“What else?” she prods.
“Our teeth only knocked together once.” Or was it twice? “And get this—he was wearing his retainer.”
Macy pauses. Sits back up on her bed, giving me an expressionless glance. “Stop it right now. He was not.”
“He was.”
“He was at the theater. Eating popcorn. Wearing a retainer.” She scoffs. “Who the hell does that?”
“Um. Teenage boys?”
“So what I’m hearing is: Despite the retainer, the kiss was decent.”
“So decent.”
“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you like him? Like—seriously like him?”
Eleven. “I don’t know. Seven?”
Macy nods along, pretending to be analytical. “That’s a solid number. Not too much, not too little. AnI like him but I won’t carve our initials into a tree just yetkind of number.”
“Exactly.”
My bestie smiles at me knowingly. “Next question: If he promposes, does that number go up?”
I hesitate, then sigh. “Probably.”
“How high?”
Skyrockets. To the moon.
I press my lips together, trying not to grin. “If he were here, I’d probably already be making out with him again.”
Macy screeches. “Oh my god, whoareyou?!”
Before I can respond, my phone vibrates in my hand. I glance down—
My heart stops. “Oh my god, Easton is trying to FaceTimeme.”
“Then answer it!” Macy squeals loudly, ending our chat before I can, a girl’s girl pushing me out of my comfort zone.
This is the most. Exciting. Night. Ever.
With a deep breath and a blissful sigh, I swipe to answer, doing my best to actcompletelynormal. Key word:trying.
Then Easton appears on my screen.
And I have to remind myself how to breathe.
He’s lying in bed, broad shoulders bare, the sharp lines of his collarbone disappearing beneath his sheets. Oh my god—he’s notwearing a shirt! His hair is a mess, like he’s been running his hands through it, and his expression is lazy.
Handsome.
Behind him, hockey trophies line a dark wooden shelf, proof of accolades and achievements from all his hard work. Blue-and-green-plaid wallpaper covers the wall behind his head, giving his room a Scottish tartan vibe.
I would never have guessed he was a plaid wallpaper kind ofguy.
My belly flip-flops at the sight of him.
