I struggled to balance my tray on one arm, hold my glass in the right spot, and press the button for the soda I wanted from the machine. Without looking away from me, Tino pressed the button for me, not even needing to ask what I wanted. I frowned as I watched the glass fill, torn between knowing I should thank him and wanting to be mad at him for something.
I pulled the glass back once it was full and turned away from the soda dispenser, knowing Tino wouldn’t be getting a soft drink. He only ever had water.
“So,” he said, “I was thinking.”
“Were you?” I said flatly. “That must have hurt.”
“The winter carnival is coming up,” he said.
“So, youcanread a calendar.”
“I like winter,” he said, completely ignoring me.
“Uh-huh.”
“And you like winter. So, naturally, I was thinking we should go out together.”
“Out where?” I asked, pretending to be oblivious.
“Out in the world,” Tino said, waving a hand around as he followed me.
“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now? We’re together and out in the world. What exactly are you suggesting?”
Of course, I knew exactly what he was suggesting, but I might as well make him actually ask me out before I turned him down.
Tino’s eyes twinkled. “You consider us to be together now? Wow, I’m making real progress with you.”
“You know that I just meant that we were standing near each other.”
“Nuh-uh, you can’t take it back,” he said, waving a finger in my face. “You said we’re together. You, Lilah Turner, admitted that you were spending time with me, Michael Valentine.” He sighed dreamily. “I shall remember this moment forever.”
I rolled my eyes and started walking away. He, of course, was right on my heels.
“However, in this particular situation, I meant that I think we should go out on a date,” he added as we reached my usual table. He pulled out the chair for me and I sat down.
“What a novel idea,” I said drily. “Never been thought of before.”
“Well, it’s never been thought of before in this particular context.” He held a hand up, acting like he was reciting a headline. “A first date to the carnival in town.”
“Nope,” I said immediately.
“Ooh, sounds like someone’s been rejected,” Saylor said as she dropped down and sat beside me. Poppy was right on her heels, but Tino sat down on my other side before she could take the spot.
“I’ve not been rejected,” Tino told Saylor. “She just hasn’t realized how good my idea is yet.”
Saylor shrugged. “Sounded like rejection to me.” She stabbed her fork in her lettuce and took a bite, watching us with a small grin playing at her lips.
He turned back to me. “Come on. It’ll be cute. We’ll get candy apples—your favorite—get our faces painted, go on the Ferris wheel.” He waggled his eyebrows, indicating to me exactly what he thought we would get up to on the Ferris wheel. “And it’s your favorite season, so you know you’re going to have fun no matter what.”
Honestly, of all the offers that he’d come to me with, this one wasn’t half bad. The fall fair in town was always really fun, and he was right that I would probably enjoy it, even if I did have to be there with him. Especially since my friends would be going with their boyfriends this year, and I would be fifth wheeling. Tino and I would probably end up there naturally anyway, together. But I couldn’t give in that easily. This was our game—him pushing for us to be together and me holding him at arm’s length.
I pretended to think about it for a second, then shrugged and said, “Sorry. Maybe next year.”
Tino groaned, grabbing at his chest and leaning back. “You wound me, Lilah Turner.”
I held back my laugh, even though I did find the action a little cute. How was it fair that he was good-looking, a star athlete, and genuinely funny? No boy should have that much going for him.
“Okay, okay, okay,” he said, waving his hands around. “Forget the fair. How about?—”
