“Ew. Don’t call me baby.”
“Princess.”
She shook her head. “Worse.”
“Oh, I could call you my girlfriend. How about that?”
“How about not?”
Before I could stop myself, I reached a hand out and tucked a piece of Lilah’s blonde hair behind her ear. She didn’t flinch away from my touch, which was enough for me to think tonight was my chance to win her over. “Lilah, we wore matchingcostumes on accident. I think we’re fighting destiny at this point.”
“Tino—”
“Oh my gosh!” a girl squealed, completely breaking the moment. Lilah practically jumped away from me, clearly coming to her senses and realizing how close we’d been. I tried to hold back my sigh as I turned to see who had interrupted us, only to grimace as I came face to face with the hockey team’s biggest fan.
“Hi, Eva,” I forced out. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d found us so quickly since she seemed to have a sixth sense about knowing where the hockey team was at all times. Strangely, though, she wasn’t looking at any of the other boys even though they were right there—her gaze was bouncing between me and Lilah only.
“It’s true then!” She shrieked. Her red hair swung in its ponytail as she bounced in place.
“Uh…” I looked at Lilah to see if she knew what Eva was talking about but she seemed as confused as me. “What’s true?”
“You two are dating!” Eva squealed. Without waiting for a response, she whipped her phone out and started typing, shaking her head like she was in disbelief. “When Kailey showed me that photo, I was sure it couldn’t be you, but?—”
“Photo?” I asked. I totally cut her off but she didn’t seem to mind as she lifted her head.
“You mean you haven’t seen it?” she asked. I would have assumed she’d be upset that we didn’t know what she was talking about but she seemed thrilled as she swiped out of her text thread and opened up another app. A moment later, she was shoving her phone in my face, so close that I had to lean back to see it properly.
And when I did, I couldn’t stop myself from cursing under my breath.
“Is that us?” Lilah asked, but her tone made it obvious that she already knew the answer. I could feel her looking at me, probably waiting for me to deal with this somehow, but I was too busy gaping at the screen.
Lilah and me in the store. Pressed up against the shelves. And from this angle—clearly taken through the window—it really looked like we were kissing.
“Where…” I started to ask, but I lost the words in my throat because holy crap, I was looking at a photo of Lilah and me kissing. Sure, it would’ve been nicer if the kiss had actually happened and I could be reliving the memory of it instead of imagining it, but the photo was unfortunately the closest we’d ever come.
“Cassie’s little brother’s girlfriend was stalking The Valentine Brothers so she was outside the store and then she saw you guys in there and took the photo!” Eva exclaimed. I was pretty sure she didn’t take a single breath through the whole sentence. “And then of course she sent it to Cassie who posted it on Twitter and now the whole school is freaking out because oh my gosh, the little sister of Jude Turner and the little brother of The Valentine Brothers getting together? It’s too perfect!”
If she thought that explanation helped anything, she was sorely mistaken. I blinked at her a few times then looked at Lilah, who was still staring at the photo with wide eyes. Clearly she wasn’t going to be any help in dispelling this rumour.
I cleared my throat. “Look, Eva, it’s not?—”
“And now you guys are wearing a couple’s costume!” Eva squealed. She pulled her phone back and before I could even begin to react, she snapped a photo of us. “I can’t wait to show this to Cassie!”
And then she was gone, skipping off with her photo evidence.
“What just happened?” Lilah asked, her voice high-pitched and nervous.
“Honestly?” I said. “I’ve got no freaking clue.”
CHAPTER 6
tino
I thoughtEva would be a one-off, someone who’d only seen the photo because she was friends with the person who took it, and that the news of Lilah’s and my supposed relationship was contained to only a few people.
Within the hour, it was obvious that wasn’t the case.
“I’ve always thought the two of you should get together,” Sarah Jensen gushed over the music. She squished onto the armchair with me, the side of her body completely pressed up against mine. I would have thought she was trying to flirt (terribly) except that all she could talk about was how Lilah was my soulmate. I agreed with her, but didn’t know how to tell her that Lilah did not. “How did you ask her out?”
