Love, romance. Only the thought gives me shivers.
I can see it play out like a carousel in my mind. Rafael and me hanging out more and more, spending the night together, getting acquainted with each other’s presence. And then something goeswrong, and suddenly I’m left there wondering at which stop Rafael got off and why my train is crashing at full speed against a brick wall. The mere idea sets my heart pounding with dread.
“This is why I don’t like romance,” I grumble, sinking back into my seat.
Paige takes a big bite of her donut. “Because you care about something?”
“No,” I say, narrowing my eyes at her. “Because it takes over your brain and turns you into a mush of silliness. ‘When will I meet him?’ ‘What should I say?’?” I mock, rolling my eyes. “Gross.”
“What’s gross?” a familiar voice says as someone plops down next to me.
I turn to see Theo, his usual friendly expression in place. “Hey, stranger. What are you doing here?”
“On my way to pick Vanessa up. We’re playing football.” He leans forward and snatches Paige’s donut, taking an obnoxiously large bite.
Paige immediately starts smacking his shoulder in protest. “Hey! Go play sports with my girlfriend and leave my donut alone!”
“I need my energy,” he says, turning his attention back to me, Paige still grumbling about her donut. “So? What’s gross?”
“Dating,” I answer, hiding a frown behind my cup.
His brows knit together behind the frames of his glasses. “You’re dating someone?”
“No!” I blurt out, far too loudly. “No, of course not.”
“Rafael Gray is back,” Paige interjects.
“Gray, huh?” I keep my gaze on my cup as Theo’s eyes search my face. “You too?”
Yep. Me too. I was one of hundreds of girls who were head overheels for Rafael Gray. I wonder if now that he’s back in town, women will start falling at his feet again.
“She had a crush on him by the time she was nine. And she never quite shook it off until she was eighteen.”
Twenty, actually.
“Wait.” Theo’s head bobs from me to the bar. “I thought… Didn’t you date Quentin? They’re cousins, right?”
“I did, yes,” I say, eyeing him behind the counter. “It’s not like I ever really thought Rafael would give me the time of day,” I explain. “You know the type of girls he used to date.” Older, stunning, edgy. A far cry from the younger bookworm next door. “Quentin was the first guy who asked me out, and I was seventeen, and…” I slowly close my eyes. “I don’t know.”
“No, I get it,” Theo says. “Teenager shit.”
“Tell him about The Incident,” Paige teases.
Shoulders dropping, I glare at her.
He gasps, straightening on the chair. “What incident?”
“TheIncident,” she coos.
Goddamn it. If I don’t say it, she will, and she has a flair for the dramatic. “It’s not that bad,” I try, but it doesn’t sound convincing. “Remember on Paige’s eighteenth birthday, when a bunch of us got drunk for the first time?”
“Peach schnapps,” Paige says with a grimace as Theo mock-shivers.
“Everyone was talking about theirboyfriends, how they were so happy, so in love…” I wave a hand around. “And it dawned on me that I was just dating Quentin because he’d asked, while I was actually still very much into his cousin. So in my drunkenness, I might have”—I shrug—“told Rafael how I felt about him.”
“Oof. You drunk-dialed?”
Paige snickers. “She drunk-penned, actually.”
