“It’s kind of hard to forget.”
The quadratic equation was hard to forget. A complex coffee order that nearly everyone had to write down was not. He’d remembered a thing that I liked. A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. My stomach fluttered, and I tried to push my excitement down. This didn’t mean anything.
“Thanks.” I stepped out from behind the door and took the drink. Inhaling the earthy blueberry scent, I grinned. “That is really sweet of you.”
“It’s no big deal.” Ethan shrugged. Still, a blush had crossed his cheeks. “So, I was wondering if maybe you’d want to hang out tonight?”
For a flash of a second, my heart was in my throat. A million scenarios raced through my head. Was this like a real date hangout? Friends-walking-around-the-resort-malls hangout? Or a filming-for-business hangout?
He must have read my confusion, because he rushed to add, “Since we only have like two days left to get footage, and my mentor, Michael, ate a bad fish sandwich at a gas station.”
“What?” I wrinkled my nose. “Who would eat a fish sandwich at a gas station? And what does a bad fish sandwich have to do with us?”
“Michael’s an expert car wrapper and he got me into making videos. He mostly works on exotic cars in LA now. Outside of bad judgment when it comes to food, he is great.” I tilted my head at Ethan and he laughed, the sound shaky as he ran a handthrough his hair. Taking a slow sip of his black coffee, he said, “That didn’t make sense either, did it? Let me try again. Sorry.”
“Please do. So far tonight sounds gross,” I deadpanned. Was he nervous? Last night, he was trying to ask me something about us. But this was about filming. Why would he be nervous about filming?
Ethan smirked. “Michael, my mentor, had an agreement to make a vid about a rare car that has a custom wrap. Because of the fish sandwich, he can’t drive it. He suggested the company give it to me for the evening, and they agreed. So we have a car. We can go anywhere we want.” He smiled, then added, “For roughly five hours.”
“Oh. I get it.” I waved the hand holding my drink around in the universal gesture forthis makes sense, even as a little piece of my heart sank. He was nervous because he was asking for my help to film another car while we worked on our project. Shrugging off my disappointment, I said, “Sure. What time should we meet?”
Ethan’s face lit up, and I couldn’t even regret that it wasn’t about me. “Maybe six o’clock? Same place as last time?”
“Okay. I’ll bring my gear.”
The elevator dinged, and this time both of us looked down the hall. The same relief coursed through our veins as a parent with a very small toddler rounded the corner.
“I’d better go. I don’t want Ms. Mini to impale me with a pen or something.” Ethan grinned, and part of me was sad to lose that smile. It made everything seem brighter. And with the prospect of that college application waiting for me, I could use some of that brightness.
He took a step back into the hallway and gave me a small nod. “See you tonight.”
“See you.” I closed the door gently, then stood there, the butterflies in my stomach flapping away. He needed my help filming a car. But who was going to help me with this crush?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Even though I knew thiswasn’t technically a date, I still got a little dressed up. In addition to my sneakers, I had on a black-and-green T-shirt and a black miniskirt. It was comfy, so I could still film, but I felt cute in it. I even let BamBam help me with my makeup, under the guise of wanting to look nice in case Nittha or Gabby decided to take pictures as we explored The Strip.
I spotted Ethan almost immediately. Or rather, I spotted the lime-green sports car with Batmobile doors parked at the very front of the hotel. If we’d been going for an inconspicuous exit, this would have blown our cover. That car could get attention from outer space.
As soon as he saw me, Ethan’s face lit up. “You look nice.”
“Thanks, my grandma put highlighter on me.”
“Pretty sure it’s not the highlighter.” Ethan’s gaze met mine. He stared at me like he meant every word, and my cheeks gothot. He dropped his gaze to his shoes for a second, then cleared his throat and pointed to the car. “Can you believe this thing?”
“I cannot.” I tried and failed to keep a straight face as I said this.
“Okay, I know the color is a bit much, but wait till you see inside. Seriously, the seats are more comfortable than a massage chair.” The absolute sincerity on Ethan’s face was almost too adorable to resist. If half of the lobby hadn’t been watching us, I might have actually melted into a feels puddle right next to the valet stand.
“It’s got room for all this stuff, so I already like it better than our last ride.” I shook my camera bag and black, oversized old-lady sweater that BamBam made me take at the last minute.
Ethan laughed. “The car got us there in one piece, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I feel like I’ll never be able to listen to ‘Three Little Birds’ again.”
“You won’t have to worry about that with this one. I can also promise that the custom lighting will not make you feel like you gazed directly into the sun.”
Ethan started walking toward the driver’s-side door, and I reached into my backpack to get my camera. I was halfway through trying to change my lens, when he interrupted me.
