Travis elbows him and frowns.
Blake just shrugs. “What? I don’t mean it as a bad thing. It’s cool to see Poppy make an honest man out of our resident manwhore.”
I slide my hands in my suit pockets and grin. “I’m a changed man, that’s for sure.”
Excitement swoops through me at going to homecoming with Poppy. I can’t wait to see what she’s wearing. When I texted her this afternoon to ask for a hint, she refused to send me a pic. She wanted it to be a surprise.
As we make our way toward the main part of campus, we spot a bunch of students walking in that direction too, all decked out in suits and fancy dresses.
“Looks like a lot of people are going to homecoming tonight,” Travis says.
“Good. I hope we sold more tickets than last year. I want the animal shelter to get tons of money,” I say.
“So which one of us is going to get voted homecoming king?” Blake asks.
I bump my shoulder into Travis, who glares at me.
“Travvie’s got it in the bag,” I say. “He’s Mr. Congeniality with his sunshine personality. Everyone loves him.”
Leo and Blake laugh.
“Yeah, right,” Travis grumbles.
“My money’s on you,” Blake says to me.
“Mine too,” Leo says. “Captain of the team almost always gets it.”
I just grin. “I guess we’ll find out.”
We head into the student union, which is a huge stone building at the center of campus. We make our way with the other fancy-dressed people toward the event room on the main floor, which is where homecoming is being held.
There’s a big table at the entrance where people are handing over their tickets. I peek inside and see that it’s been decoratedas a ballroom. There’s a big stage in the middle with a fancy chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and the walls are draped in shiny white fabric. On one side, there’s a refreshments table with drinks, appetizers, and desserts.
As people line up to hand their tickets to the attendants at the entrance, I stand off to the side to wait for Poppy.
“You coming?” Travis asks.
“I told Poppy I’d wait for her at the entrance.”
Blake and Leo head into the ballroom while Travis hangs back with me. I pull my phone out of my pocket and text her.
Me: Where you at, hot tutor?
A second later, she texts back.
Poppy: Just walking in now.
Me: Cool, I’m at the entrance to the ballroom off to the side. I’m the guy in the assless leather chaps and ball gag.
Poppy: *eye roll emoji*
I catch Travis looking at my screen and rolling his eyes.
I scan the crowd for Poppy. A minute later, when I see her walking toward me, my eyes pop out of my head.
Chapter 21
Nick
