“Please tell me you stopped at the racing suit and I’m not going to go outside and see a Formula One race car.”
I did my own twirl.
“It was tempting, but I’m still a firm believer that you think Charles Leclerc is hotter than the race car.”
It had taken me a week to get the outfit right. It was an exact replica of the one the driver used when racing. Even the helmet, although I wasn’t planning on wearing it. I’d just hold it until things got hopping. Isabella was grinning.
“You, right now, are the best moment of this whole month.”
Cost of Formula One racing outfit: you don’t want to know. Cost of being the best moment of Isabella’s whole month: worth every stinking penny.
Tempting fate slightly, I moved closer to her until we were a breath away. I didn’t touch her. There would be plenty of time this evening for that. We just stood, holding each other’s gazes, desperate to see if we could breathe some life into our spark.
Leaning in, I whispered in her ear, “You, right now, are the best moment of my whole life.”
The room felt hot for the slightest moment and I saw her cheeks start to blush. For one glorious second it felt like a shock of electricity passed through us. It was just a flash, but it was a start.
“Che cos ’era questo?”
I raised my eyebrow.
“A flicker, Bella. It was a flicker.”
Her eyes widened, and the widest smile in the world came to her face.
“We flickered, Liam, we flickered!!!”
Before I could respond, the doorbell rang. Why had I decided to throw this stupid party? We finally felt a flicker and now we’d have to spend the night surrounded by a bunch of people I didn’t even know. With a grunt of annoyance, I turned around and headed for the door. It was going to be Faith, of course. I had told her to come early since she and her boyfriend were the ones who invited most of the guests. At least then, there would be a familiar face to greet people.
From their arrival, time seemed to start flying by. I was hosting the party on the land between my private little wing and the main grounds. I kept it away from the pool since most people would be in costume. Faith kept introducing me to people, wanting to help me make new friends. It was actually nice of her. Mostly I kept to myself at school, afraid I would get caught up with the bad crowd again.
While working on the surprise I had in store for Isabella, I got to know the new man in Faith’s life. It turned out he was a really good guy and he clearly adored Faith. I was happy for both of them. And a little bit jealous. Not because I wanted Faith but because I wanted what they had. With Isabella.
“You guys still haven’t found a spark?”
Faith looked at me and I sighed.
“We flickered for half a second before you guys showed up, but no. There is still something in the way and I don’t know what it is.”
She nodded and smiled.
“You will figure it out. If the rest of us can all see it from miles away, it has to be there.”
Isabella met my gaze from across the lawn and smiled. She really did look fantastic. Faith grabbed my hand.
“Come on. Everyone is a nervous wreck so we have to get this started. I want to enjoy the rest of the night without my date trying to remember steps in his head.”
Laughing, Faith and I made our way to Isabella. I slipped my hand into hers and guided her over to my assigned spot. Then, the music changed and Rihanna’s “Shut Up and Drive” started to blast. To Isabella’s surprise, I started to bust out into a dance. Slowly, others in the crowd started to join in the choreography. Faith made me do some ridiculous yet sexy moves, but with more and more people joining in, our flash mob was everything I had hoped it would be.
“You’re crazy!” Isabella screamed at me, but I grabbed her hand and moved her with me through the crowd so she had a front-row seat for our synchronized dance moves. Then, as the music ended, I ended up draped on the hood of the Ferrari, unable to stop laughing.
The partygoers who weren’t part of the dance all burst into cheers, and Isabella was smiling at me, her eyes filled with more happiness than I had ever seen.
“I can’t believe you planned that all.”
Faith joined us and then Isabella hit me.
“You should have told me. I could have been a part of it.”
