Page 25 of Changing the Play

Because why did he have to bring me here? With the twinkling lights and the candles on the table and the romantic atmosphere. Does this man not know what a date looks like? This is ridiculous.

“I’m excited you finally agreed.”

I dart my gaze up to West. “What do you mean?”

He waves his hands around the table. “To going to dinner with me. I’m glad you agreed.”

Oh my God. He can’t be serious right now. Why is he making it sound like it’s a date? My pulse flutters in my throat as I grip my menu tightly in my hands. “I didn’t realize it was such a big deal.”

He lets out a warm laugh. “I mean, I had to askthree times, Darcy. Almost feels like getting to take you to dinner is more of a celebration than actually passing a history test.”

I blink at him, my fingers flexing against the menu. I don’t even respond. I have no idea what to even say. “Yeah.”

Well, that wasn’t great. Maybe saying nothing would have been better. He hums, so I drop my eyes to my menu. I’m not really seeing it. Doesn’t matter. I’ll probably just get a steak. “At any rate, I’m glad we’re here,” he says.

My stomach does something deeply inconvenient. “So, what are you getting?” I ask, trying to get myself to calm down and focus on the fact that this isnot a date. Nothing more than a dinner between friends. A friendly, platonic dinner. Nothing to be freaking out over.

He doesn’t answer for a second, so I look up at him. He’s watching me, his head tilted to the side. It looks like he’s trying to figure me out, his eyes slowly exploring my face. I can feel my cheeks heating up, but he still doesn’t look away. His eyes drop to my lips, so quickly I’d almost think it’s a trick of the light.

Why is he doing that? Why did he look at my lips? He didn’t, clearly. This is messing with my head. That’s all. There’s no way. I look downat my menu, trying to ignore the way my heart is pounding and my stomach is twisted in knots.

West clears his throat. “What areyougetting?”

“Probably steak,” I mumble, not looking up from my menu.

“Cool. Me too.”

I scoff, trying to focus on literally anything but my spiraling. I have to get us back on normal ground. I’ll never survive this if I don’t. “Copycat.” I close my menu and set it down in front of me, finally lifting my eyes to his.

He’s smiling at me. It’s lazy and adorable and I hate it. His eyes dip again and this time I know I didn’t imagine it. “Maybe you just have good taste.”

I force myself to exhale. “Or maybe you’re just unoriginal.”

He relaxes in his chair, clutching his chest. “Ouch.”

I can’t help but smile. I guess I’ll be going down with the ship. How tragic for my heart. But hey, I made it most of my life without a straight boy crush, so it was only a matter of time. “How will you ever recover?”

“I’m really not sure.” I can tell by the teasing glint in his eyes he’s not as bothered as he’d like to pretend. “You know, I thought you’d be more excited about dinner. You’re acting a little strange.”

Well, how nice of him to notice. “I’m excited.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You’re acting like you’re at the dentist.”

A laugh bursts from my chest. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” I stop talking. I shouldn’t have talked at all. At least not in that direction.

West’s watching me, his expression patient and expectant. “It’s just?”

I sigh. “I’m not sure why we came… here,” I say, gesturing around the restaurant.

West looks around, a furrow between his brows like he’s not sure what the problem is. “What’s wrong with this place? I thought it was nice.”

Itisnice. God, I sound like a brat. “No, it is. It’s just… aren’t you worried people will think we’re on a date?”

He blinks at me, like he hadn’t even considered that. “A date?” he repeats. I expect the question to freak him out and my heart’s in my throat because, truthfully, why did I even say that? And I consider myself intelligent? Oh god, I’m freaking out. He shrugs. “Would it be the worst thing?”

What?“I’m sorry… what?”

West’s eyes go wide. “I mean… I wasn’t really thinking about that.” He tilts his head to the side, his expression softening. “I just wanted to take you to dinner, Darcy. That’s all.” He gives me an easy grin. “So what you’re saying is I have great taste in restaurants?”

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