Page 83 of One More Made Up Love Song
But Ivy hasalwaysbeen all of those things. She hasn’t changed, so how did I miss them for so long?
It’s no wonder she wants to work somewhere else.
Her boss is a colossal idiot.
“Hey,” Ivy says, and I look down at her. “Where is your brain?” she asks. “I’m trying to give you a signal here.”
My eyes shift to where her hand is tugging on her earlobe. She tilts her head toward a set of temporary bleachers directly across from the entrance to the movie theater where fans have gathered to watch us walk the red carpet.
“Fans are watching,” she whispers. “You should kiss me.”
I don’t want this to be a kiss like the one we shared at the Voltage party, where she runs away and avoids me for a day. But I also don’t want to miss the opportunity to kiss her again.
When I finally press my lips to hers, fire floods my veins, and I forget to be scared. I forget to worry that this might not last. That she’s leaving me to work somewhere else. I just melt into the kiss and breathe her in.
Somewhere beyond us, cheers erupt and multiple cameras click, flashes popping. But I don’t care about any of it.
I’m too consumed with the softness of her lips, with the scent of her as I lean close, the look in her eyes when I finally pull away.
“What’s gotten into you?” she says, her tone playful, and I almost ask her. Right there with everyone watching.
I almost ask if she was telling the truth. And if she’ll ever forgive me for taking so long to realize what was standing in front of me all this time.
But I can’t do it. I can’t because if she says no, then I’ll bethe one having to squeeze her elbow looking for a way to escape.
“Nothing. I’m good,” I finally say. “Just really glad you’re here with me tonight.”
She pushes up on her toes and kisses me one more time. “Me too,” she says as my hands slide to her hips. I give them a squeeze.
“Have I told you how incredible you look?” I ask.
“You have,” she says. “But I don’t mind you telling me again.”
“You do,” I say. “You look like you belong out here.”
She playfully rolls her eyes. “Ugh, don’t wish it on me. I like it much better behind the scenes. I can’t stop wondering if I have something in my teeth, which is stupid because I haven’t eaten since I left the house. But all this attention is messing with my head. I can’t believe how easy you make this seem.”
“I got used to it,” I say. “Then the whole world shared a video of me looking like I was picking my nose seventeen million times, and I just stopped caring.”
“Did youreallystop caring?” she teases. “Because you still seem a little salty.”
“I had an itch,” I say. “My nose itched! I did not deserve to be maligned so brutally.”
Ivy laughs. “Whatever you have to tell yourself.”
I silence her laughter with one more kiss, chasing the impulse to be as close to her as possible. I’m too aware of our surroundings to let go like I did at the Voltage party, but as simple as it is, this kiss almost feels more intense. Because I’m kissing her with a sense of possibility that I didn’t feel before.
When Ivy pulls back, there’s a question in her eyes, andfor once, I don’t filter what I’m thinking. I look at her like I want her, like I’m ready for this thing between us to be real.
“If you kids are done making out with your eyes, it’s time to go inside,” Leo says, stepping up beside us. He drops an arm around my shoulder, and another cheer erupts from the watching crowd. Leo lifts his hand and waves. “You guys gave them quite a show.”
I smile, eyes still on Ivy. “I forgot they were even there.”
Late that night,after we’ve watched the movie and gone to an afterparty that kept us out until close to two a.m. and answered a phone call from Sloane saying Ivy and I basically broke the internet with our public displays of affection, a knock sounds on my bedroom door. I’m half undressed, down to my suit pants and socks, but I answer anyway, expecting it to be Wayne with some sort of security update. He lives in the pool house, but he has access to the entire property, and he’s the only one who ever needs anything this late.
But it isn’t Wayne.
It’s Ivy. She’s changed into tiny sleep shorts and aLiving Out Loudtour hoodie. Her hair is up, and her face is bare, and she looks perfect.
