1 month ago:

Raven frowned. "I'm not ignoring you."

Still standing on her porch, Gar also frowned. "You totally are."

After her talk with Victor in his garage, Raven's social media war with Gar had come to a grinding halt. Because it was flirting, and she didn't want to flirt with Gar. Nothing good would come of it, and she didn't want him to get the wrong idea. She didn't like him.

She sighed, leaning against the door jam. "You know I dislike social media. I did as much as was required by my agent, and now I'm done."

His green eyes, darkened with disbelief, narrowed at her. "I don't believe you."

"Believe, or don't, whatever you like. I have nothing else to say to you."

His lips thinned as he pressed them together. She worried- no, she hoped that would get him to leave. That her callousness would finally deter him and he'd go find someone who could better appreciate him to harass into a friendship. "I like you," he told her suddenly. Her hand slipped, and she almost lost her balance entirely. "I want to be friends."

Wow, those point three seconds were a wild roller coaster.

"Why?"

She didn't really mean to ask it, but he'd startled her and she was still trying to recover her normal functions.

He huffed out an emotionless laugh, staring at her rose garden. "I think you're cool, and funny, and nice, and- I don't know. I like being around you."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Nice?"

"Yeah," he breathed, rolling his eyes and letting them land on her. "Nice. You don't think you're nice, and you put up a tough front, but you're not this villain you've built yourself up to be in your head."

Pursing her lips to the side, she crossed her arms. On one hand, it irked her that he felt comfortable telling her what she was and was not. On the other, the compliment lit a fire low in her chest that made her ache for more. What she could decide on is that she didn't want to address this self-loathing situation right now. "Is this where I'm supposed to list three kind things about you?"

The corner of his lips twitched. "That would be the nice thing to do."

She had to bite her lip, otherwise, horror of all horrors, she might have laughed. "You're annoying."

He grinned. "Well, there's one, keep going."

Raven shook her head, confounded. Whether she deserved him or not, it seemed she couldn't get rid of him. Her quips and glares wouldn't offend him. Rather, he seemed to like her reactions. Genuinely, too, not just for amusement. And, well, she always knew he wasn't normal.

"You're a dork."

"Two down, just need one more." He leaned closer. "Think you can manage?"

She rolled her eyes, but she paused, meeting his gaze tentatively. "You make me feel wanted," she murmured at last, feeling her pulse jump at the way his expression softened. There was understanding there, and affection, and so much more that she didn't want to read too far into.

"Because you are."