JJ counted the band in, smashing his drumsticks together over his head. As they played, Stella and I sang along. Five songs later, Alec whispered something in Oliver’s ear, set down his instrument, and hopped offstage. He cut through the mass of wedding guest as if he was on a mission, and I quickly lost sight of him.
“All right, ladies and gents. We’re going to slow it down in here for the next few minutes,” Oliver announced. “This next song is dedicated to the little lady dressed in pink at the back of the room. Hi, Felicity! Sorry about this. Alec promised you’d turn bright red, so he alone should be held responsible for any embarrassment I might be causing at the moment.”
Laughter filled the room, and not only did my face burst into flames, my entire body flushed.
“Aw,” Stella gushed, and I gave her a small shove to shut her up.
“I’m going to kill him,” I muttered.
“How about you dance with me instead?” Alec asked, stepping back into view. He didn’t give me a chance to turn him down. Taking my hand, he led me onto the dance floor and tugged me against his chest. My embarrassment dissolved as he placed a hand at my waist and held me close.
“This is going to sound totally lame,” I said, “but I’ve never danced with anyone before. Sorry in advance if I crush your feet.”
“You’ve neverdancedbefore?” Alec’s mouth gaped. “How is that even possible?”
Well. This was more humiliating than I anticipated.
“No, I mean with aguy. I don’t go to school formals. Between homework and actual work, my weekends are booked solid.”
I didn’t add that I’d never been asked to one before. No point in embarrassing myself further. Asha always had an endless supply of guys wanting to be her date, but I was never that lucky. Usually Boomer and I hung out at the diner—me waitressing and him playing Game Boy—while she went to Homecoming or Spring Fling. But this past year, Asha wouldn’t let us miss out on Junior Prom since, according to her, it was the kind of memory that would last a lifetime. So Boomer and I went together, strictly as friends. The thought of slow dancing with him was strange, so we’d spent most of the night by the punch bowl, laughing at people’s bad dance moves and the couples who needed to get a room.
My response made Alec happy, I could tell. He offered me a smug grin and spun us in a circle. “So I’m your first then, huh?”
With the best brows-arched, are-you-shitting-me look I could muster, I said, “Better watch out. You’re on the verge of sounding like JJ.”
Alec laughed so hard we had to stop dancing right in the middle of the floor. The other wedding guests glanced at us in curiosity as they drifted by, but I hardly noticed. The sound of his happiness was dazzling.
“You know,” he said, grasping my hand and tugging me back against him once his laughter was under control. “I wanted to dance with you the night we met. It was when I saw you walking around the garden fountain. You were humming ‘Astrophil,’ your hair was starting to curl in the heat, and even though there was an extravagant masquerade taking place a few yards away, you were completely lost in your own world. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”
My breath caught in my throat. “So why didn’t you?”
He shrugged—or made what passed as a shrug since his arms were wrapped around me. “We didn’t even know each other.”
“And yet,” I said, as the song slowly faded. “I would’ve danced with you all night.”
A grin returned to his face. “Good, because that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”
Epilogue
We were finishing off a pile of Nicoli’s homemade French toast when Rose’s phone vibrated against the table. She wiped her mouth with a napkin before glancing at the text. As she read it, her eyes went round.
“No way!” The chair she’d been sitting on jerked backward as she shot to her feet. “I can’t believe it!”
Asha froze, a fork poised halfway to her mouth. The last bite of sausage she’d speared fell off and hit the pool of syrup on her plate. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. This is perfect!” Rose turned to me. “When I found out you were coming for a visit, I arranged a surprise for you.” She was speaking at full tilt, like she couldn’t get her words out fast enough. “I didn’t know if my idea would work timing-wise, but something came up and now we’re in business!”
I smiled despite my confusion. Man, was it good to be with my sister again.
My grounding had lasted through the end of September, six full weeks where I was cut off from Asha, Boomer, and Alec. It was easier to handle not spending time with my friends because I saw them at school, and since things with Asha were tense, we didn’t talk much anyway.
With Alec it was different. Between his work schedule and my imprisonment, we’d only been able to hang out twice following his sister’s wedding—both times when he’d stopped by the Electric Waffle during one of my shifts. Being apart from one another was maddening, especially considering we were still in the heart racing, stomach fluttering stage of our relationship. Nevertheless, we made the most of a bad situation by texting every day.
But more than anyone, I missed Rose. We had so much time to make up for, and I hated that she lived so far away. The miles between us made me feel like I’d found her only to lose her again, so when my punishment finally came to an end, the first thing I did with my renewed freedom was go for a visit. Without a second thought, I purchased the cheapest flight I could find from LA to Seattle. I flew out to Washington on a Friday after school, this time with my mom’s permission.
The only small hitch was Mom didn’t feel comfortable letting me travel alone, so I’d bribed Asha into coming with me. She’d needed a victim to rewatch all four seasons ofImmortal Nightswith her before the fifth and final season aired, and that was a price well worth paying. The marathon turned out to be a blessing in disguise. During the eighty plus hours of Lilliana LaCroix and her supernatural gang, I was able to mend the rift I’d caused in our friendship, no groveling required. Asha was so eager to hear about my rekindled romance with Alec that she forgave me on the spot.
All things considered, I felt like my life was back on track after being derailed by the turbulent end to my summer.
