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“Nothing.” She shook her head. “You just seem . . . different.”
It’s the glasses, I almost blurted,and the jeans. But I stopped myself, because as long as I let her wonder, it kept her mind on me and off of Luca–or any other guys for that matter.
“You look beautiful today,” I said, remembering my coaching. “The color of that dress really brings out your eyes.” And I meant it. The purple dress she wore made them pop.
My gaze flickered down the length of her, landing on the strappy sandals she wore, along with her toes, which were painted a bubblegum pink that matched the slight pinkening of her cheeks.
“Thanks,” she said, glancing down at her nails. Then she lifted her head to meet my eyes again and asked, “Are you still coming to The Broken Record tonight?”
“Of course.”
She smiled. “Good. Ever since Luca was such a jerk the other day, I’ve been worried about having a terrible time and just wanting to leave, but if you’re there, then I’ll have someone to talk to.”
My stomach sank, and noting the way her gaze quickly flickered to Luca and back, my heart pinched at the prospect she still hadn’t given up on him. Somehow, when she asked me the other day, it sounded a lot different. Not a date exactly, but she certainly hadn’t made it seem like I’d be the fifth wheel.
“Um, actually . . .” I scratched my head as I tried to come up with an excuse to bail. “I forgot to tell you I might be a little late, so don’t wait on me or anything.”
She straightened in her chair. “You’re not bailing on me, are you?”
“No, it’s just…” I glanced behind me to where JT, Luca, and Gabby sat together, talking with their heads bent toward one another. Probably plotting my demise. “I’m not sure if it’s my kind of crowd.”
Ella laughed. “Oh, it’s definitely not your crowd.” When I flinched, she placed a hand on my arm, and the heat of her touch radiated through my bones. “Hey.” Her voice softened. “I meant that in the best possible way. Trust me, half the time, all they care about is getting wasted in the bathroom. But the music is pretty good.”
I stared at her for a moment, noting the rose color of her lips and how they were perfectly symmetrical. Then I wondered what it would be like to kiss her, and I hated that Luca already knew. Which meant I’d go, because there was nothing I wouldn’t do at a chance to win her over.
“So are you going to finally ask her out tonight?” Thorne asked. He sat in his dressing room on the set of his new film, a spin-off ofRebel Without a Causewhere he Facetimed me for an “update” on the Ella situation.
I shifted where I sat on my bed, holding my phone out in front of me. “I don’t know. Maybe. I mean, she’s going there with someone else. I’m not sure it’ll be the best opportunity. I’m just her friend or . . . her backup or something.” Actually, being Ella’s backup didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world.
“What do you mean? That’s why it’s so perfect. It takes balls to ask a chick out while she’s on a date with another dude.”
I grunted out a noncommittal sound.
“Do we need to go over how to casually ask her out again?”
“No.” I sighed.
“Okay, then what haven’t we covered?” Thorne glanced at his watch. “Because I’ve got about five minutes before I have to be back on set.”
“I don’t know—”
Thorne snapped his fingers. “I do,” he said, a gleam in his eye.
I didn’t like that look.
“I think we have everything covered—”
“Kissing.”
I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.
“How much experience do you have?” he asked.
I hedged, hating to tell him the truth, that I had ZERO experience. So instead, I simply murmured a vague, “not as much as most.”
“Well, a kiss could either make or break your chances, and no matter what, you’re going to want to kiss her at the ball. Otherwise, what’s the point? You can’t sweep her off her feet without a kiss.”
“Great. No pressure.”
