“Guess that is part of the long story?” Gabby asked.
“Is it? What happened on the plane? No more catastrophic makeup challenges, right?” Nittha asked, then added, “Do you need to hold Cricket? She is good for emotional support.”
“I might need her later, depending on how today goes.” I giggled. Cricket was a lot of things: Adorable and fluffy, yes. But emotionally supportive? That was a stretch.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ethan wandering away from the collection of people who had formed around his grandmother and strategically willed myself to forget about him.
“Should we talk about it at the pool without the dueling grannies present?” Nittha tried, and failed, to whisper. “Cricket,Gabby, and I were going to grab a couple of bottled waters from the drinks stand, then go. Those pool prices are outrageous. Want to come?”
I’d planned to work more before the convention officially started with a VIP reception tonight, but now that I thought about it, I could take my laptop to the pool and—crap.
“I forgot a swimsuit.” I sighed. Despite my best intentions, I noticed Ethan saunter toward a group of kids our age stationed in the lobby, then stop suddenly. He waved awkwardly at them before meandering in our direction. “I’m sure BamBam would let me get one this afternoon but—”
“Don’t worry, you can borrow one of mine.” Nittha followed my gaze before I could tear it away. “Is it me, or is that cute guy walking this way?”
“He’s probably going to sit over there.” I gestured to some lobby chairs before catching sight of Nittha’s sly expression. Belatedly, I remembered that Nittha could invent a love story out of thin air, and it was clear that she was already working on one for me and Ethan. I kicked myself, then added, “And no one said Ethan was cute.”
“You know hisname? That must mean something.” Nittha giggled, then shook her hair out of her face. “And clearly he thinks you’re cute, because he is coming over here.”
“What? No he isn’t.” The back of my neck began to prickle with nerves that I assigned to Ethan being foolish enough to stroll in my general direction and not to anything Nittha was saying. Any minute now, he’d pivot toward the chairs and prove my point.
“For the record, I’m not agreeing with Nittha on this particular made-up romance, but he is almost here.” Gabby angled her body away from Ethan so she could talk to us without being overheard. “Why do you look super freaked out?”
Ugh. Gabby was right. He walked right past the chairs and was still on track to run into us. I gritted my teeth and said, “That’s Buzzy’s grandson. He clearly has a death wish.”
“A sexy death wish, maybe.” Nittha wiggled her eyebrows atme.
“Pretty sure that’s not a thing,” I growled.
“Totally is.” Nittha’s voice bubbled with excitement.
“Wait, that is Buzzy’s grandson?” Gabby asked, whipping around to look at him again. Turning back to us, she said, “Why do I feel like I recognize him?”
“G and I should go. Don’t want to overwhelm him when he’s trying to make a move.” Nittha grinned.
“One, there are no moves being made. My parents won’t even allow me to date until college, remember?” My body was officially breaking out in a cold sweat. Buzzy and BamBam were close by, engaged in a battle over who could smile the hardest at fans. Surely, Ethan wouldn’t stop to talk to me. But if he did…I looked from Nittha to Gabby with pleading eyes. “Two, don’t leave me.”
“Again, I want the record to reflect that I don’t think there are moves being made either. But also, I need to use the bathroom. Sorry, Jamie.” Gabby smirked. I very much doubted she needed the bathroom that bad. More like she wanted to see what would happen if Buzzy or BamBam caught us.
“Really. I insist. It’d be much better if you stay.”
“Nah. Let’s go, Gabby.” Nittha held up Cricket and waved her little paw at me, smiling over the top of the dog’s ridiculous hat. “You better tell us everything at the pool.”
With mischief written all over her face, Gabby started walking backward. “Text us your room number. We’ll bring you a swimsuit.”
With that, the two of them walked away, leaving me with the terrifying prospect of having to interact with Ethan without being murdered by our grandmas. Panicking, I pulled out my phone and pretended to be very busy, because now was 100 percent the time when that trick would finally start to work.
“Hey.” I felt myself jump—yep, pretending to be busy on my phone still didn’t work—then faced Ethan. He’d stopped a little farther away from me than people who were friends would stand, but close enough to make it clear we were speaking to one another. Beneath his shaggy hair, a crease in his brow formed as he watched me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“He-hey,” I stammered, embarrassed by the sudden onset of jumpy awkwardness caused by the combination of awareness and fear that had started to snake through my veins. I reminded myself that technically he’d approached me. In the eyes of the law and, hopefully, my grandma, I was innocent. Clearing my throat, I tried to level my best stern look. “You really shouldn’t be speaking to me.”
“Or what?” Ethan laughed. “Your grandma will put away your suitcase again?”
Belatedly, I tried to turn my laugh into a cough. No matter what, I could not get caught laughing at his jokes again.
“I don’t want to be forced to sleep out on The Strip tonight.”
“I’m sure my grandma would be happy to take you in. It’d give her a reason to gloat.” Ethan’s smile was slightly crooked, as if he was enjoying this conversation more than he wanted to leton.
