Page 43 of Wish You Were Mine
Me: Sorry. First week of the semester is kicking my butt.
Sliding the phone back into my pocket, I pushed up from the couch. “I should probably head out. Thanks again for dinner. It was great.”
Ian stood and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Of course. Anytime.”
Maddie gave me a warm smile as she got up, too. “It was great to see you again, Owen.”
“You too.” I grabbed my coat from the tree in the corner and shrugged it on. As I opened the front door, I paused. “And I’m sure this goes without saying, but if you could keep my kiss with Theo’s sister just between us…that would be great.”
“Of course,” Maddie said immediately.
Ian grinned. “Theo who?”
Maddie playfully smacked his chest. “Stop.”
They walked me to the porch, and I stepped out into the chilled night air, pulling my coat tighter around me. I hit the button on my keys to start my car, watching the headlights blink in the driveway.
As I climbed inside and waited for the heat to kick in, my phone buzzed.
Theo: Oh no worries. I haven’t gotten a date yet, either.
I relaxed slightly.
Me: We’ll have to try again some other time.
Theo: Or we could still hang out at the meet. Just skip the double date part.
I considered that.
Honestly, it would be good to hang out with Theo more. We’d been casual friends for years, and now that Ian was allsettled down with Maddie and Grant, having a solid buddy in town sounded like a win.
Me: Sure, that would be great.
But then, Theo shot back another text.
Theo: Great. My family usually sits in the seats beneath the donor box, so we can sit near them since they were already hoping to see Charlotte.
Oh. Crap.
I slumped back in my seat, staring at the dash as the windshield finally started to defrost.
Sitting with his parents? Watching Lucy perform?
While pretending I didn’t already know what she tasted and felt like?
Yeah…that was definitely not a relaxing way to spend my Saturday evening.
But I’d already agreed.
It would be suspicious if I tried to back out now.
So instead, I closed my eyes, exhaled, and added one more thing to the growing list of reasons why that midnight kiss with Lucy Archibald had been a terrible, terrible idea.
14
LUCY
I tuggedthe sleeves of my red hoodie down over my hands and tried the chemistry lab door again.
