I took a seat on a patio swing and watched a bunch of jock straps try to impress bikini-clad girls by doing back flips off the diving board.
“There you are!”
I’d had maybe two minutes of freedom. “This is why I don’t do parties.” I groaned as Travis sat down on the swing next to me and handed me a red plastic cup. Diet Coke. Gross. “Didn’t I ditch you once already?”
Travis laughed like I was joking—except, yeah, I wasn’t—and then he began droning on about pointless crap. So it was a small miracle when my sister’s cell phone went off.
“You didn’t call me when you got there,” my dad greeted me when I answered the phone.
“Sorry, Dad. I was a little distracted. You do know what Angela did to me, don’t you? I assume that’s what that little powwow with Mom was about before we left.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that, kiddo. I wanted to give you a heads up, but Angela and your mother would have killed me.”
I sighed. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d rather be home watching the fight with you.”
“I know.” My dad chuckled. “But don’t worry. I’m TiVo-ing it for you.”
“Sweet.”
“Well, I should let you get back to your party now. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. No serial killers present. And, yes, before you ask, Rachel’s parents are home. There’s also no drugs, no alcohol, and plenty of prettier girls here than me to distract all the guys from the fact that I’m wearing a stupid dress.”
“Very funny. Just remember—home by midnight.”
I felt the urge to sigh again. “I wish you’d said ten,” I complained, making my dad laugh again.
“You’ll survive. I promise.”
“Yeah, yeah. Bye Dad.”
I laughed to myself as I hung up the phone, surprised that my dad had made me feel a little better. The feeling didn’t last long though, because Travis was still there asking dumb questions like, “Hey, is that the new iPhone? Can I see it?”
“If it will shut you up,” I said and handed him the cell. It didn’t.
“That was pretty smooth with your dad,” he said, his eyes glued to Angela’s phone. He was as bad as she is. Seriously, I don’t get the obsession with cell phones.
“What was smooth?”
“What you said about no guys paying attention to you when really there’ve been so many I didn’t think I’d get the chance to talk to you at all.”
“I’m not that lucky,” I grumbled.
Travis laughed again and handed me back Angela’s phone. “Here, I programmed my number in there for you, so if I lose you again, you can call me.”
“Yeah, okay, sure.”
Again, Travis missed my sarcasm and went on to tell me how hot I looked in my pretty new dress.
I was so desperate to ignore him that I decided to brave the sugarless drink I was holding, but as I brought the cup to my lips I felt a hand brush my shoulder. The touch gave me the goose bumps, which could only mean one thing.
I glanced over my shoulder and Seth was there. He had his back to me talking to a couple of girls, but I was sure his touch had been intentional. It wasn’t creepy, though. It was as if he didn’t want to interrupt me, just wanted me to know he was there. The weird thing was how comforted I was by his presence.
I’m not sure how or when it happened, but I wasn’t really afraid of Seth anymore. Now I was just curious. I needed to get rid of Travis so that I could talk to him again. “Man, it’s getting late,” I said with a fake yawn that turned real—this party was exhausting me. “I think I’m going to go find my sister.”
I started to stand up, but Travis threw his arm over my shoulder. “Are you ready to leave? I could take you home if you want.”
Yeah. Like that’s gonna happen.
I sat back with a sigh. Travis was like a leech. Whenever I pulled away, he clung on tighter. “Come to think of it,” I said, trying a different tactic. “I doubt I can go anywhere—birthday girl and all. There’s probably a bunch of candles I’m supposed to blow out somewhere. I’d better go find out.”
Travis’s arm over my shoulder tightened just enough to make my temper flare. “I have a better idea,” he said. So he was too stupid to pick up on my insults, but not too stupid to recognize that he was about to get ditched again. “If you need a break, I’m sure we could find a nice quiet place to relax until you’re needed. I give a great back massage.”
Um, ew.
I only have so much patience to begin with, and Travis had officially used it all up with that beauty of a comment. My hand clenched around my plastic cup. As soon as I got rid of this soda, he was seriously gonna get it.
I brought the cup to my lips to chug it, but before I could, it was knocked clean from my hand and landed all over Travis. Of course I knew who’d done it, but I didn’t think it wise for Travis to figure out the truth, so I pretended to be guilty. “Oh, Travis! I’m so sorry!” I gasped. My acting may have been a little over the top. “Are you mad?”
Travis looked way annoyed as he wiped at his clothes, but he still managed to smile. “Nah, it’s cool,” he said. He laughed as he got to his feet. “I’ll tell you what. I’m going to see if I can clean up a little, then I’ll bring you a new drink. Maybe a Redbull—something with a little kick in it.”
“Good idea.”
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t,” I promised. And I didn’t either. I didn’t have to. As soon as he was gone, Seth took his seat.
“I didn’t get any on your new dress did I?” he asked, obviously very pleased with himself.
“No, you’re aim was perfect. But you shouldn’t have done that. If Travis had seen you, he’d have gone ballistic.”
Seth rolled his eyes, clearly not worried by the idea of having to fight Travis, even though Travis was bigger than him. “Party rule number one, Ellie. Never drink something someone handed you unless you open it yourself.”
Seth magically produced an unopened can of Dr. Pepper, which I eagerly accepted. I chugged half of it before realizing his meaning. “You think Travis put something in that drink?” I asked, a little shocked by the suggestion.
“You never know.” Seth shrugged. “Besides, I just don’t like that guy.”
I resisted the urge to smile and tried to sound stern as I said, “That wasn’t very nice of you.”
“Actually, I thought it was extremely generous.”
“How do you figure?”
“Were you, or were you not about to punch him?” Seth took one look at my face and smirked. “I did the guy a favor. Saved him the embarrassment of getting hit by a girl.”
“Still. I was really going to enjoy pummeling that tool.”
Seth and I had a good laugh and when it died down I racked my brain for something to say. I was afraid if things got quiet it would get awkward. We were doing so well at the moment. I didn’t want to ruin that. “Good news,” I said. “My dad’s TiVo-ing the prelims for me, so we don’t have to miss them after all.”
“
We
don’t?” Seth echoed, suspiciously. His doubt made me blush.
“Yeah, well, you know… I just meant…”
Seth continued to stare at me, pretending to not know what I was talking about. “You just meant…?” he prompted.
He was going to make me say it. The jerk. So much for not letting things get awkward. Me inviting him to come over and watch the fight was basically like asking him out and he totally knew it.
I’ve never in my life ever come anywhere close to asking a guy out, and I’d be willing to bet Seth knew that too. I wanted to change the subject just to spite him, except that it really would be fun to watch the fights with someone who’s actually trained with the fighters. Plus, it might be nice to spend some time with Seth that was actually by choice.
I glanced at Seth again. Yup, still watching me. Waiting very patiently for me to officially invite him over to hang out with me. Except, judging by the look on his face, I don’t actually think he wanted to hear it in order to watch me squirm. I think he needed to hear it to see if I really meant it.
I thought it over very quickly and decided that I did mean it. I just wasn’t sure I could get it out.
Don’t be a wuss, Ellie.
I took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “I’d really like it if you came over and watched the fight with me tomorrow, all right?”
I cringed, expecting Seth to laugh at how irritated I sounded. Which he promptly did. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You want to hang out with me.”
I felt my face heat up, so I glared at him. “I still reserve the right to change my mind if you go psycho on me again.”
He laughed. “Well, then. It’s a date.”
It’s a date?
He’d said it playfully, but I seriously doubted he meant it that way. He could barely restrain himself from touching me when he thought I hated him. I couldn’t even imagine what he’d be like if he thought it was okay. “Come to think of it,” I said, my stomach caving in on itself. “That’s probably not a good idea. Never mind.”
“Ellie, I promise I won’t ‘go psycho’ on you.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about. Well, not only you. If you come over acting all obsessed-lovesick-stalkerish the way you do…” Seth frowned at my choice of words, but hey, sometimes the truth hurts. “Sorry, but you do,” I said, “and I seriously doubt my dad could handle it. Especially not right now. He didn’t exactly take Angela’s stupid makeover with grace. He almost didn’t let me out of the house for my own birthday party.”
Seth forgot about my insult and laughed. “Well I can’t really blame him for that. I wouldn’t have wanted to let you go either.”
He reached out and absently pulled a strand of my hair through his fingers. I was surprised when I didn’t flinch away from him. “You look beautiful tonight,” he said. “I really do like your hair down around your face like this.”
He twisted my hair around his finger and then let it fall against my cheek. Then he took a moment to look me over from head to toe and frowned in thought. “Interestingly enough, I could do without the dress. It looks great, but I like you best when you’re completely in your comfort zone, even if that is just a t-shirt and jeans. There’s nothing sexier than your confidence.”
I couldn’t have covered up my shock if my life had depended on it. No one’s ever even said the word sexy in front of me, much less used it as a way to describe me.
“Actually,” Seth said, smiling at the expression on my face. “Your innocence is pretty sexy, too.”
I wished he’d stop using that word. It was making me incredibly nervous, and my nerves only ever seem to encourage Seth. Which was what was happening right now. He’d turned toward me, putting one arm on the back of the swing behind me, and was officially leaning in. “Dangerously sexy.” And there was that word again. “It makes me want to do… things…”
“Um,
things
?”
Saturday Night Slasher type things? Or hormonal teenage boy type things?
“Fun things,” Seth assured me. As if that answered my question.
Seth’s gaze kept fluttering back and forth between my eyes and my mouth.
Okay,
this
is it,
I told myself. Now
he’s going to kiss you. If you don’t want it, you’d better stop him now.
Yeah, as if I could have done anything to stop him? I was frozen stiff. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe. All I knew was that for every part of me that was screaming to run from him, there was as much a part of me that straight-up wanted him.
I waited, holding my breath and trembling enough that Seth had to have felt it, but he didn’t make a move. I couldn’t understand. Why didn’t he just do it? He clearly wanted to, and I wasn’t giving off any stay-away-from-me vibes this time. At least, I don’t think I was.
Somehow, Seth knew exactly what I was thinking. “Not now, Ellie. You’re still not quite ready.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. Relief? Disappointment?
Relief.
Definitely relief.
Well, more relief than disappointment.
“Don’t worry,” Seth continued. “When you are ready, I won’t hesitate.”
Seth sat back, allowing the mood to lighten again. He laughed and said, “But I’ll probably lock your sister in a closet first. Have you noticed how she’s been everywhere tonight?”
This made me laugh, and I was beyond glad to have the tension gone. “Of course she has,” I said. “She’s trying very hard to keep you away from me.”
“Why? I thought she was on my side.”
“She was,” I assured him.
“Was?”
I nodded. “She’s over you. Sorry. Don’t take it personally. Angela’s very fickle. Plus, she just got really tired of me fighting her about you and has moved on to someone she thinks I won’t resist as much.”
Boy was that ever the wrong thing to say. Seth’s eyes narrowed severely. “She’s trying to set you up with Mister-we’re-just-friends-even-though-I’ll-let-him-walk-me-home-and-cuddle-on-the-couch-together!” he accused, outraged.
“Some people call him
Dave
,” I snapped, annoyed with his attitude. “And we were not cuddling.”