“I’m not clueless. I just—” He shifts away from Ivy and sighs. “Hazel’s mom is a patient.”
“Ohhh.” Ivy’s whole expression changes. She bounces from toe-to-toe and spins so she’s fully facing Cosmos. “Is this—?” She doesn’t finish her sentence, waiting for Cosmos to answer whatever she’s implying.
Did he tell his whole family about me? Why would he do that?
Cosmos looks more uncomfortable than I’ve ever seen him. He rubs his jaw repetitively.
Ivy must take his silence as some kind of answer, because she suddenly lunges at me and wraps me in ahug. “I’m so glad to meet you. We’re going to be great friends. I just know it.”
With his sister’s arms strangling me, my eyes catch on Cosmos. I want him to look at me and explain whatever the hell just happened, but he’s staring at his feet.
When she pulls away, I try to extricate myself from the situation. “I should go look for my friends.” I dig in my purse for my phone, hoping Kiara’s already here and has a table somewhere. “They should be here, but I haven’t seen them yet.”
“The only place left to sit is on the floor, and I don’t think you want to do that.” Ivy shakes her head with a disgusted pinch of her lips. She’s right. There’s already a group sitting on the floor by the stage, and my chances of finding a seat are slim. But, reality is what it is. I can’t change it. I know that better than most.
“You should join us.” Ivy waves her hand at the two empty seats.
“Aren’t you saving these for someone?”
She casts Cosmos a pointed glare. Then, grins at me. “Cos has been scaring people away from them for the last thirty minutes, even though no one else we know is coming.”
Oh.Oh.
My attention swings to her brother. He’s scrubbing at his face again. It must be a nervous tic. “You weren’t supposed to tell her that.”
I’m not sure how to take this. It’s sweet. But alsooverwhelming. We weren’t coming here together. We aren’t supposed to befraternizingat all.
“This is weird. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—” He shakes his head and picks up a thin leather jacket. It’s kind of cute to see overly confident Cosmos flustered like this. “Come on, Ivy, let’s go. This isn’t?—”
Ivy pokes him in the chest with her index finger. “No way. You promised me you’d read a poem tonight.”
He writes poetry? Of course, he writes poetry. Like he wasn’t perfect enough already.
“Besides,” Ivy says. “Mack’s band is playing at the end, and I already told him I could give him a ride home. I’m staying even if you’re not.”
I touch Cosmos’ forearm, and his muscles flex under my fingers. “Stay.”
The room is still and silent again, and there’s a question in his eyes that I don’t know how to discern, let alone answer.
“Stay,” I repeat on a shaky breath.
“Will you join us?” He looks nervous, but I can’t tell if he’s afraid I’ll say no, or that I’ll say yes. Sitting with them feels like a bad idea. He already explained that hospital rules wouldn’t allow this, but… I don’t want to leave.
Chapter Fifteen
Once we’re all seated, Ivy pulls a knee up to her chest and lifts her glass in a kind of salute. “So, Hazel, tell me what you love?”
“Huh?” What kind of question is that?
“What do you get excited about? How do you spend your time? You know, what do you love? Asking people what they do is so boring. I’d rather hear what they love.”
Cosmos smiles affectionately at his sister. “Ivy’s always had her own way of doing things.”
She shoves him hard enough that he almost slides off his seat. “Make yourself useful. Go get Hazel a drink or something.”
He laughs and asks if I want anything. I ask for tonic water with lime and dig a few dollars out of my purse. He doesn’t take my money, just smiles and walks away. This is feeling more and more like a date. I know it can’t be, but I don’t fully understand what’sso unethical about it. It doesn’t feel wrong. It feels really, really right.
I don’t realize I’ve been staring after him until his sister chuckles softly under her breath. When I swing around to her, she covers the noise by taking a sip of her drink. “So, you gonna tell me what you love?”
