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I nodded.
“But Kevin and I decided we’d be better off skipping the prom anyway. Too chancy. What about you? Did you go stag or just skip the whole thing?”
I sighed. “I took Susan.”
“Who?”
I gawped at him a moment, shocked that I’d never shared with him the fact that I’d had a “girlfriend” for the last part of the fiasco that had been my senior year in high school. But why would I have? Susan and I hadn’t dated, or kissed, or done much more than attend the Kingsley group parties together and sometimes hold hands for show. Half the time, I’d forgotten that she and I were even supposed to be an item. I told him about it as quickly as I could.
“Wow, just when I think I have a grasp on how things were for you last year, there’s always more,” Daniel said, leaning against my shoulder.
“Last year was…”
Not what I wanted to be thinking about on our date tonight. Not when we were planning to…
Not fuck. That wasn’t what we were going to do. It was so much more than that. Make love. I had no doubt that was where the night was going to end up going. I wanted to tell him how I felt about him, but I wasn’t sure now was the time or the place. It’d be better to say it when we were alone.
“Last year was rough,” I concluded, lamely.
“Where did you take Susan for dinner on prom night?” Daniel asked.
“Regas,” I murmured. It was a posh place that teens could never afford except for very special occasions like prom. “We met some other people there. Let’s not talk about it. It’s depressing.” I shrugged away the memories and smiled up at Daniel. “By the way, I love this place,” I said, touching his arm. “My parents used to bring me here sometimes when I was a kid. Their lasagna is my favorite in town.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You suggested Renée bring Barry here for their anniversary.”
I grinned. “I can’t believe you remember something like that. That was months ago.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Daniel smiled. “I remember everything about you.”
“No you don’t.” A tingle rushed through me, sweet and pure.
“I do. It’s frustrating sometimes.” He nudged me again. “Especially back when I was trying to forget you existed after Nashville.”
“So, you admit you tried to forget I existed?”
“Yeah, but it didn’t work. Even when I was dealing with all that stuff with my mom, I’d see, I don’t know, a takeout packet ofketchupand remember that you’d said you only liked Heinz.”
I wrapped my arms around my torso, trying to get the butterflies in my stomach to settle, and grinned. “I don’t even remember saying that, but it’s true.”
“We were at Chalky ‘N’ Joe’s with Windy and Minty, waiting on Renée after a show.”
“That’s right! For some reason, they had a random bottle of Hunt’s brand sitting out on our table. I had to go ask them for their usual Heinz.”
“McPeak? Party of two?” the hostess called out.
Daniel and I stood up.
We followed her to a curtained booth. She pushed back the red velvet and said, “Your server will be right with you,” before pulling the curtain closed again after we sat.
Daniel and I settled in, grinning at each other.
“Wow,” I said. “I’ve never sat in one of these booths before.”
“Me either. But I wanted something romantic.”
