***
After grabbing our bags from the foyer, Oliver led us up the massive front staircase to the second floor. Apparently Alec already knew where he was going, because when we reached the landing, he took a right without waiting for directions, and I wondered how many times he’d been here before.
“See you in a bit,” he called to me as Oliver steered the three of us down the opposite hall.
He showed Asha and Boomer to their room first.
Asha peeked at me, as if looking for my approval. It felt weird for them to be sharing, but I flashed my best friend an encouraging thumbs-up. Before they shut the door, we all agreed to meet back in the kitchen in twenty minutes.
Then, it was just me and Oliver.
“About earlier,” he said, leading me farther down the hall. “Sorry again for the ambush. If I’d known Alec was bringing you guys, we’d have been more civilized.”
It was the first time he’d spoken directly to me, and I took a deep breath as I tried to form a response. There was something about being alone with Oliver that put me on edge, and as I studied him out of the corner of my eye, I realized why. If Alec Williams was day, Oliver Perry was night. His hair—a mop of messy brown waves—was constantly falling into his face, a stark contrast to his bandmate’s tidy blond strands. His eyes were sapphire instead of the storm clouds I was so taken with, and unlike Alec, he was outgoing in the way that made boys like him prom king or student body president.
“Well, you didn’t have to blast me with the water gun,” I teased, remembering his moment of hesitation when he first saw me standing in the entrance hall.
Oliver shrugged, a lazy grin curling on his lips. “I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy,” he said before stopping at a doorway. “Here we are. Hope this works for you.”
He held open the door so I could step inside. The space was at least twice the size of my room back home, with a large four-poster bed, a TV sitting area, and an attached bathroom. Looking around, I felt like I was staying at a fancy hotel, not someone’s house. What did Oliver’s uncle do with so much space?
“Thanks,” I said, setting my luggage on the end-of-bed bench. “This is perfect.”
I expected Oliver to leave, but he settled against the doorframe. He crossed his arms and looked me over, as if trying to solve a mystery.
“So…you and Alec, huh?” There was that slow grin of his again, the one that made girls weak in the knees. I found it unnerving, and my face went red. Did he know something I didn’t?
“We’re not together,” I told him. It was the second time I’d explained this, but for some reason Alec’s friends seemed to think otherwise.
“Maybe not, but there’s definitely something going on between you two. It’s…intriguing.” He rubbed his chin, as if I were a puzzling plot twist in a book he was reading.
“Intriguing?”Was that a compliment or…?
“Because you look so much like her,” he added.
I ignored the irritation that pulsed in my chest. “You mean Violet James.”
He nodded. “You’ve got a similar face and”—he paused to look me up and down—“well, pretty much everything. Except for her personality, that is. But that’s ahugeimprovement in my opinion.”
Um, thanks?
“Did they…have a thing?” I felt nosy asking Oliver personal questions about Alec, but he was the one who’d brought it up.
Oliver shrugged. “Alec isn’t one to talk about that kinda stuff. They did a scene together inImmortal Nights, and they’ve been friends for awhile, but I don’t know anything more than that.”
Did a scene together?What did that mean? Like a kissing scene? Something more?
Noticing that I was deep in my own thoughts, Oliver cleared his throat and said, “Anyway, I’ll let you settle in.” He straightened and pushed away from the jamb. “Think you can find your way back downstairs?”
I nodded.
“Cool. See you in a bit,” and then he was gone, closing the door behind him.
For the next few minutes, I stood rooted in the middle of my room, attempting to process everything that had happened during the past two hours.
I tried to regard the situation with a sense of nonchalance, but I’d just had a water fight and eaten dinner with the world’s most popular boy band. And now we were all going to watch a movie together. This didn’t happen to normal girls. I felt like I’d beenwritten into some cheesy dreams-do-come-true Disney Channel movie—not that my aspiration in life was to share Italian food with the Heartbreakers.
A door slammed down the hall, and the noise jerked me out of my head. Goose bumps rose across my skin as I quickly stripped off my damp dress and discarded it on the floor. The cool air felt euphoric against my sunburned skin. After rummaging through my duffel for a minute, I realized I didn’t have anything to wear. The only clean clothes I had were my outfit for tomorrow and a spare camisole. There were also my pajamas—a pair of yoga pants and an oversize Book Nerds Are Sexy T-shirt. I was too embarrassed to wear the tee, so I pulled on the cami. Once I’d finished dressing, I plugged in my phone and freshened up in the bathroom. With nothing left to do, I decided to find my way to the kitchen, even though I still had ten minutes to spare.
