Page 66 of #Starstruck

“Go put those bobby socks on, because I plan on knocking them off!” he said just before I closed the door, laughing.

It looked like a hotel room. Big, fluffy white comforter with huge pillows, everything perfectly clean and expensive-looking. Like someone had cut out a page from a decorating magazine and copied it exactly.

The bathroom was more of the same. Gleaming granite and tile, everything sparkling. And all the drawers were full. There were brand-new toothbrushes and toothpaste and hairbrushes and rubber bands and deodorant and mouthwash—every drawer I opened had more still-packaged toiletries.

I got into my 1950s outfit and put my hair up in a ponytail. I didn’t even want to know how he’d managed to get me clothing without knowing my size, but everything fit. Even the white canvas tennis shoes I’d worn today matched.

I brushed my teeth and wasn’t sure what to do with the toothbrush now that I’d used it, so I just left everything on the counter. I made my way downstairs and found Chase standing in the living room, and my heart stopped.

Now, I was never one of those women who fangirled over Elvis Presley or James Dean. But looking at Chase with his hair combed up, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans with a black leather jacket, I totally got it.

“There you are, gorgeous. I had dinner delivered. Including one milk shake with two straws. You ready to go to the drive-in?”

“Drive-in?” I repeated, forcing my feet to move forward and telling myself to stop gawking at him. I didn’t think there were any drive-ins nearby.

“Just follow me.” We walked out the front door. Chase carried the food. I offered to help, but he wouldn’t let me. We went around to the side of his house where there was a huge movie screen set up in front of his garage door and an old black fifties convertible in the driveway. He must have had someone do this while we were upstairs.

“How?” was all I could ask.

Chase put the food in the middle of the front seat and opened the door for me. Then he ran around to his side and jumped in without using his door. “That’s how the cool cats do it,” he informed me, grinning at my laughter.

“This is an awesome car. But if we’re using this, then how are Danny and Sandy going to get to heaven?”

Chase handed me a burger with one of his soul-stealing smiles. “Tonight we’ll be watchingRebel Without a Cause.”

He pushed a button on the projector set up on the hood. The movie started, and I took a big bite of my food. After I swallowed, I said, “I can’t believe you had someone set all this up for us.”

“I pay the salary of the guy who set all this up, so in a way it’s like I did it.”

It wasn’t like that at all, but he seemed so proud of himself. “Tell One-F thank you for me.”

We watched the movie, eating our dinner, sharing our chocolate milk shake. Which might not have been all that sanitary, but considering the amount of spit already swapped between us, it was not a big deal.

When we finished eating, I slid across the seat, and he put his arm around my shoulders and held me tight. I laid my head against his shoulder. The smell of leather filled my nose. There was just something about being with him that felt right. Made me feel safe.

As if I had figured out where I really belonged.

Watching the movie, I had to revise my earlier opinion about James Dean fangirling. Because Chase was a thousand times hotter and would have performed the role a thousand times better. I might also have been distracted because Chase was drawing patterns on my arm just below my sleeve, making me crazy.

The movie ended, and Chase had to let go of me to lean over and turn the digital projector off. “What did you think?”

I knew he meant the movie, but I asked him something else. “When did you know you were interested in me?”

He went back to where he’d been sitting and put his arm around me again. He kissed the top of my head before answering. “When you didn’t send me any ungrammatical declarations of physical interest on Twitter. Although a few might have been nice.” He yelped when I hit his arm, then laughed. “And you weren’t an Emoji Wan Kenobi. I also appreciated the fact that you didn’t proposition me five minutes after meeting me in person. I didn’t know whether to find it refreshing or worry I was losing my touch.”

“You haven’t lost your ...” I let my words trail off when I saw his self-satisfied smirk.

“What about you? When did you know you were interested in me?”

“I was fourteen the first time you made me blush.” I put my hand over his heart and felt the steady thump-thump under my palm.

He took my hand from his chest, lifted it, and kissed the inside of my wrist, making me gasp. “Interesting. Explain.”

That wasn’t going to happen. “You’ll have to get it out of me,” I said, pulling my hand free and lifting his arm off my shoulders.

“And just where do you keep your answers? Because I’m happy to search for them.”

I smiled, then climbed into the back. “I have another movie for you. It’s calledZoe and Chase Make Out in the Back Seat of a 1950 Chevy Convertible.”

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