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The knowing look on Rachel’s face appears, and I brace myself for her assessment. “You looked like you wanted to kick him in the teeth.”
Leave it to Rach to be totally honest with me. “I definitely didn’t want to kick him in the teeth.”
“Hurt him then. Just a little. Twist his arm behind his back or something.” Rachel laughs, rushing right on and not letting me speak. “Uggghhhh, he was sogoodtonight. Better than he ever was. His voice was perfection. I swear my panties melted right off when he sang ‘Lonely for You.’”
“Rachel!” I admonish, glancing around to make sure no one heard her say that. “Your panties did not melt off.”
“They kind of did. He caught my eye at one point during the song, and the way he stared at me—I swear he was smoldering.” Rachel fans herself with her fingers. “So sexy.”
An unfamiliar feeling rises up within me, and I glare at my best friend, realizing only moments later that the feeling I’m experiencing is good old-fashioned jealousy. “I don’t know if I would consider him sexy.”
“Liar. He’s hot as hell and had every woman in this roomscreaming. Even the old grandmas.” Rachel glances around, her sparkling gaze meeting mine once she’s done a thorough sweep. “Where did you disappear to, anyway? Please tell me you were talking to Tate. That he asked for your number or promised he was going to DM you.”
I grimace. “No, he didn’t ask me for anything.”
Well, he did ask for a favor...
And I ended up kissing him, which was okay.
God, I’m such a liar. I totally enjoyed that, but I’m also dealing with a bit of guilt here. I can’t go around kissing some former boy bander while I might still have a chance with Ian. Despite how he treated me tonight, how he pretty much blew me off, I still can’t help but think we have a chance.
Stupid.
“That’s a shame.” Rachel sighs, her tone melancholy. “I was sort of hoping he’d fall madly in love with you while crooning love songs and eye-fucking you from the stage. Talk about a love story.”
She starts belting out the lyrics to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, and I have to literally slap my hand over her mouth to shut her up. When I finally drop my hand, she’s laughing, shaking her head.
“Didn’t Taylor go out with Tate?” she asks.
“She’s much older than him,” I point out. “I’m pretty sure he went out with Billie Eilish, though.”
“Really?” Rachel tilts her head to the side. “She’s such a mystery to me. I’d love to hear any of his Billie stories.”
“I’m not going to ask him for any Billie stories,” I mutter, shaking my head.
“Aha!” Rachel points an accusatory finger at me. “Youweretalking to him. Did something happen between you two? You disappeared for a long time. Did you give him your number? Did he follow you on social media? What if he slips into your DMs? You have to respond to him. What if you got the chance to actually go out on a date with freaking Tate Ramsey?”
She starts bouncing up and down, giddy at the idea.
I grab hold of her shoulders and shake her a little, her dazed gaze meeting mine. “Nothing happened. And nothingwillhappen between me and Tate. I like Ian, remember?”
The grimace on Rachel’s face is almost comical. “Please don’t remind me.”
I ignore the insult, releasing my hold on her as I glance to the left, then to the right, wondering if Tate is still here.
But I don’t see him at all.
CHAPTER5
TATE
The sun is brutal as it leaks through the cracks in my bent and broken blinds, making me squint as rays of light beam upon my face, warming my skin. When I finally got home last night, I stripped out of my clothes and collapsed into bed, falling asleep immediately, not bothering to do all the things I normally do as part of my nightly routine.
Who am I? What have I become? I feel like an old man sometimes. An old man of freaking twenty-one.
At least I dreamed of a beautiful brown-haired, brown-eyed girl dressed up like a frothy piece of cake, a faint smile on her face and her eyes sparkling as she swayed to the music while I sang only to her. I snuck her off into a dark corner and kissed her, and she didn’t slap my face, which I considered a win.
Wait. That wasn’t a dream. That shit actually happened.
