Page 85 of Bloom

Adate? With Aldo's cousin, no less, someone who I'll inevitably see again at some point in the future, unless I take to ignoring one of my closest friends for the rest of my life? How pathetic does it make me that one little rejection sends me into such a tailspin, I lose all sense and start throwing myself at handsome, Italian men? How,how, could I possibly thinkfor even a second that this won’t just be another case of me embarrassing myself?

And, if by some miracle, it goes well, what then? We kiss? We go on another date? God, what the hell happens if he asks about my parents, my dad? I’ll have to lie, like I always do, because who the hell is going to want me once they find out my own father doesn’t?

Who am I kidding?

I can't maintain a relationship. I can barely maintain friendships.

“This is a really bad idea,” I insist for the umpteenth time.

For the umpteenth time, Lux rebuts, “It's a great idea.”

“I'm gonna embarrass myself.”

“No, you're not.”

“He's probably hoping I'll cancel.” My teeth worry my bottom lip, my eyes suddenly going wide as another awful prospect springs to mind. “What if he doesn't show up?”

“Caroline.” Gripping my shoulders, Lux gives me a shake. “Stop it. You're gonna give yourself a heart attack.”

Flattening a hand against my chest, I grimace at the erratic thump of my heart. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was already having one.

“Come on.” Lux coasts her palms up and down my bare arms before spinning me around and steering me out of her bedroom. “You need some fresh air.”

I allow her to guide me down the hall—fresh air does sound good. What’s less good, though, is the fact that I have to go through the kitchen to get outside. A kitchen that's currently occupied by way too many people for my liking.

Telling Roberto to pick me up at the ranch was an idea born out of panic. When he called to confirm our date, I wasn’t expecting it, and I got flustered. I overthought how he would react if I told him to pick me up at Bloom. So, naturally, the nextbest option was here. I didn’t think it through, and I certainly didn’t think I’d have a freaking audience.

Rapturous applause and deafening whistles greet me as I slope reluctantly into the kitchen, cringing thoroughly at the racket. When I attempt to hide behind Lux, she holds me in place with a firm grip on my biceps, making sure I remain on display for everyone's viewing pleasure.

It would be one thing if it was just the Jacksons crooning over me, but no. Fate just had to intervene, had to make this experience all the worse by ensuring my big date settled on the same weekend that Jackson's friends were in town again.

With his pinky fingers hooked around the corners of his mouth, Cass Morgan whistles louder than everyone else. “Damn, Line,” he practically yells. “Ditch the Italian and let me take you out instead.”

I duck my head as I choke on a laugh, cupping my heated cheeks. His sister whacks him on the chest, but that doesn’t deter him. He simply bats her hands away and ensures I am as flushed as I can possibly get with a wink of pretty brown eyes.

A hip bumping mine draws my attention to Luna’s wide grin. “You look hot.”

One perfectly crafted curl gets tugged as Grace coos in my ear, “I love your hair.”

I turn to thank her, but a flinch-inducing squeal cuts me off. “Oh myGod.” Eliza shrieks, clapping her hands together, so verysixteenin her excitement. “You look so pretty.”

When I scrunch my nose against the onslaught of compliments, Lux props her chin on my shoulder with a huff. “Tell her another dozen times and maybe she'll believe you.”

I knock my head against hers, mid-snorting at her faux-innocent puppy-dog eyes when the front door swings open and the kitchen falls eerily silent.

Hunter’s usual uniform of dirty jeans and a muscle-baring t-shirt dries up my throat like it always does, but the accompanying rush of guilt is new—as inept at dating as I am, I do know that fawning over another man counts as unsportsmanlike behavior, whether Roberto is present or not.

The man who gave me my first adult kiss makes it all the way to the refrigerator before he notices the silence—before he realizes all eyes are on him, and that perpetual frown deepens. I wonder if everyone else feels the husky snip of his voice in their freaking bones. “What?”

“Nothing,” everyone blurts in such perfect unison, I’d laugh if I wasn’t so horrified.

“Alexandra Winona Jackson,” I murmur beneath my breath when, even as normal conversation resumes, I notice every single person in the room looking decidedly suspicious as their gazes bounce between me and Hunter. “Did you tell everyone in Haven Ridge, or just everyone here?”

Lux drags her fingers across her lips before tossing an imaginary key over her shoulder. “I didn't say a word.”

I glance at Luna, who shakes her head, then at Eliza, who does the same. “Then why are they looking at us like that?”

“I don't know,honey,” Lux drawls sarcastically. “I don't know where,honey, they could've possibly,honey, gotten the impression,honey, that maybe Hunter would react to you,honey, going on a date with another man,honey.”

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