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His smile mirrors mine, the tenderness enveloping me like a coat. Nora coos a low “ooh!” I throw her a side glance and look back at Jase. Behind him, Andy is smirking. Michael and Hannah ping-pong their eyes at me and Jase like they’re waiting for something to happen. Karthik just stands there with his arms crossed, clearly wondering when we’ll go inside Blossoms.

“Are we all watching together?” Jase asks, disappointed, head turning front and back.

Nora waves this off like it’s the silliest idea ever. “Just here for moral support.”

“So are we!” Andy says, and he high-fives Nora.

I know Jase and I are thinking the same thing when we exchange looks. Our friends aren’t here to watch the movie. They’re here to watch us.

We stroll through Golden Marketplace, passing by people with shopping bags and ice cream, the smell of pistachio and cookies and cream mixing with the summer air. Bubblegum blue stretches across the sky, striped with pink the shade of strawberry ice cream. Marigolds and peonies are popcorned inside the planters. There are crowds of people sitting at the outside tables and lining up at the movie theater in the back. All the buildings are shadowed enough that their yellow paint doesn’t pop.

When we reach Blossoms, all the tables are pushed against the walls, and chairs line across the floor like movie seats. It’s nearly packed, the smell of whipped cream and apple scones tickling through my nose. Nora and Andy race to the back row. Even though all the seats are occupied by a few guys, Nora says, “Move!”

“You heard her,” Andy says.

“We were here first,” says one of the guys.

“Actually, we were here first, but you all took it without asking,” Nora says.

Jase turns to me and raises an eyebrow. “Were they?”

I muffle my laugh with a fist, and Jase laughs too. “Definitely not. This is classic Nora.”

“I tried stopping you guys, but you didn’t hear me,” Andy adds.

Jase snorts into a balled-up fist. “That’s classic Andy.”

The guys roll their eyes and sit somewhere else. Nora plops down in one of the now available seats. Andy joins, patting the chair on his right as he calls Karthik over. Karthik shrugs in an okay-whatever way and sits beside Andy.

All the chairs around them are occupied. Considering that Nora is behind this, I am certain she intended to leave me no seat. Andy must be doing the same for Jase. Karthik’s just tagging along.

Michael and Hannah are sitting in the front row. Hannah says something to the couple beside them, and they move somewhere else. Michael waves us over. Just as we sit in the now available seats, Hannah and Michael stand up.

“Have fun!” Michael teases.

Hannah gives him a look, then turns back to us. “Really, enjoy tonight.”

I nod in thanks. My heart races as Jase and I exchange tender smiles. Just sitting with him is enough for me to follow Hannah’s words.

Michael and Hannah sit in the row in front Nora, Andy, and Karthik. Guess those five have a better view for what they’re really here to watch. Jase and I look at each other. These feelings I’ve grown for him intensify so much I can’t control them. I can’t decide if I want to run away like I did in this same place that first day we met, or stay, holding onto these feelings as they envelop me.

Jase glances behind us. Judging by his face, our friends are probably pointing fingers and snickering. I decide not to turn back, though I am tempted to glare at them.

Jase opens the paper bag, half filled with the cookies I decorated, the other half Jase’s, between us. Its fresh bake has faded, but the icing still smells as sweet as the whipped-creamed Blossom Blasts people around us are slurping.

“Jordan has fillings for his cavities, so I can’t let him eat everything,” Jase says.

“Such a caring older brother,” I say.

He flashes me a smile that makes my heart melt like chocolate chips in a freshly baked cookie. I reciprocate with my own smile. Jase dips his gaze to the bag, pink blooming across his cheeks. The yellow ceiling lights highlight his face, bringing out his dimples, as well as the gold rim around his eyes, even more.

“Aw!”

Even though we don’t need to turn back (it’s obvious who’s cooing) we do so anyway, firing shut-up glares at our friends, who are snickering, smirking, and looking at us as if to say Aren’t you both the cutest? We turn away and munch on the cookies, initially to ignore them but more so to share this moment, just the two of us.

Jaya and Alondra set up a smaller projector, the kind that shows movies, and place it on a stand with rolling wheels. Jian is about to help until he notices us.

“Perfect for a date night, right?” Jian says.