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“We? You agree with her?”

“Don’t you?”

“I don’t know.” He held me close. “And right now, I don’t care.”

Right then, I didn’t care either.

Chapter 34

We danced for three songs. None of them were slow, but we treated all of them like they were. If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything.

“I can’t wait until after Christmas,” Ryan said. “When we tell our families. Then we can be wherever we want without these masks.”

“Yeah…”

He pulled away. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s still the plan, right?”

“I hope so, Ryan. I’m trying to time it right.”

He drew a deep breath.

“How do you think your parents are going to react?” I asked. Maybe if his parents were on board, they would try to get along better with my parents.

“I’m sure they’ll assume that it’s something else I’m not thinking through well enough.”

“And are you?” I asked softly. “Thinking it through?”

“You’re all I think about.”

My heart pounded heavily in my chest, and I pulled him closer. “Same.”

“Are you thirsty? Hungry?” he asked after we’d spun around for a few more minutes.

“Thirsty,” I said.

We walked over to one of the tables where a drink fountain poured red liquid from little spouts that cascaded down two levels. He picked up a plastic flute from the table and filled it. I did the same.

His friends must’ve seen him leave the dance floor because Phillip joined us on Ryan’s other side. “When are we taking off?” he asked.

“Later,” Ryan said.

“You said that we were leaving,” Phillip protested.

“That was before.”

Phillip’s eyes found mine. “Right.”

“I can’t stay long,” I told Phillip. “Then he’s all yours.”

Phillip gave a short nod and left to join the rest of their friends.

People to our left were stacking slices of meat onto crackers. I did a double take because one of the girls standing there wasn’t wearing a mask, and I realized I recognized her. She was the girl Fiona had shown me on social media the other day—the daughter of the town council person. I couldn’t remember if Fiona had told me her name. If she had, it wasn’t coming to me now.

“Oh hey,” I said, surprising myself. “Your dad is on the town council in Cherry Ridge, right?” I took a sip of my drink, trying to appear as casual as possible.