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“I can’t believe Carson and I survived our lab on Thursday without killing each other. You know, there was even a moment where I thought we were getting along, which reminds me,” I rolled from my back onto my stomach and narrowed my eyes at him. “Why didn’t you tell me he was going to Duke? You know that’s my number one.”
Ethan sank down beside me on the floor, propping himself up against the footboard of his bed. “I was going to tell you at dinner Wednesday night when we were loading the dishwasher, and then I thought, why ruin it for you? You need to go where you want, without anything or anyone influencing you. That, and I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news.” He laughed.
I screwed up my face. I guess he had a point. “You’re forgiven, even though you have a hot date to the dance, and I do not.”
“You’re going to the dance. Someone will ask you. You have two weeks yet.”
I raised a brow. Wow. Two whole weeks. “Even after choking a guy out in front of my entire gym class? Yeah, I’m sure all the guys are just dying to ask me out. In fact, they’re probably fighting over me now, which is why no one’s asked yet.” I rolled my eyes. “Friday at lunch, I saw Tasha and Olivia huddled together with a couple other Royals, miming strangling themselves at the lunch table. And their eyes definitely met mine afterward. None of the boys in my class are going to want to touch me with a ten-foot pole.”
Ethan pursed his lips, then shrugged. “You have a point.”
I threw a chip at him, but he darted forward and caught it in his mouth.
“Impressive. I can’t even be mad now.” I laughed.
“Sorry I can’t go to the dance with you,” he said, and I shrugged.
“It’s not your fault you have a girl you like who actually likes you back.” At his glare, I corrected. “Okay, I know. I don’t even like anyone, and it’s not like I’m really trying, but still . . .”
“Whydon’tyou like anyone?”
I took a sip of my soda to buy me time. “Do I have to?”
“It’s just, you haven’t been interested in anyone since sophomore year. What’s up with that?”
“I don’t know. I guess . . .” I set the chips in my hand back in the bowl and wiped my hands on a napkin, sitting up. “Things are so serious at home that it hasn’t been my focus.”
“But going out, dating, it would be good for you, a distraction.”
“Now you sound like Ella.”
“Doesn’t make it any less true.”
“I’m not arguing. But I’ve been busting my butt to smash the SAT’s and get good grades so that I get into the college of my choice. Most of my energy is going into that. There’s not much left to spare. That, and I guess no one has caught my eye.”
“No one?”
I frowned. “What’s with all the questions? You and I never talk about my love life or lack thereof. You always tell me you want no part of it. That it’s gross.”
Ethan crammed a potato chip in his mouth. “No reason.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I knew when he was lying. There was most definitely a reason he was asking. But I’d let it go for now.
He swallowed, then asked, “Do you think if you actually liked me our parents would let you hang in my room all the time?”
“Uh, no. Definitely not. Although it’s not like my parents are paying much attention to anything I do these days.”
“That would suck.”
I nodded my agreement and grinned. “You better keep all those feelings you harbor for me deep down to yourself, so I don’t get banned.” I wiggled my eyebrows and he laughed.
Chapter 12
MIA
IpoppedintoBakeand Batter at precisely three thirty. The aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans hit me square in the nose as I approached the counter and took a cursory glance around the shop. I didn’t see Carson anywhere. He mustn’t have arrived yet, and I hoped he wouldn’t be late since it was a Sunday and they closed early. I had agreed to meet him since he was finishing up some kind of swim team gathering. With how much their business had grown in the last couple years, Bake and Batter was the perfect location for the Angel Tree. It would get the most exposure here, and I wasn’t hating the idea of working on it inside the confines of the little coffee shop. It was warm and cozy with its neutral color scheme, ambient lighting, and the nutty aroma of coffee drinks paired with the scent of sugar. Not to mention, I didn’t hate the excuse to enjoy a gingerbread latte.
Maddie was working the counter, handing a customer their change and a cup of coffee as I walked up. I put my hand up in a little wave, thinking how weird it was not to see Scarlett Rees, the owner’s daughter, bustling around the back somewhere. For as long as I could remember, she’d been helping in the shop. Even when we were little, I remembered coming here with my mom and seeing her helping out, thinking how cool it was a kid got to work at a bakery.
