Page 29 of Soulmates

“You’re offering to buy me ice cream? Did you miss the part where I’m the daughter of a former pop star and an old-money Italian family?”

“Actually I kind of did. And it doesn’t matter how much money your family has. I can still afford an ice cream.”

I winced. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Look, I don’t give a crap about your money or your family or even what your name is. I like who you are as a person. You’re fun and easy to talk to. We’re just two people. End of story.”

“Surprise me,” I said, nodding toward the counter.

“Do you have any allergies I should be aware of?”

I shook my head. A part of me wished Shawn hadn’t agreed to come. That we’d just gone our separate ways so I could go home and lock myself in my bedroom and not have to pretend that Samuel’s words hadn’t hurt.

Shawn came back to our table a couple of minutes later with two cups of a vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate and swirls of peanut butter.

He placed one in front of me and slid into the seat across the table. “You want to talk about what happened at the club?”

I caught a chocolate chunk on my plastic spoon and stared at it as if it were fascinating.

“You obviously knew each other.”

“Not well.”

“How’d you meet him?”

“It’s a long story, and I’m pretty sure you’ll think I’m crazy if I tell you.”

“Try me.” Shawn’s expression was open and didn’t hold any hint of judgment.

So I told him about the first time I met Samuel and then about how I saw him again at the charity ball and finally about the kiss in the linen closet.

“I think you might have hit the nail on the head when you asked him if he was jealous,” Shawn said when I was finished with my story.

“I doubt that, but even if you’re right, what does it matter? He doesn’t talk to me like a person—he plays games and tells me we need to stay away from each other just so he can walk over in a crowded room and make a scene.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to care, but you can’t really choose who you’re attracted to or if you get jealous.”

I took a bite of ice cream as I pondered Shawn’s words. They almost made sense. Samuel had pulled me into the linen closet right after I talked to Freddie. Then he’d come over when I was dancing with Shawn.

“And what about the part where he doesn’t look any older than he did eight years ago?” I asked. “Do you have any ideas on that?”

“Maybe he’s a vampire,” Shawn deadpanned.

I nearly choked on my ice cream. “There’s no such thing as vampires.” But honestly, I hadn’t come up with a better explanation. “If he were a ghost, we wouldn’t all be able to see him, right?” I wasn’t really sure I believed in ghosts any more than I believed in vampires. But Samuel had to be something, because even movie stars weren’tthatageless.

Shawn shrugged. “Does it really matter? Some people don’t seem to age. My twin sister still looks nearly exactly like she did when we were sixteen.”

“You have a twin sister?”

“Yeah. She moved to Texas after we graduated high school, and I haven’t seen much of her since. Plane tickets are freaking expensive.”

“What was in Texas?”

“Her job. And her boyfriend, now her fiancé. She had her whole life planned out by the time we were done with high school. Unlike me.” He gave me a self-deprecating smile.

“What did you do after high school?”

“Worked at a fast-food joint while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and wasted time with a boyfriend who never really loved me.”

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