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“Is that why you are so determined to move to L.A.? You are running from snowflakes?”
“I’m not running from anything. I told you I want to be an actress. I am an actress.”
Beau raised his hands in defense. “I’m just teasing you, London. I know L.A. is important to you.” He sipped his coffee, car
eful to avoid the foam mustache this time. “What do your parents say about all of it? Are they ok with you moving across the country?”
I sighed. “No. They are definitely not ok with it, but we have an agreement. As long as I graduate with As, I can go and do anything I want. They said they’ll support me for the first six months, and then I’m on my own. I either come back home to Asheville or I pay my way in California.”
“Hmm.” Beau looked like he was working through a calculus problem.
“What? You don’t approve?”
“No. That’s not it. I think it’s awesome you’re going to do what you want. But now, I get your need to have all As all the time. It makes more sense. You make a lot more sense.”
“Thanks. I think.” I wasn’t sure what ideas Beau was forming about me.
“It’s good. Too many people have to give up their dreams.”
I couldn’t blame alcohol since all I had at the game was a Coke and now I was sipping on a berry tea, but the question popped out of my mouth. “Like you?”
He looked puzzled. “What does that mean?”
“Do you really want to go to law school and follow in your mother’s footsteps?”
“Sure. Why not?”
I was crossing a line, but I didn’t want to retreat. “You aren’t the lawyer type.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re too adventurous, Beau, to be stuck behind a desk or in meetings all day. You would die from boredom taking depositions and arguing in a courtroom. Ok, you are good at arguing, but you would get tired of it.”
His laugh resonated around the coffeehouse. I didn’t like the attention we were getting from the other coffee drinkers and that darn barista.
“For someone I’m fake dating, you sure seem to think you know a lot about who I am and what I need or want.”
I contained an impulse to gulp. Want? Could he see that I all I wanted right now was to taste those lips? He leaned toward me and his eyes blazed right through me, making my knees go weak. He was right. I did think I knew him, and everything about his plan after graduation didn’t feel right. He was right about something else too—I wasn’t his girlfriend. Hearing him say it made me want part of it to be different.
“Just call me your observant fake girlfriend.”
Beau shuffled in his seat and cleared his throat. Ok. I took it too far.
“You ready?” Beau stood next to the table. I guess that was the cue the date was over.
“Sure.”
I followed him out of the coffeehouse and hesitated in front of his motorcycle. I felt like I had turned the date upside down. I should have opened up more and told him I knew what it was like to be expected to live a certain life. That I knew how hard it is to break free from the guilt of disappointing people you care about because you never want them to think you’re anything but a success. However, I didn’t tell him any of that. As easy as it was for me to pour my heart out on stage and eke out every human emotion for the world to see, sharing all of that with Beau would make me more vulnerable than I wanted to be.
“Can I get a ride?”
Beau didn’t answer. He handed me the passenger helmet and waited while I mounted the back of the bike. Before I could decide where to put my hands, he reached behind his waist, grabbed both of my arms, and wrapped them securely around his chest.
I pressed my body against his back and let my cheek rest against his shirt. He squeezed my hand before revving the bike and whipping us out of the parking lot. We had stopped talking, but not communicating.
When we pulled into my driveway, the lights were out at the house. Nina was probably asleep and Candace was still at Pearce’s place.
I swung my leg off the bike and looked at Beau. Standing next to him felt different. I wasn’t ready for our fake date to be done. There was something stirring in me that had been swirling for weeks. I ran through a quick list of ways to stall, but all I could focus on were those lips and dark eyes. My mind was a total blank.
