Page 20 of Love in Development

“Nice to meet you, Molly.I’ve seen you at some of our practices.”

I stared like an idiot at the outstretched, massive hand.Who was this giant touching my friend so intimately?

Lin cleared her throat in warning.

I touched my fingers to his palm, and he engulfed my hand.

“Nice to meet you.”I answered the greeting mechanically.What was he doing here with her?Could it be...?

“Maddox.”He smiled widely and nodded.Thankfully, not crushing my hand in his.

My eyes darted to Lin, squished between his shoulder and her chair.I asked “what the heck?”as silently as I could.This wastheMaddox?He looked even bigger in person than he had out on the field.

He was still focused on me, so I continued the awkward conversation while Lin stayed silent.“So, how long have you two been together?”

“Over a year.”He released my hand.

Mind.Blown.He was actually her boyfriend!Not a crush.Not a one-sided, hopeful something.Her actual boyfriend of a year.So she had really ditched him in favor of dancing with me at the Winter Formal?

Lin was more private than I had expected.She had told me—no, Charisse had told me.But she never talked about him or gave details.She just went to practice and watched him from afar.He never came over.I had assumed...

The person on my right shifted in their chair—no squeak from theirs—and cleared their throat.They bent toward me just as Maddox had, and I scrunched against my seat to avoid them, just as Lin was doing.An arm extended across me and to my left to catch Maddox’s hand in a complicated and well-rehearsed series of movements.

“Hey, fancy meeting you here.”

Those brown waves and that jawline looked awfully familiar.A chill went up my spine.A reaction to someone encroaching on my space?

Maddox and my seatmate both settled back in their chairs.I turned my head so I could see in my periphery, and my body went numb.

Inches from me, on my right, was Ni.He smiled that devastating smile.“Hey.”

Did the guy ever say anything else?I blinked a few times.My brain short-circuited.“Um, hi.”

He lowered his hand.“So, you know Maddox’s girlfriend?”

I nodded.I needed to thank him again for the power supply.

Luckily, the lights died down, and the music started, signaling that it was Charisse’s turn for my attention.I’d thank him later.

But now it was dark, and Charisse’s Ni-guy lounged right next to me.

He stretched his legs as far as the cramped seating allowed.

I pushed back into my chair and faced the front.My hands started to sweat.I rubbed them together, but that made it worse.So I wiped them discreetly on my pants.

A Midsummer Night’s Dreambegan.

The curtains rose, revealing white columns and a clichéd Greek setting.Six people in white tunics and robes stood on the stage.And then the painful Shakespearean English began.Luckily, I had looked up the cheat notes on what the play was about so I could catch the gist of it.

The pounding of my heart in my ears made it even harder to concentrate.I tried taking slow, deep breaths, but it sounded more like I was hyperventilating.My body was insanely aware of his every noise and movement he made, which was nonsense because I hadn’t been aware of him at all until I’d seen his face.

Shakespeare was obsessed with star-crossed lovers running away to marry secretly against their parents’ wishes.Of course, I only knew the storyline of Romeo and Juliet, but so far, this play was proving my theory right.Ah, the draw of forbidden love.The curtains shut, billowing as they changed the set.

On my right, Ni crossed his feet.

I bit my lip.I didn’t need any love at all.Just Mom.And my games.That was enough for me.

Trees stood where there once had been columns, along with walls of vines.What I assumed were a fairy and a sprite entered the now foresty stage from opposite sides.I had no idea what they were talking about, and my attention wavered to the guy at my side.