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“What day does your birthday fall on?”
He made a face. “Thursday.”
“I’ll take it off.”
His expression shifted. “What?”
“Marsha told me last night that if I needed to take time…she didn’t want me to miss anything. That’s your eighteenth. I don’t want to miss it.”
Balancing the cake, he said, “You sure? I know you literally work that beautiful ass of yours off all the time, and you’ve never even called out sick.”
“I’m sure,” I told him. “I made it to Ian’s eighteenth. I’ll be there for yours. Your birthday, you decide what we do.”
He glanced at the cake then at me. “If we didn’t have to go, I’d kiss you right now.”
“Can I get a raincheck?”
“Yes,” he said firmly. “You can.”
Despite the lack of sleep, Archie’s invitation and Coop’s greeting definitely buoyed my morning. Jake texted as we got to the car. He was swinging by McDonald’s to grab breakfast for everyone. There were still the homecoming asks, and I had no idea what Ian had planned. When we parked, Ian’s bike was there, but no Ian. We must be later than I’d thought.
Despite the clouds giving us some relief from the sun’s relentless scorch, the humidity had amped up leaving it gross outside.
“C’mon,” Coop said as we got out of the car. “Let’s go drop this off in French so we can get coffee and breakfast.” We headed inside and upstairs because it was faster to get to French through the upper hallways. Madame smiled at me when we came in and there were already one table sporting several dishes. Lucky for me, I’d warned her ahead of time so there was room in her small fridge to store it. Done, I double-checked that she’d gotten my video, very deliberately not looking at Coop as I conversed with Madame in French. Now that I knew it turned him on, I had to find ways to tease but only when we weren’t standing right in front of one of my teachers.
Coop caught my hand on our way out of French and interlaced our fingers. “C’mon, double time it.” He was hurrying me back to the stairs.
“What’s the rush?” We always got to school forty-five minutes early. We had time. Even if we’d run a little late today, westillhad time.
“Starving.”
Homecoming signs lined the hallways declaring the theme. They’d doubled over the course of the week and probably added more even that morning since tickets for seniors went on sale today.
Just as we reached the cafeteria, Coop let go of my hand. Standing next to our table, Ian had his guitar with him. There were alotof kids already in the cafeteria and it was like all the noise in the room stopped when I got inside.
Everything in me froze.Oh God.
He was going to do it right here.
With the first chords he struck on the guitar, my feet glued to the floor. Jake and Archie were both sitting at the table, but I barely had time to register their presence as Ian began to sing.
“Hey there, Frankie, can I have a minute of your time?” The slow, sweet baritone rolled over me. “There’s a question I have to get off my mind. You see this pretty girl, standing in the caf, unaware of how I planned to ask…” He shifted the chords, and he was just a couple of feet away. I couldn’t move. I wasn’t even sure I was breathing. “You’re so beautiful, Frankie, one of my very best friends, and I had to be the one who extends… that is, I want to ask and singing was the only way to do the task… ” He held the note and his gaze was on mine. “Tell me, Frankie, will you give me a chance? I really want to be the guy who takes you to the dance.”
On the last note, the whole cafeteria seemed to lean forward. Heat scorched my face. I was hot and cold at the same time. Hands together in front of my mouth, I let out a little laugh and whispered, “Yes.”
“What did she say?” someone yelled out.
“She said yes,” I yelled in response. There was a cheer, but I didn’t really pay attention as Ian swung his guitar to his back and gave me a hug. When he kissed my forehead, I hung onto him. “Remind me to kill you later,” I whispered in his ear.
Absolutely unrepentant, he grinned. “You wanted to be asked out and to have a story to tell.” This close, I couldn’t miss the fact his ears were a bit red. As much as I wasnotused to being the center of so much attention, I don’t think I’d ever seen Ian do anything like this.
Suddenly, I blinked, “Oh my God, you sang in public.”
“Glad you noticed,” he said, then hooked an arm around my shoulders as he guided me back to the table. Suddenly Coop was there, and it hit me. He’d known. Oh God. He’d known and worked out how to get me in the right door, and he’d been texting while we were in the classroom.
That was why Coop slowed that last step and let me go first.
“Bubba, my man. That was pretty cool.” Coop patted him on the shoulder.
