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He reached over the stick and took my hand. “Trust me, okay?”
I nodded.
“Stop overthinking it,” he said, and I shifted in the seat, smoothing down my dress, trying to fight off the disappointment stirring in my chest.
I was no longer bothered that no one knew about our relationship. Well, except Lilly and the guys, but that was different. They were my people.
I told myself it made it special, mademespecial. But when Evan had stood there, outside the diner, and told me he was taking me to homecoming, for a split second, I’d been relieved. Relieved that it would finally be out in the open. That maybe we could be a real couple like Lilly and Jay, and Mischa and Eric, instead of hiding from my friends and our families… our classmates.
But that wasn’t what was happening. I wasn’t getting the fairy tale night, after all.
“Becca?”
“Yeah?” I replied, unable to turn to meet his intense gaze.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Okay.” I heard the suspicion in his voice. “It won’t be much longer.”
My disappointment intensified when I realized where he was taking me. The city skyline sparkled across San Francisco Bay as Evan pulled off the main road and parked in the same spot where he’d brought me all those nights ago.
“Wait here.”
I didn’t have time to protest as Evan climbed out and went around the back of the car. The trunk popped, and he disappeared out of sight as I watched through the rearview. After a couple of minutes, my disappointment began to bubble into frustration, and before I could stop myself, I’d climbed out of the car and stomped around the back to confront him. “Evan, I think you should take me—”
The words died on my lips as I took in the sight before me. A huge picnic blanket had been laid out, and Evan was setting down a basket. He’d even lit some candle lamps and placed them around the edge.
“I thought we could have our own homecoming. Dance with me?” He hit a button on his phone and placed it on the trunk of the Impala.Imagine Dragonsfilled the air as Evan came toward me and held out his hand. I slid mine into his, letting him pull me close.
“I can’t believe you did all of this.”
He wound his arms around my waist. “It was mostly Cindy.”
“Evan.” I sighed, resting my head against his chest. The cold air stung my skin, but I barely noticed it, wrapped in his arms as he swayed us to the music. When the song finished, Evan helped me down onto the blanket and poured us a glass of beer each.
“Here. Are you cold?”
“A little,” I said. Evan disappeared, popped the trunk again, and handed me a blanket. I snuggled into it.
“I’m sorry if you thought we were going to the dance.”
“I won’t lie.” I stared into my plastic cup. “I was excited at the thought of it. School events were kind of a big deal at my old school, and well, for a second, it felt like old times, you know?” Looking up through my lashes at Evan, he grimaced.
“I thought this would be… shit, did I mess up?”
“No, no,” I urged. “This is… this is perfect, Evan. I guess part of me just wanted one night of normal.”
His lip quirked up, but I saw the uncertainty in his smile. “Are you trying to say we’re not normal?”
“Normal is underrated.”
“Yeah.” Evan shuffled closer until our shoulders touched. “Normal is completely underrated.” He leaned down, craning his head around me, and captured my lips. “You look beautiful, Becca.”
I deepened the kiss, running my hand over his shoulder and tugging him closer until we fell back onto the blanket, his body covering mine. My mind screamed at me to stop, and not let this become another time we kissed away our problems, but I couldn’t.
“Becca, wait.” Evan pulled away. “We have all night. Come on.” He maneuvered himself off me and helped me up into a sitting position. “I brought snacks.”
