I turned and smacked his shoulder playfully. “Those waffles were your idea!”
“And you should be thanking me for them.” He squeezed my side and I squirmed spastically. “You loved them.”
“I’ll never admit that. Not if I keep getting to eat them for free.”
“Well, you have to keep hanging out with me for that. So…”
I elbowed him in the chest. “You’re relentless.”
His nose skimmed over the shell of my ear, whispering, “And you’re perfect.”
“This is it, right?” the driver asked loudly, completely interrupting our moment.
I blinked up at the wide, flat building that housed Graffiti’s and tried to work up some enthusiasm. This was it! Jake Turner! Fresh Suicide! Backstage!
Only they all fell flat. If I was honest with myself, I could have rode around in this stranger’s truck for the rest of the night and not even noticed that I missed the Battle of the Bands.
As long as I got to keep sitting on Troy’s lap.
“This is it,” Mikey replied. “Thanks again for the ride, man.”
“Welcome,” the guy grunted.
Troy’s hand released my waist and opened the door for us. He helped me down from the cab and then turned to help Gina too. When he turned back to me, his eyes were sad and his smile had completely disappeared.
My chest ached at the sight of him like this. I had only had tonight with him, but his expression made my heart hurt.
“Ready for this?” he asked.
I wanted to tell him no. Or that I wasn’t sure. Or that maybe we could find a ride back to that obscure gravel road and then hang out at his aunt’s diner all night.
Instead, I nodded my head and tossed out a casual, “I was born ready. Areyouready for this?
He didn’t say anything. He just shrugged and grabbed my hand so he could lead us in the building.
It was in that moment that I realized I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life.
