Page 63 of Heartthrobs Don't Date Wallflowers
She squealed and practically jumped on me, hugging me so tight that I thought she might be trying to actually crush my lungs. I hugged her back just as tightly though, because I got fewer and fewer of these hugs nowadays. Poppy was my best friend. Having her so far away was hard, but I was glad she could have been here for this.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ve been very patient all day, but now I need to know. Tell me the whole story from the beginning.” She grabbed my arm and gripped it tight, looking at me with the biggest smile in the world. “Everything from the moment you moved into this house. How did you and Zach end up here?”
I stared back at her, not even sure where to begin. And then I realized, because there was one moment, one crucial moment, that changed it all.
“Well,” I said. “It all started when I texted the wrong number…”
twenty-one
Sneakinginto Zach’s room sounded a whole lot easier than it actually was. When I found myself sitting on my windowsill with one leg stretched toward the roof of his garage, I realized I’d underestimated the whole thing. From the view inside my room, the roof seemed so close, but now that I was actually hovering over it, the space looked way more intimidating than I was expecting.
Maybe if I somehow got a running start…?
Nope. I pushed that thought away as soon as it came in. The only thing worse than falling off Zach’s roof would be the mortifying trip to the ER where I’d have to explain how I broke my arm trying to sneak into my boyfriend’s room without having to go downstairs.
Clearly, that plan was out.
I climbed back inside and ran downstairs. But there was still one more way I could sneak into his room. Sure, most sane people would probably give upnow and just go knock on his front door, but I was committed to this whole sneaking around thing at this point. And luckily, the boys were terrible at putting stuff away, so I knew there was a ladder leading up to the roof of their garage that I could use.
The bad news of this was that I was terrified of heights and I somehow didn’t think that through until I was on the second highest rung.
Oops.
But I was willing to make sacrifices for love—not to mention that going back down would be so much worse than making it up those last couple steps to the roof—and I got up there in one piece.
Practically having a panic attack, but in one piece.
Look at the bright side of things and all that.
Once I finally stopped wheezing like I’d just run a marathon, I crawled across the roof to Zach’s window, which was only a couple of feet up. I peeked inside, trying to keep my head low so he wouldn’t notice me yet. I spotted him, slouched on his bed with his guitar, totally lost in whatever he was playing. I hung back for a second, just taking it in—his fingers moving effortlessly over the strings, his head tilted down, that little frown of concentration.
But after a minute, my legs started cramping up like they were plotting against me. I shifted, trying not to topple over, and decided that staying like this was not going to be a good long term decision so I stood up. I didn’t want to totally scare him by appearing in his room when he clearly hadn’t noticed me yet so Isaid, “Hey you” as I swung one leg over the window ledge.
Maybe not the best decision.
Zach jumped, his guitar nearly flying off his lap, which scared me, and instead movie-star landing I’d imagined, I ended up in a very unglamorous heap on his floor.
For a second, we both just stared—him looking like he was about to have a heart attack, me sprawled out like I’d forgotten how to use any of my limbs.
“Ivy?”
I groaned. “Well, that could have gone better.”
Zach appeared above me, with his hands in his pockets and an indulgent look on his face. He looked good from this angle. Maybe I should tell him so he could get some photos done like that.
Okay, no. That would probably look weird on an advertising campaign.
“What are you doing?” He asked. He held a hand out and I took it. Before I could even think about properly planting my feet or the floor or warning him that I was probably too heavy for him to pull up, he practically lifted me onto my feet. “We have a front door, you know.”
“I thought it would be more fun to be sneaky,” I said. I leaned against his desk, trying to look casual, like falling into his room was all part of the plan. “So… surprise?”
Zach took a step closer, his hands sliding around my waist as he pulled me closer. “I have to say, you know how tomake an entrance.”
“An entrance,” I repeated with a nod. “Not a graceful one, but I do make myself known.”
His lips met mine, soft and warm, and I forgot all about the ridiculous roof plan. I lost myself in the moment, in the feeling of his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer. The kiss deepened, slow and sweet, until it was just us, the rest of the world forgotten.
Well, until the world rudely decided to remind us it existed—with a knock on Zach’s door. We both froze.
