“Well, one time when we were at—ow,” I moved my thigh away from Seth’s pinching fingers, much stronger than they had any right to be, and then laughed. “Okay, okay. No embarrassing stories.”
I winked at Juliet and Mercutio and mouthedlaterat them.
“I saw that,” Seth said. “I know where you live.”
I laughed and pulled my phone out while Seth ordered breakfast and other kids filed in, sending a quick text to Ward to let him know I’d arrived safely and that Seth was giving me hell.
Ward:that’s his way of showing affection
Ward:did you take one of my shirts?
I’d never been self-conscious about selfies before, but with a whole gaggle of teenagers possibly watching me I couldn’t help blushing as I turned the camera around and held my arm out to show Ward what I was wearing.
He’d disappeared into the shower while I got dressed and hadn’t seen me before I left. So he wouldn’t make me late, he’d said.
If not for the fact that I really did like these kids and had a lot of fun performing with them, I would’ve made myself late following him into it.
There’d be other showers, though. I’d had enough time to think that I knew I didn’t want this to be a one-night thing. We’d waited too long for it, and it felt too good.
“Are you sexting Ward?” Seth asked as I sent the picture off.
“He wanted to know what happened to his shirt.” I shrugged, gratefully accepting a cup of coffee from the waitress I recognized from when Mr. Harrison had brought me and Ward here.
“Implying that he somehow keeps track of them all,” Seth said.
“Don’t be mean.”
“I’m not.” Seth laughed. “But it’s cute that you’re getting all defensive. Also, this is the first time I’ve seen you since you got here that you haven’t looked miserable. Aside from last night on stage, when you were actually glowing.”
Ward:okay, so, I suddenly get why other guys like it when their girlfriends wear their shirts
Ryder:I’m not your girlfriend
Ward:no, but you are my boyfriend
“Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone I had the time of my life last night,” I said while I stared at Ward’s last message.
Did he mean that? Or was it just a joke about what we’d beenpretending?
Ward:I mean, uh, if you want
Ward:didn’t mean to unilaterally make that decision for you
Ward:am I being weird? Assuming last night wasn’t just… something that happened
“Oh my gosh, look how precious he is,” Seth said.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to look over other people’s shoulders?” I asked, but I couldn’t quite make myself sound annoyed.
Wardwasprecious.
“I’m physically incapable of looking over most people’s shoulders,” Seth said.
Which was true, it was more that he was looking past my arm, but that wasn’t the point.
The point…
The point was that Ward wanted more, too.
