Wes shakes his head. “The magic of the chicken piccata is that you don’t need to branch out.”
Kaden rolls his eyes at me. “If he had any singing ability whatsoever, he’d write a song about it.”
“He was going to write his informative speech on it,” I tell them.
“Ivy,” Wes whines, brushing my arm again.
“No way,” says Ben, snickering.
“Ivy, I think I like you,” says Kaden, before something across the deck draws his attention. He groans. “Aw, fuck. Who let Rich in? We purposely didn’t invite that idiot.”
“Paul’s manning the door,” Ben says.
Kaden gives Ben an incredulous look. “You letPaulman the door? You can never trust Paul! He’s got zero backbone!”
“He offered!”
Kaden sighs. “Excuse us.”
The two disappear into the crowd of people, arguing with each other about who dropped the ball. Quinn follows them to get another hard seltzer, leaving me and Wes out here by ourselves, pressed up against the deck railing as more people spill out of the house.
He looks down at me with warm eyes and a secret smile, and for a moment, it’s like we’re the only two people at this party. “I’m happy you came.”
I smile back at him. “Me, too.”
“Are you having fun?” he asks, his eyes searching mine. “I know it’s a lot of people.I’moverwhelmed, and these are my friends.”
“I’m having fun,” I assure, and it’s not even a lie. I do like spending time with Quinn, and his housemates are kind. But what I can’t understand is why Wes is hanging out here, talking tome, when he’s got an entire house full of people here to celebrate him. “You don’t have to keep me company. I’m sure you want to go hang out with your friends. Quinn will be back soon.”
“But what if I’d rather be here with you?” He brushes my arm again with his, but this time he doesn’t pull away. He leaves it resting up against mine, and despite our long sleeves, I can feel the heat radiating off his skin. My insides warm. My heart stutters. I should move away, but the contact paired with his words makes me want to lean closer. “We were supposed to hang out today, anyway, before you ditched me.”
My mouth drops open, but when I glance up at his face, his eyes are teasing. “Well, it was for your own good, so you’re welcome, Wes.”
He snickers. “Thank you, Ivy.”
“We don’t have to practice tomorrow, by the way. I’m sure you have better things to do on your actual birthday.”
“Than run speeches with you?” He shakes his head. “Nah. You think I’m far more interesting than I am.”
I eye him skeptically, worried he’s trying to spare my feelings. “Okay, well don’t feel obligated.”
His eyes light up, amused. “I don’t feel obligated.”
“Are you sure?” I press. “It won’t hurt my feelings.”
“I’m sure,” he says, and my eyes narrow a little. He doubles down on his answer. “I’m sure, Ivy.”
“Okay,” I say, still doubtful.
“Now that you’ve seen the house, would you want to work here?”
I nod before I have the chance to talk myself out of it. “Yeah,” I say. “Sure. We can do that.”
“Sweet.” He gives me an easy smile, seeming pleased with how easily I agreed to his proposal. “It’ll be more relaxed than the library.”
“Yeah, definitely,” I agree, although “relaxing” isn’t the word I’d use to describe doing homework at a guy’s house. A few more people spill out onto the deck, drawing my attention, and I glance around at the growing crowd. “So, how many people here do you actually know?”
His eyes roam over the students surrounding us. “I’d say the majority. It’s the team and their girlfriends, mostly. Though, probably not for long if Paul’s working the door. He’ll let in any girl with a pulse.”
