Stalk Me

I walk out into the family room where Cush is waiting.

“Whoa,” he says. “Now that’s a dress. I wasn’t sure about the white di

“Of course you’ll look good together. I’m good at my job,” Kym says from behind us. “All right, get together. I want to take some pictures.”

Cush wraps his arm around my waist.

“No, like this,” Kym says, repositioning his arm. “You don’t want your jacket sleeve to bunch. And you must only touch her dress with your fingertips, so you don’t change the flow of the fabric.”

“Uh, okay,” Cush laughs.

“You’re a good sport,” I tell him as we walk out my front door to his Mercedes coupe.

“I’ll be just about anything you want me to be when you wear a dress like that.”

He gently pushes me against the side of the car and kisses me, which takes me completely by surprise.

It’s a long, deep kiss.

A kiss very much the opposite of Brooklyn’s.

And possibly a little bit hotter.

But I pull away. I can’t kiss him.

He backs away with a smirk on his face. “You kissed me back,” he says as he opens my door.

“I did not,” I reply as I slide into the passenger seat. “You just surprised me. It took me a minute to react.”

The party is scheduled to start at eight, so we pla

Vanessa:  Where the fuck are you? Everyone is here. 

Me:  Just getting ready to leave my house. Be there in a few.

“It’s Vanessa,” I say. “She wants to know where the fuck we are.”

Cush’s eyes slide down my plunging neckline, and he shakes his head. “As much as I’d like to take you to my house and attempt to take it off, a dress like that deserves to be seen.”

I try to change the subject to something less awkward. “What are you talking about? Look at you. All the girls are go

He raises his eyebrows and flashes me his dimples. “Maybe I want you to be all like, Cuusshh.”

I let out a big, huffy breath. “Cush, you know I like Brooklyn, right? I’m going to spend the weekend with him.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “After all the complaining you did at school about him this week? Why would you go with him? You deserve better,” he says as he starts the car.

While he drives, I can’t help but stare at him. He does look sexy tonight. Even before the steamy kiss. He’s always been super cute and fu

Cush grabs my hand as we walk into the party. Heads turn, and people openly stare. I think my dress is worthy of stares, but I know they are staring at two things:

One. How good Cush looks.

And two. The fact that we are holding hands and making a very public entrance together. Like a couple.

Shit.

RiA

“Have you been there before?”

“No, we haven’t. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“It’s beautiful. Monaco and the coast of France are two of my favorite places in the world. You’ll have an amazing trip.”

Cush and I get away from RiA

“Hey, Leo. What’s up? You ready for this weekend?” Cush asks him.

“You know it.”

“You know Keatyn, right?”

“We have Italian together,” I say.

“Italian? I thought you were in French? How many languages do you speak?” Cush asks.

“Well, I’m fluent in French, speak passable Italian and Spanish, and know just enough German to be dangerous. Leo’s family speaks Italian at home with his grandparents. The class is pretty easy for him.”

“So, what’s the deal with this party? Vanessa has never given me the time of day. I can’t figure out why I got invited.”

“The piranha is looking for fresh meat,” I tease. We all laugh. “Did they tell you the alcohol is in her bedroom? Just pretend to use the bathroom. We’re heading back there now. When we get back, go check it out.”

I lead Cush to her bedroom, where we run into RiA

“Keatyn, your dress is amazing.” She looks down at hers. “I told Vanessa this was too princessey.”

“I think your dress is gorgeous, RiA

“Fine. Vanessa is being a bitch, though. Isn’t she supposed to be mingling? I swear she’s ignoring everyone except for that quarterback. She’s been all over him. I think he’s scared of her.”

“You should go talk to him, Cush. He’s on your soccer team, isn’t he?”

“He’s JV, but yeah.”

“RiA

“Do you want something?” I ask Cush.

He takes a step closer to me. “Just you.”

“I meant do you want a drink?”

“Naw, I gotta drive you home, plus I need to stick to water. Coach wants us fully hydrated. We could have three games tomorrow.”

I think about how I always had to stay sober, so I could get Sander home. It’s really nice to have someone worry about getting you home. Not that I’m going to get drunk, but maybe I can let loose a little. Not be so strict with myself.

“Well in that case, I’m doing a couple shots.”

“If you get drunk, I might have to take advantage of you,” he says with a sly grin as he pulls me into his arms.

“Do I have to get drunk for that?” I tease back, like I would have before we kissed.

He looks at me for a beat and smiles widely. “Probably not. So I’ll go find Alex and try to rescue him from Vanessa’s evil clutches.”

“Just talk sports. Vanessa’s eyes will glaze over, and she’ll walk away.”

While I’m contemplating what kind of shot I want, Mandy and her friend, Alicia, wander in. “We heard there was booze in here,” they giggle.

“There is. I was just contemplating what kind of shot I want.”

“So, did you really dump Sander? Are you and Cush dating now? He is sooo hot. Hotter than Sander, I think. He seems more manly,” Mandy says.

“And did you see he’s, like, the only guy in a white jacket? You two look amazing together. Your dress is so pretty,” Alicia says sweetly.

“Thanks. And no, I didn’t dump Sander. I suggested we break up, but it was a mutual thing. We’re still friends.”

“That’s so cool. What about Cush?”

“Cush and I . . . ” I laugh and shake my head. I have no idea what Cush and I are. We’re good friends, who just shared a ridiculously steamy kiss. A kiss I should have gathered my wits about faster and pulled away from sooner. But I don’t want to say that. I mutter out, “He’s hot. That’s all that really matters, right?”

The girls nod at me and giggle, but I mentally cringe. I so did not mean to say that. For it to sound like I’m some shallow little bitch who is only here with him because he’s hot. I try to fix it. “I didn’t mean I’m only here with him because he’s hot. We’re friends.”

They both stare at me blankly, so I pour three shots of passion fruit rum. “Cheers,” I say.

“So why are we here tonight? I mean, we’ve been to some of Cush’s parties, but nothing like this,” Alicia says.

“Honestly, Vanessa is trying to decide who is worthy of sitting at our table next year.”

The girls’ eyes get big.

“Sit at the popular table. With the hottest guys. Um, sign us up,” Mandy says.

“You’re both cheerleaders. You’re already popular.”

“Not like you.”