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“We have got to stop meeting like this.” That’s false. I don’t mean that in the slightest. I’d happily run into her every day for the rest of my life.
She forces a laugh. “Yes. We do.”
“So…what are you up to?”
“Me? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” she says through her teeth, blankly looking around the empty hall. If she’s trying to act casual, she is failing miserably.
“Oh,” I mutter dejectedly. “You seem to be looking for someone or…” I can’t help the tiny part of me that was hoping thatmaybeshe’d been looking for me.
“No. Nope. Not looking for anyone. Just…y’know…on my way to my workout.” She scuffs her sneaker on the floor to make her point.
Only, I’m pretty sure she’s lying about that, because the public gym is on the other side of the building. With its own parking lot and its own entrance. She’d have no reason to be over here if she were just here for a workout.
My hackles rise, and I instantly fall into protection mode. I lower my voice, searching her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Great,” she chirps. I raise a brow. “Really. I’m great.”
She falls in step with me as I slowly start moving toward my team’s locker room. It’s like she’s already forgotten the lie about her supposed workout.
“So… I noticed that you’re going to the Children’s Charity Gala…”
“Am I? I haven’t actually opened the email yet,” I admit sheepishly. Shit—I really should get around to that.
“B-but you plan on going? Right?” she asks, her words coming out quick, bumping into each other.
“I guess,” I say.
Don’t get me wrong—I frigging love working with those kids. Molding their young minds. Giving back to the next generation. Blah, blah, blah…But I’ve been in a shitty ass mood as of late.
“Are you going?” I ask.
“Yes,” she answers eagerly. She opens her mouth again, but then she pauses. Like she’s waiting for something. Only I have no clue what for. “So…I think you’re going to need a plus-one for this sort of event.”
“Yeah. Sure…” I say. “I was planning on taking my Mom. But it turns out, she got herself a ‘real’ date this year. Just my luck.” I chuckle.
Nadia blinks at me. Once. Twice. Again. Silence stretches between us.
And then it starts to dawn on me. I think I know what she’s fishing for.
She continues to look up at me hopefully, still batting her beautiful lashes. But she doesn’t say anything.
That’s when IknowI’m right.A slow smile starts to curl my lips. “Wait—are you trying to get me to askyouto be my plus-one?”
She scoffs, having the audacity to look affronted. “Psht. No.”
I tilt my head, quirking a brow.
“No,” she repeats, not any more convincingly.
My pulse gets going like a bass drum, but I shrug like I don’t care either way. “Okay. Fine. I’ll ask Rachel. She’s always game to be a plus-one. Especially for a good cause,” I add.
Rachel’s one of the Paragons cheerleaders, and she’s actually pretty cool. Not someone I’d be interested in, but Nadia doesn’t know that.
Nadia frantically grabs at my bicep, and her touch immediately ignites my blood. “You really aren’t gonna ask me?” she blurts out, panic lacing her voice.
I give her a look. “Nadia, Come on. You’ve shot me down every time I’ve ever asked you out. And I’ve asked you out at least a dozen times.” Understatement.Hugeunderstatement. I resist the urge to brush back the wild curl falling over her beautiful eyes. “My ego is now seriously bruised and battered here, Dream Girl.”
“Okay, fine. I’d…um…like for you…to be my plus-one.” She’s cringing over every word.
