Page 20 of The Pucking Kiss

Brian did a double-take as he looked at me.

“Romai?” he said, and his eyes widened. He was probably wondering if I had been replaced by someone else.

“Thanks for coming to pick me up,” I said as I closed the door behind me. “We should really start going. The party started at 8, and it’s 9 already.”

He shook his head, still not tearing his eyes off me. “Don’t be such a rookie. The cool kids don’t start showing up. And you’re with the coolest guy in town.”

“Nice to see you’re still just as full of yourself.”

“Nice to see that you made an effort to dress up,” he flashed me a grin as we made our way over to his car. “I mean, seriously? Were you hiding…those…” he gestured towards my chest, “under those ugly oversized sweaters you wore all this time?”

“Bryan,” I warned, blushing at his comment. “Behave.”

“I’m just saying that you look… good.”

We took a seat in his car, and he began to start the ignition.

“Did you get a head injury on your way here?” I cast a look of suspicion in his direction as he began to pull out of my driveway. “Since when do you give me compliments?”

“Better get used to it,” he chuckled. “I’m your boyfriend now, aren’t I? Anyway, I hope you’re hyped about the party. It’s the biggest one of the season. If you’re really looking to make a statement, there’s no place to debut your fake boyfriend. You’ll be climbing up the social totem pole in no time.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and began fiddling with my thumbs and playing with the hem of my dress. Noticing my silence, Bryan spoke up again.

“You don’t have to be nervous,” his tone was softer this time. “It’s going to be okay. It’s just a party.”

“Well… I’ve never been to a party before.”

“What?” his head snapped towards me, “You’re kidding. Right?”

I chewed on my bottom lip, embarrassed. “I’m serious, alright? It’s not like I haven’t wanted to go. It’s just that no one ever really bothered to invite me.”

He reached out to squeeze my hand sympathetically, and I felt a spark as soon as he touched my hand. “It’ll be okay. You’re with me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “Besides, I kind of don’t like that other people feel that they can just bully you like that. That’s my job, and I should be the only one allowed to do it.”

“Wow, in a weird, twisted way, that's kind of sweet.”

“You know me,” he winked. “I can be pretty sweet when I want to be. Now, stop worrying. You're going to have a great time at the party.”

When we finally arrived at the party, the loud sound of music could be heard even outside of the house. Bryan opened the door for me.

“Such a gentleman.”

“Just keeping up with appearances, madam.”

He held out his hand for me to grab. “I think it's a good idea if we walk in together hand in hand. It makes the whole thing look more convincing.”

Nervously, I nodded. Bryan had really surprised me with how much effort he was putting into this whole thing. I grabbed onto his hand, and we walked in together.

As soon as we walked in, it was like all eyes were on us. People craned their necks just to get a glimpse of the two of us walking together.

“Everyone is staring,” I whispered to Bryan, feeling self-conscious once again.

“Get used to it, babe,” he grinned, not bothered by the number of eyes that were on us. “This is how it feels to be popular.”

Everyone was wondering how this unlikely duo got together. Just yesterday, I was the biggest loser in school, and now, I had the most popular guy by my side. The realization made a smile spread across my face, and I started to lose my nerves.

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