Whichever came first.
“Stop drooling,” Gina whispered. “You look pathetic when you drool.”
I glared at her, ripping my attention off Jake for just a millisecond. “I’m not drooling.”
She brushed at the corner of her mouth. “You’ve got a little something. Right there…” She reached forward and I swatted her hand away.
“Hey, Cass, you cool?”
I nearly choked in my effort to swallow and remain calm. When I turned to face Jake I hid my surprise behind a chill expression, but I couldn’t help but wipe at the corner of my mouth just in case Gina hadn’t been baggin’ on me.
“Hey, Jake.” I nodded toward Gina. “You know my girl, Gina?”
Jake turned to her and flashed his signature smile. I tried not to start sweating.
“I’ve seen you around,” he told her. “Your boots are bangin’.”
Gina shrugged and knocked her heel on the ground. “I know.”
Jake’s smile kicked up a notch and I wanted to elbow Gina. But his attention didn’t stay with her. He turned back to me and raised his eyebrows expectantly. “You heard about Battle of the Bands?”
I tugged at my skirt and nodded. Suddenly feeling shy, I stared down at my knee highs. My boots were banging, too. “I heard something about it.”
He leaned in and I inhaled his scent, leather and his spicy cologne. Looking up at him, I had to press my lips together to keep from blurting out the truth. Which was that I knew all about Battle of the Bands. That Gina and I had been counting down to tonight for months. That the second we heard Jake and his band, Fresh Suicide, were going to be playing we camped out all night so we could be first in line to buy our tickets.
“Did you hear we’re playing it?” he asked in a low rumble.
I bravely held his gaze. “I might have heard that too.”
Half his mouth kicked up in a cocky grin. “You gonna go?”
“Maybe.”
He started bobbing his head as if he could see right through me. “Yeah, you’re going to go.”
I laughed and it sounded suspiciously like a giggle. I cleared my throat and argued, “I don’t know. Gina and I have a bunch of homework.” I stared at my friend and gave her a look that demanded she agree with me.
“We do,” she piped up loyally. “Somuch homework.”
He made a face. “Homework’s for noids. Don’t be lame. Come to the show.”
“We’re not lame,” I assured him.
He reached down and grabbed my hand. I nearly started hyperventilating. Jake had never touched me like this. Not once. We’d obviously touched before. I wasn’t a total prude. But not like this!
“Then come,” he pleaded gently. “I’ll get you in backstage after our set.”
I made some kind of squeaky sound in the back of my throat, but words failed. Backstage? Was he kidding? Frickin’ backstage?
Since I couldn’t speak, Jake thought he needed more than that to convince me. “We’ll hang out, Cass. I’ll show you around. Introduce you to the guys.”
“And me,” Gina added, giving me a second to recover from my Jake Turner induced heart attack.
Jake shot Gina a look. “Of course. You too. You guys will come, yeah?”
I nodded furiously. “We’ll come. We’ll be there.”
His shoulders relaxed and he rocked back on his heels. “Sick. You girls are the bomb.”
