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I blinked. “Do what now?”
“Ask her out for me. The right way.”
I stared.
“Look, this girl is special. I’m not too proud to admit I need back-up getting things rolling with her.” He grinned that winning smile. “C’mon. Just this once.”
“But…”
Connor shoved his phone into my hand. “Come on, man. Do what you do. Write something witty and poetic. Something that’ll impress her enough to get me another text. Another…anything.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Write something that knocks her on her ass and gets me in the door. That’s all I ask.”
I looked at Connor’s phone in my hand and Autumn Caldwell’s text, waiting for an answer. I felt my best friend’s expectations literally breathing down my neck as he leaned over me.
Ignoring the small ache in my heart, I thought about what I would’ve said to Autumn had it been my phone in my hand and began to type.
Autumn
“I’m ready,” I said, smoothing the flared skirt of my black halter dress. “At least, I think I am. Is black too formal for a first date?”
Ruby, sprawled on the couch, looked up from her magazine. “Girl, you look amazing. That dress is perfect for the Rostand. Connor is going to lose his mind.”
“He can keep his mind and use it for stimulating conversation.” I sucked in a breath and smoothed my skirt again. “I’m nervous. Why am I nervous?”
“Because you haven’t had a first date in ages. You aimed high with Mr. Drake.”
“I’m not aiming for anything,” I said. “No expectations. I’m just going to see what happens.”
“Uh huh,” Ruby said. “How many times have you read that text of his?”
“Oh, hush. I haven’t read it in days.”
Because I had it memorized.
You’re the Halley’s Comet of girls. The kind that doesn’t come around but maybe once in a life. I don’t want to spend the rest of mine wondering what might’ve been if I hadn’t tried, one last time, to take you someplace where every man will stare at you and wish they were me.
My cheeks warmed and Ruby raised a brow.
“Okay, fine,” I said. “I’m hoping for romance. For electricity. The same kind I felt while reading that text. What if there isn’t any?”
“What if there is?”
“Maybe this was a bad idea.”
Ruby wagged her eyebrows. “Bad ideas are my favorite kind.”
I jumped as the door buzzer buzzed.
Ruby checked her phone. “Not even six yet. A little early for dinner, isn’t it?”
“He wants me to see the sunset from the Rostand’s top deck.”
“Wow,” she said. “I wouldn’t have pegged him for a romantic, but I’ve been proven wrong twice now.” She shook her head, laughing. “You are such a goner.”
“No expectations,” I said. I went on muttering it under my breath like a mantra as I went to hit the button on the intercom. “I’ll be right down,” I called.
“Have fun,” Ruby said. “Text me if you’re bringing him back here. I’ll crash at Deb and Julie’s. Or maybe I’ll give Hayes a call. How far a drive is it from here to Wesleyan?”
Since meeting at Weston’s track meet, Ruby and Hayes had been texting and calling each other all week.
