Page 60 of Heartthrobs Don't Date Wallflowers
The guard stared at me for a second, clearly trying to gauge if I was serious. My heart pounded in my chest, and I could feel a flush creeping up my neck. I was definitely going to get turned away. Why had I even thought this would work?
Just as I was ready to give up, door cracked open and a guy with a clipboard and headset peeked out. The security guard didn’t take his eyes off me—as if he thought I was going to try to shove my way past him somehow—but he leaned back for the guy to whisper something to him.
“What’s your name?” The guard asked me gruffly. Suddenly, Clipboard Guy had his eyes on me too.
“Ivy,” I squeaked. “I mean, Ivy Wade, sir.”
The security guard’s eyes darted toClipboard Guy, who nodded, and he stepped aside. Before I knew it, Clipboard Guy was ushering me through the door and down the hall.
“Wait here,” Clipboard Guy said, leaving me in the middle of a random hallway. He started to walk off before I even had the chance to blink.
Excuse me?
“Wait!” I called. “What am I supposed to…” I let the words trail off as he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, leaving me completely alone. Great.
Shouldn’t there have been some rule about not leaving an unvetted girl alone backstage where she could presumably find the band?
I guess I wasn’t enough of a threat.
I wasn’t sure if I should be offended by that.
I spun around in a circle, looking for anything that could be a sign of where to go in this stupid dark hallway. I didn’t really want to go wandering around aimlessly.
And then, I saw him.
A boy walking toward me, his posture relaxed and hands shoved deep in his pockets. His hair was dark, a little messy, like maybe he’d been running his hands through it all night. As he came into the light, his face was unmistakable—and he was walking toward me like it was the most normal thing in the world, like he hadn’t just performed in front of thousands of screaming fans, likethiswas what he’d been waiting for all night.
Meanwhile, I was forgetting how to breathe.
“You’re wearing my sweater,” Zach said as a greeting.
For a split second, I thought about running. Like, literally turning around and booking it. What was I supposed to do now? What was I supposed to say?
“Do you want it back?” I asked. I immediately started tugging it off, even though goosebumps started to raise on my arms. “Here, I?—”
“Stop.” His hand grabbed the fabric, stopping me from pulling it off. Gently, he slipped it back up my shoulder, his fingers trailing along my skin in a way that sent a warm shiver through me. His eyes lingered there for a second, then drifted up to mine. They looked darker now than they usually did. Almost black instead of their typical brown. Maybe it was the light? Or maybe I was losing it. His voice was almost a whisper as he said, “It looks better on you anyway.”
I was suddenly very aware that he was right there. Like, one wrong move and our faces would collide. My brain was already halfway to a meltdown when I realized I was leaning in. His eyes flicked to my lips, and it was officially too late to chicken out now.
Then he closed the gap, brushing his lips against mine, soft and careful. His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb lightly brushing my skin, and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. The kiss was sweet, careful, like he was giving me a chance to pull away, to change my mind.
But I didn’t.
I pressed closer, my hands finding their way to his jacket, clutching the cool leather likeit was the only thing keeping me grounded. The kiss deepened, slow and tender, and all the chaos and confusion melted away, replaced by this overwhelming sense ofrightness. Like this was where I was supposed to be, like Zach was the answer to every question I hadn’t even known to ask.
When we finally pulled apart, our foreheads resting against each other, both of us breathing hard, I let out a soft, almost relieved laugh.
“Am I really a bad enough kisser that you’re laughing?” He whispered.
“Awful,” I murmured, another laugh slipping through my lips before I could hold it back. But the laugh wasn’t mocking, and it wasn’t only the kiss that had caused this giddiness inside me. It was everything. It was Zach’s perfect scent overwhelming my senses, it was his hands on my arms, it was remembering the way he’d been waiting for me in the window today, and it was knowing him in a way that not many people in the world did. It was watching every star in the universe align for us to end up here, together, right now.
“Hey, what’s that?” Zach asked. He dropped down to pick something up from the ground.
“Hm?” I asked, still feeling a little woozy after the kiss. I glanced down and realized he was picking up a piece of paper that had fallen on the floor between us. A folded piece of paper that looked remarkably like the one I’d torn out of my notebook earlier.
Oh no.
“Wait!” Running on instinct alone, I tried to kickthe paper away as he reached for it. Of course, I’d never been one for soccer or any other sport that involved kicking, so I didn’t have great aim. And instead of kicking away the paper, I kicked him in the face.
