I beg to differ. She could get straight A’s too if she got her priorities in order.
“Omigod!” she gasps when she spots my new cocktail dress. “Is this for the masquerade?” Eyes popping, she yanks it out of the wardrobe. “It’s gorgeous.”
It’s also the only thing Mom bought me on our shopping trip that I’m a hundred percent happy with. Pale blue, one-shoulder, figure-hugging. A sexier version of the purple dress I wore for Halloween. Faerie 2.0.
Liv sighs as she reverently hangs it back up. “Braden had better ask me.”
Yeah, he’d better, because it’s going to be an incredible night. O-Chi broke the mold this year, and instead of a generic spring formal in April, they’re holding a full masquerade ball for Mardi Gras.
I assure Liv, “Well, if he doesn’t, you can come with me.”
“But you’re going with Zander.”
“So? He’ll love having a girl on each arm.”
She lifts her chin and squares her shoulders. “Braden’ll ask me.”
I stifle a growl. I don’t trust that man.
And obviously, neitherdoes she.
The welcome back party at O-Chi is more of the same, only bigger. For Christmas, Zander got me a new cooler, a large one with a padlock engraved with his Greek letters, “so no one can touch your stuff ever again.” Tonight, it’s filled it with Corona, far more than I can drink in one night, and he presents it to me like he’s performing a magic trick, aquamarine eyes sparkling and curls flopping boyishly over his forehead. My cute, charming Zander. At times like this, it’s hard to believe he’s the same guy who, at the Halloween party, charged at Leo, drunk and raging.
It helps that Leo’s been so considerate, meeting me mostly in a group or at places Zander wouldn’t be likely to go. Hence why I’m shocked when I spot him tonight in his usual place in the kitchen, elbow on the counter and eyes scanning the crowd.
Heart pounding, I make straight for him. “Are you insane? What are you doing here?” Luckily Zander is out back, taking his turn manning the keg.
“Don’t worry,” Leo says, drinking me in with his eyes. “I’m not staying. I just wanted to see you.”
“Here?” There are a million other places we could’ve gotten together. Why in god’s name would he come to O-Chi?
He turns up his hands. “Where else am I guaranteed to find you?”
“Uh. My dorm room?”
“Your roommate doesn’t care for me.”
And Zander does? Leo’s not making any sense. It’s almost like he has a death wish, a need to push Zander’s buttons.
No. To pushmine.
This man loves to drag me out of my comfort zone.
“If Zander sees you here?—”
“I’m not worried about Zander.”
“Well,Iam.” I’m the one who’ll pay the most if there’s a confrontation.
Leo’s expression softens. “I promise you, he won’t see me.” With a hand on my elbow, he nudges me into the nearby pantry. “Better?”
No, because it’s so cramped in here, our bodies touch. And likesome sort of cruel joke, his eyelashes are catching the light coming in around the cracked door. The door anyone could open at any time.
“I know the break was only three weeks,” he says, “but it felt like forever.”
I can’t argue with him there.
He adds, “That’s a lot of time with your family and your boyfriend.”
