Page 23 of His Shy Girl

Maybe having one of her friends there will take the pressure off and allow her to be more at ease with everyone else. Rye is not much of a talker, so she won’t have to worry about holding much of a conversation with him. Besides, he won’t even bat an eye when she speaks. The guy’s face doesn’t change from stoic. He rarely breaks a smile. Only when Baylor’s around.

“Yeah, I’m down.” He nods.

Me:Hey, babe. What if you invited a friend and we doubled? That way you’d at least feel like you knew someone else at the party.

I stare at my screen, holding my breath for a yes. Finally, her message comes through.

My girl:My cousin said she’ll come.

Awesome. I can’t wait for everyone to meet her. My girlfriend is such a badass.

15

Willow

What is taking her so long? I’m already a nervous wreck and now we’re running late. I get that she can’t be seen in public with a single misplaced hair, but the guys are waiting on us. Brennon already texted that they’re at the restaurant. By the time we get there, I’ll be too sick to eat. I’m already too sick to speak.

Finally, Tierney comes walking down the stairs, looking as beautiful as ever. Her makeup perfectly on point where I only have on some lip gloss. I swallow hard as my eyes run over her fitted black dress. I didn’t know we had to get dressed up for this. I thought it was casual. I’m in a stupid turtleneck and jeans, wearing a pair of kicks while she’s got on strappy silver stilettos. I feel like a frumpalump, whereas she looks like a goddess. But it’s too late to go home and change now. By the time we get to the restaurant, they’ll have finished dessert.

“Bye, Mom,” Tierney calls out.

I go to speak, struggling to get the simple three-letter word past my lips.

“Willow says bye too.” She rolls her eyes, speaking for me. She’s already annoyed with me and the night hasn’t even begun. Honestly, if our moms hadn’t overheard me asking her to come tonight, I don’t think she would’ve agreed. Her mom came walking into the room, giving her a look, and Tierney gave in.

“So, is this guy hot?” she asks, snapping a few selfies of herself before she climbs into the car. They’ll be posted on her social media before we even get to the restaurant (#nightoutwithmylosercousin #shootmenow).

“Never mind.” She gives me another annoyed look. “Don’t answer. I’ll just look up his name on Insta.”

Now, I’m even more nervous. If my own cousin doesn’t want to listen to me speak, what are Brennon’s friends going to think?

“Damn. He is really hot,” she practically purrs, obviously having found Ryeson’s account. I looked up all of Brennon’s friends, hoping I’d have an easier time tonight. It’s easier for me to speak if there’s a familiarity. I also practiced saying their names a dozen times. I was stuttering them out in the privacy of my room, which isn’t a good sign.

“This might not be such a boring night after all.”

I’m not exactly sure why I thought it was a good idea to invite her tonight. I just really didn’t want to disappoint Brennon, and I thought that having another familiar face in the room would help. But Tierney’s not doing anything to calm me down. If anything, she’s just making me more anxious.

She types away on her phone the entire ride to the restaurant and I’m left to drown in my nerves. By the time we’re pulling into the restaurant parking lot, I’m debating whether I should call out sick. Turn the car right back around and send Brennon a text that I’m not feeling well. But when I see him waiting out front, my chance for escape goes right down the drain. His face lightsup the moment he spots us pulling in, and there’s no way I could disappoint him.

“Is that him?” Tierney asks, looking at the boy who’s walking toward my car. His eyes are trained right on me, making me feel hot under the heat of his stare. “He’s hot.”

She sounds so shocked. I guess she didn’t think someone like me was capable of having such a good-looking boyfriend. I honestly never thought it would happen either. I’m still in disbelief.

“Wow. They don’t have boys like that at my school. You better keep your eye on him tonight, cuz. Those girls at the party might take one look and try to steal him right from under your nose. I might try to steal him.” She giggles as if it were a joke, but I know her well enough to know there’s truth behind every word. And now, I’m even more nervous. Tierney is perfect. Perfect hair. Perfect body. Perfect speech. I’m never going to measure up to her.

“Hi, baby.” My door opens and Brennon smiles down at me. He looks so gorgeous in his fitted black shirt and jeans. It’s showing off how strong and toned his arms are. She’s right. He really is hot.

He reaches for my hand and pulls me right up from my seat and straight to his mouth for a kiss. His clean scent infiltrates my nose and starts to settle my nerves. When our tongues meet, my throat finally starts to unclench. I wish it was just the two of us tonight. I wish we could tuck ourselves in the corner, have a quiet dinner, and then go home and cuddle on the couch and watch a movie while he tries to steal kisses.

“I don’t get it.”

My cousin’s whispered remark has me tensing in Brennon’s arms. She doesn’t understand how someone like him could be interested in a stuttering fool. I don’t get it either.

“Sorry, babe.” He pulls back. “Just missed you.” He ducks his head to look in the car. “You must be Tierney. I’m Brennon.”

Tierney looks like she’s starstruck. “Yes, I’m Tierney.” She swallows nervously then shakes her head. “I mean, yes, I’m her cousin.” She’s so struck by his looks,she’sstruggling to speak.

“You girls ready to go in? Rye’s got the table for us. The place is kind of packed tonight, so as soon as they called my name, we took our seats.”

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