Page 25 of Breaking the Ice

With her advice ringing in my ears, I enter my room. Isabella has grabbed one of my blankets and wrapped it around herself. She no longer perches on the edge of my bed but has shifted towards the center. Progress. I like this sight a lot.

I hand her a Pepsi and a bag of chips. “Hey. O’Bryan’s is hosting Sing-O this week. Wanna come with me?”

Wow, that has to be the worst date offer in the history of the world. Great job, Evan.

She blinks, her face impassive. “Um, maybe. It’s tech week, and I have stuff every day but Sunday.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket, fingers shaking slightly as I check, and then breathe a sigh of relief. I hold the screen up to show her. “Sing-O is Sunday at six.”

“Cool.” I still can’t read her face. Is she excited about the prospect of a date or did she say yes out of pity? I don’t think she’d do that, but I can’t tell. “Also, what’s Sing-O?”

“It’s like Bingo, but instead of numbers you have song titles on your card. They play, like, ten seconds of a song, and you try to identify it. I know how much you like music and song lyrics, I thought it could be your jam.” I laugh. “Get it? Your jam?”

She rolls her eyes but giggles, too. “I get it. And yeah, that sounds fun. Wanna meet there?”

I hesitate. I want to offer to pick her up, like a real date. But her dad… “That sounds great.”

When she smiles, warmth spreads through my body like sunshine on a summer day.

Chapter

Eleven

EVAN

Evan: Hey, what should I wear on a date tonight?

Beth: How should I know? Every guy looks the same to me.

Beth: Which is to say, unappealing.

Evan: Well aware. I just thought you might have some advice.

Evan: And you’re my sister. Isn’t this, like, your job?

Beth: Fair point. But don’t you always just wear a backwards hat and a hockey shirt like a dudebro?

Evan: Yeah, but…

Evan: I want to make a good impression.

Beth: You care about this girl? About what she thinks?

Evan: Yeah.

Beth: I wear scrubs every day. Let me ask Ally, she’s better at fashion.

Beth: She says wear dark jeans and a polo. Still in your wheelhouse but looks like you made an effort.

Evan: Thanks. And tell Ally I say thanks, too.

Beth: You gonna let me know how the date goes?

Evan: Probably not.

Beth: Don’t mess it up.

Smoothing down my white polo shirt, I keep an eye on the door, watching for Isabella to enter the restaurant. If I can’t pick her up, I can at least arrive early, get us a table, and look presentable. I should be embarrassed over how long I debated my wardrobe choices. Hadley would have been all too happy to give me her opinion, but I’m pretty sure she would have made me try on everything in my closet. My sister’s opinion is a little skewed since she’s not into guys, but her logic was sound. A polo it is.