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“Good thinking not telling your dad in advance,” my mom said with a laugh. “Or else he would have done a background check and crossed way too many lines. Again.”

“Aunt Penny with the sass tonight.” Sophie lifted her hand for a high five and my mom high fived her.

Eli walked into the living room and Sophie ran over to him and threw her arms around him. He was in a pair of black pants with a belt and a black t-shirt. It looked perfect with her outfit.

I fidgeted with my gloves as Jacob walked in with Olivia. He didn’t take one look at me. Which gave me the opportunity to stare. He’d gone for more of a gangster look. He was wearing a fedora and a fitted suit. The front of the suit kind of crossed over and the buttons were off-centered. And Olivia was wearing a similar dress to mine. But it looked like one of the ones before Sophie had gotten Mr. Tanner to shorten them.

I smiled to myself. I was pretty sure I had Mr. Tanner to thank for that one.

And it was like just thinking of him had willed him into existence. He walked in with Aunt Ash, Mr. Nigel, Aunt Brooklyn, and Uncle Matt.

I quickly turned away. I wasn’t sure what Jacob had told his parents about our breakup. But I still felt very uncomfortable.

The room was abuzz as everyone kept arriving. Axel and his parents came in and I stared at him. He was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. And his hair was jelled up a bit. The 50s looked good on him. But unlike with Jacob, Axel actually caught me staring. He smiled.

I waved.

And then he started talking to Jacob.

Parker ran in after her parents.

Oh wow. She was actually coming to the dance. Were her parents okay with that?

She ran over to RJ where he was sitting on the couch.

RJ groaned.

“Don’t I look beautiful in my dress?” she said to him.

“No. You look five. And it doesn’t even fit the theme.”

She kicked his shin and he yelped. “Tell me I look beautiful in my dress, idiot.”

“Fine. You look beautiful in your dress, idiot,” he repeated the line back at her.

I laughed as the two of them kept bickering. Liam walked over to his date that was a junior in college. She clearly looked much older than him. How was no one freaking out about who Liam and RJ were taking to the dance?

“So tell me more about this mystery date,” my mom said.

“He’s...” God, how could I describe my kiss thief when I’d never even seen him? “He’s really sweet. And confident.” Borderline cocky. “We can pretty much talk about anything. He makes me feel comfortable. And he’s made his feelings for me very clear. Which I appreciate.”

“And you like him?” my mom asked.

I nodded. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t led with that.

“You’re sure you wouldn’t be more excited if you were going with someone else?”

“What?”

“A certain someone in a leather jacket.” She nodded toward Axel. She must have followed my gaze earlier.

I shook my head. “Axel and I are just friends.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Positive.”

Axel turned away from Jacob and stared at me across the room.