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“Nothing exciting, unfortunately. I got home from work a little while ago. Then I showered because the seafood scent was extra strong at Le Petit Bateau tonight, and I smelled like fish.Sonot attractive.”
“Itiscalled The Little Boat for a reason.” Listening to him talk made me feel calmer on the inside, like his words alone were a lullaby. “What kind of fish?”
“All the fish mixed together. Like a fish meatloaf.” His laugh joined mine over the phone, but mine was the first to filter off. “What is the beautiful Stella doing tonight? This is usually the time when she’s working on homework.”
I pushed up from my desk chair to shut my bedroom door, not wanting any listening ears. “She was,” I said, flopping down stomach-first on my bed. “Now she’s talking to you because she’s upset that her mother… I’ll stop with the third person now.”
“It was kind of fun.” He chuckled again. “So, why are you upset with your mother?”
“Got the latest volunteer sheet. It’s going to be a fun-filled week. The only time I have to do anything is on Friday.” My eyes traced Saturday, the printed letters jumbling in my mind. “There’s something going on Saturday. It’s a fundraiser thing. It’s super posh and lame and there’ll be a bunch of old people. I have to go to it.”
“Ah, more important things,” he said teasingly. “Sounds like fun.”
“Mom and Dad like to parade me around. They want me to schmooze, I think. Most of the people at the club have a scholarship of some sort available, and they want me to win it. The free food’s nice, I guess.”
Harry made a soft noise on the other end of the line. “I’ve never been to anything fancy. I’ve only seen those kinds of events on TV.”
My window to ask him appeared suddenly, but when I opened my mouth to speak the words, I immediately chickened out. “Believe it or not, TV gets a lot of things right.”
Harry was quiet—so quiet that I checked to make sure the call was still connected. I couldn’t hear anything more than static. And then, “Is that the kind of thing you get a plus one for?”
My heart skipped a beat. Or two. “Y-Yeah, there’s no guest limit or anything.”
“Something you can bring a date to?”
It was like he’d read my mind. “It’s on Saturday. Starts at seven. You’d miss your show.”
“We haven’t had a night off in a while.”
The idea of him backing out on his fans made me feel guilty, and I quickly shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “No, really, it’s okay. I’d hate for you to cancel.”
He spoke his next words without hesitation. “Do you want me to come?”
“I mean, it’d be fun if you could, and you can meet my parents, but—”
“If you want me to come, I’m coming,” he said confidently, words spoken easily. “But I’ll probably need a suit or something, right? I can see if maybe Vincent’s dad has something I can borrow.”
“Margot might be able to help with that.” Or, more accurately, the Gilfman Clothier could help with that.
“Finally meet your parents.” As that realization hit him, he almost sounded nervous. “I mean, what better time to make a first impression than while wearing a tux?”
“You can meet them a different time—”
“I’m coming,” Harry said certainly, almost sounding as if he was trying to assure himself. “I should let you go so I can call Vincent and Tash. When should we meet for the suit?”
I pressed my fingers to my mouth, feeling such a varied arrangement of emotions tear through me. Happiness that he wanted to come. Nervousness at the thought of him meeting Mom and Dad. Heck, even him being at the fundraiser. The unknown was a little more than terrifying, and thinking about it too long left me beyond jittery. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
