Page 57 of Shut Up and Drive

I chuckled nervously, trying not to forget my own name as Tony Bennett crooned over my phone speaker. Time sped up and slowed down, all at once, and I wanted more than anything to be the guy taking Sera to the prom. I’d never even dared to ask her, though I thought about it every day for months. Then there was the very important factor of how Bash would’ve reacted to me dating his little sister. But the truth is, I’d steal the moon if she asked me for it.

When the song ended, I leaned over and dipped her backward ever so slightly. She relaxed into my arms, fully trusting that I wouldn’t let her fall. Our cheeks brushed, our lips so close I could smell the wintergreen gum she chewed. I froze in the moment, her eyes locked on mine in that tiny corner of the world lit by twinkling lights. A soft smile crossed her face, and I knew I needed to put some space between us or I’d never be content to just be the boy next door.

I pulled her upright again and exhaled slowly, trying to steady my racing heart. Her hands slid from my neck and down my chest before she shoved them into her pockets, causing a wake of goosebumps to trickle down my torso.

I had always imagined what it would feel like to be close to her like that—to touch her skin, to feel her fingertips brush across my body. But I never could’ve imagined that it was like being struck by lightning and skydiving without a parachute at the same time. I wanted to taste her lips more than I wanted to breathe, but I knew crossing that line held consequences we couldn’t come back from. Our families were close. Bash was my best friend. We had so much at stake if things fell apart. And I wanted her forever, not just for a year or two in high school. She would be worth the wait—that I knew.

So I backed away from her hypnotic brown eyes, her soft red lips, and her hair that smelled like summertime, and forced my heart to shut up.

“Okay,” I said, picking up my phone and pausing the next song in the queue, “that about covers it. You’ll do great.” Then, like an idiot, I pretend-slugged her in the arm like she had no effect on me. My cheeks flushed with the embarrassment of my awkwardness, and I took a step toward the door. I held it open for her, and as she moved past me, she squeezed my arm affectionately.

“Thanks, Thane.”

I nodded dumbly and watched as she stepped back into the house, takingmy heart with her.

Prom Night

A cheap disco ball spun above the crowd of dancing teenagers, casting sparkling light all around our smelly high school gymnasium. No amount of streamers, stringed lights, or tablecloths could disguise the basketball hoops and the scent of sweat that lingered. My date, Cassandra, looked nice, and we were having a relatively good time. But all that changed when Serafina walked through the door with the luckiest guy in the whole world. All the cliché things from the rom-coms she watched happened the moment I laid eyes on her: time stopped, the music around me faded into a blurry conglomeration of noise, and everyone else in the room disappeared. I would have given everything I owned to be the guy her arm was looped around.

The way her satiny gold dress draped around her curves had me stupefied. The light from the doorway danced on her silky dark curls, but it was the tiny flowers pinned like a crown around her head that made my brain short-circuit. Heaven forbid she turn around; her butt was my secret kryptonite, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist dropping my gaze. I drank her in when she had no idea I was watching her, finally understanding why Mr. Darcy loved Elizabeth “most ardently.” I, too, was bewitched, body and soul.

I needed to quit watching these movies with her.

Her chocolate-brown eyes found mine, and her red lips parted into the most captivating smile I had ever seen. I fought to catch my breath, and my heart railed against my ribcage like an angry animal. She may have gotten all dolled up for stupid Paul Gibbons, but at that moment in time, she was staring directly at me. I returned her smile and waveddiscreetly at her so our dates wouldn’t see. She released the grip she had on her purse long enough to return the wave.

When a slow song began to play, Paul whisked her onto the dance floor, and Cassandra dragged me out there too. I steered Cassandra close enough to Sera that I could make eye contact with her in the dimly lit space between us, and timed our circles to sync. Every time I spun to face her, she locked eyes with me. Then I noticed it: the way she let Paul hold her to dance was the “friend position” I had taught her a few days earlier on the patio. I smiled knowingly at her and moved Cassandra to the same stance. Sera winked, and for the rest of the song, our eyes held a secret conversation in a language no one else spoke.

As the night drew to a close, the lights came on, and the harsh fluorescent glow replaced the quasi-romantic one we had spent the last few hours in. Cassandra unpinned her hair and gathered up her shoes. I loosened my bowtie and unbuttoned the top button of my shirt. I looked all around the gym for Sera, hoping to at least tell her how beautiful she looked before the spell broke at midnight and she’d go back to being my best friend’s kid sister. I spotted her just as Paul was putting his tuxedo jacket around her and leading her toward the exit. She glanced one more time over her shoulder, and the fire that burned in my chest gave me an iron-clad resolve:

I would never watch her walk away with another guy again.

Chapter 22

NICE PJS

Sera

That evening, I step out of the shower and wrap my freshly washed hair in a towel. I love campfires, don’t get me wrong, but I hate smelling like one when I go to bed afterward. I rush through my skincare routine, run a brush through my wet hair, and throw on my sleep bra and underwear. It’s only then that I realize that my pajamas are still in the dryer from this morning. I glance around for my phone so I can call my mom to rescue me. When I don’t find it on the counter, I peek into my room and spot it charging on my nightstand.Crap.

For a few seconds I contemplate wrapping back up in my now-wet towel to make the dash to the laundry room, until I notice Thane’s gray hoodie hanging on the back of the bathroom door. Before I can talk myself out of it, I throw his amazing-smelling sweatshirt over my head. It’s the perfect size to cover my butt, but only by a few inches. I crack open the door and stick my head out, surveying thescene. As soon as I see that the coast is clear, I tiptoe down the dark hallway, past the loft, and down the stairs. The lake house is dark except for one dim light glowing in the kitchen. I pause to listen for anyone awake, and nothing but silence responds. I dart past and into the laundry room, grab my PJs out of the dryer, and turn to make a run for it back up to the bathroom.

Just as I skirt past the kitchen island, a low, buttery voice scares me out of my skin.

“Are you wearing my hoodie?” Thane asks from the pantry doorway.

I scream in response and hiss, “Make some noise when you’re the only one awake! You scared me!”

“If I made noise when everyone else is sleeping, then I wouldn’t be the only one awake anymore, now would I?”

His eyes dip from mine, down the sweatshirt, and stop at my bare legs. “Nice PJs.”

I pull at the hem and cross my legs at the knees.

“I was stranded in the bathroom. This was my only choice.”

A smile tugs at one corner of his mouth. “It was a great one.”

I smack his arm with my hand. “Oh, knock it off.”