He stared at me like I’d just insulted his entire lineage. “The Smoothie Guy. The one with the cart when you get off the B Train at Commonwealth?”
I blinked, which only made his insistence grow.
“Okay. Now you have to try both. And I’ll be bringing you a new flavor every week until we find your favorite.”
“It’s freezing outside.”
“I would hardly call fifty-eight degrees freezing.”
“Well, it’s still cold.”
“So?”
“What if I don’t like smoothies?”
“Come on. Everyone likes smoothies.”
He flashed that stupid, sexy smirk, and before I could protest — or remind myself not to overthink the fact that he’d gone out of his way for me — I was tasting them.
And damn him, they were the best smoothies I’d ever had.
“Berry blast,” I said after tasting both, and Shane smirked, handing me that one and taking the other. Then, the car was in drive, and we were off.
The Fray played softly over his speakers, and Shane thumbed the steering wheel while quietly singing along.
“So, why did you pick Girls Inc?” he asked after a while.
“I like that they create a safe place for girls to take risks and grow.”
He nodded. “You ever been there before?”
“Not this location.”
“Where?”
“There was one where I grew up.”
“And where was that?”
“Connecticut.”
“Ah,” he said. “You used to volunteer there?”
I swallowed, looking out the window. “No.”
Shane glanced at me, but didn’t ask me to fill in the blank. And when he took my cue to end the conversation and reached forward to turn up the music, I was thankful.
We pulled up to Girls Inc forty minutes later, and before I could even touch the door handle, Shane was out of the car and had jogged around to my side. He held the door open and took my book bag, slinging it over his shoulder without letting me protest.
I’d never had a boyfriend. In high school, everyone knew me — which meant everyone knew my family. And there wasn’t a boy stupid enough to try to get near me when they knew who my stepfather was.
Still, I’d had crushes before. I wasn’t immune to teenage girl hormones.
But when Shane took my bag and then, without hesitation, took my hand in his — I experienced something I never had before.
My stomach erupted with a flurry of butterflies, their wings tickling the inside of my ribcage. I flushed so warm that sweat prickled the back of my neck.
And I smiled.
