and refuses to look at me, "Are my lines that bad?"

"I wouldn't be laughing my ass out earlier if they weren't." I retort with a grin.

Jacob looks over my figure with feigned lust, "The ass is still there. You didn't laugh well enough."

I roll my eyes at his immature behaviour. I like to call it the Jacob persona.

"Instead of blowing her away with your pickup lines, try an easy joke," I suggest.

He taps his chin, "Has anyone ever called you beautiful? That person did no justice because your beauty is out of this world."

I stop myself from cringing, "Just because you make the pickup line longer doesn't mean it's a joke."

He face-palmed, "I'm hopeless."

"Not really," He looked at me from the space between his fingers as I continued sceptically. "I mean, you are good-looking and have a way with words. I think you should work on how to approach the issue. When is the birthday anyway?"

He removed his hand from his face, "It's in five months. When you mean approach.." He waves his hand around for me to elaborate.

"See it like this. I have a step-brother called Danny back home..."

"You have a brother? I always thought that you were raised by a pack of wolverines. " He cuts me off with an incredulous look.

As cliché as this sounds, this is not the first time I have heard this, and I can bet on my favourite blacktop that it won't be the last.