Page 23 of Yours Temporarily

Backing Jeremy’s rationale despite the ache settling in, I nod to Nico. “Jeremy is right.” Nico seems like the life of the party, and his friendliness soothes this rather strange time. Perhaps he’ll visit my café. “I hope to see you again soon.”

His playful salute is a small comfort as I turn to leave.

The walk to my friends’ table blurs as so many emotions blind me to everything else. The laughter and music fade, a backdrop to my internal turmoil. This fake date is concluding before it has a chance to begin.

I’m almost to my friends’ table when Damien returns, beaming. His smile vanishes the moment he looks at me. I mustn’t be as good at masking my feelings as I thought.

“What happened?”

I squish my face, working my best to act normal. “Any chance I get to meet Jessie tonight?”

“Over here.” Olivia ushers me toward the table. “I’ll point her out.”

Drawn to any distraction, I hurry over.

Damien persists. “Did Kress say anything to make you uncomfortable?”

His face is serious. While my brother used to have a temper, I figured it diffused with maturity. But now he’s looking too riled.

“I’m fine, Damien.” I speak through gritted teeth not wanting to capture attention. Had he been watching our every step like he promised?

Lexi and Olivia exchange inquisitive glances and I hold up a hand to silence them. “I just want to ride home with you all.” Edginess sharpens my tone now, but it’s probably not recognizable over the music. “Will that be okay?”

Olivia nods.

“I knew I couldn’t trust him,” Damien mutters. His gaze, sharp and assessing, shoots toward Jeremy.

And that’s when my eyes betray me and my gaze follows his. Jeremy’s alone at the table. He turns then as if he knows exactly where to look. His gaze catches mine. I doubt he looks at Damien at all because his confused gaze holds mine in a silent exchange before he looks away.

“I’ll be back.”

At Damien’s declaration, I jerk his shoulder.

“Don’t talk to Jeremy right now, please.” I have to look at Damien to make sure he understands how seriously I mean it when I say he’d better stay out of this. “I really like him.”

The admission is more for myself than for Damien. Maybe I’m the one crossing this line of fake and giving Jeremy cues he’s not prepared to take. He was clear. He needed a fake date, period.

“He didn’t force you into doing anything, right?”

I burst out laughing and slap Damien on the back. At least, with the music in the background, the nearby tables can’t hear us. The girls fall in as the silent observers they become whenever Damien and I get into a serious argument, but this one is not even an argument, I have no idea what to call it. To keep Damien at peace, I further explain why Jeremy isn’t taking me home.

“He offered to drive me, but I told him it’d be silly when you were all here and could take me home.”

My brother’s tense shoulders ease back into place. He gives me a skeptical look, then glances back at Jeremy’s table, but he’s not there anymore.

“Congratulations, by the way.” I move in to embrace Damien. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m proud of you too, that you’re driving home with us.” He draws back and shakes a finger at me before he pulls out chairs for us.

An upbeat song plays, and Damien flicks his fingers, then ushers us to stand. “Let’s all go shake it up.”

“I’ll watch you.” I don’t dare reignite the feelings of my dance with Jeremy, but I can’t ruin the party for everyone either.

“I need to take some pictures.” Lexi swipes through her phone, deleting some photos to create more memory. “I should’ve brought my camera.”

I stay with Lexi while Damien and Olivia hit the dance floor.

As we drive home, the others chatter about the dance and his award, but I watch the city lights blur into streaks of color. Like batter blending, this mirrors my jumbled emotions, leaving me wondering what might have been if we'd let things develop. Instead, I’m left reeling from the fleeting moments with Jeremy and nagged by curiosity about what it would be like to be his real girlfriend.

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