I looked down, smiling too.
“If I promise to be a gentleman, can we go out again? Somewhere normal, you know, a movie or something? I promise not to try anything funny, like holding your hand or …”
I held up my palm. “Okay, stop.” I smiled at him. “I’m not trying to make a big deal of this, Zander, but you just threw me, especially after the things …”
I stopped, not wanting to admit the gossip, but he was a step ahead. “… that people say about me?”
I shrugged.
“You think I don’t know people call me a player? Please, Cassie,” Zander said, rolling his eyes. He turned serious then, looking searchingly at me. “They’re right, you know,” he added. “But not this time. I’m not playing you. I promise.”
It was enough to make my heart stop. And definitely to make my brain stop, because who believes a player when he says something like that?
Me. That’s who.
Chapter 16
I drifted around the apartment like I was in a dream the rest of the weekend. Liv called and texted, dying for scoop, but I didn’t want to shatter the euphoria of remembering Zander’s eyes on mine, that kiss, the things he’d said. Speaking them aloud would and I couldn’t not talk about it. Liv would never let me. So I put the phone on mute and left it on my dresser. Though I strolled casually by every half hour or so, just to see if Zander’d tried to reach me.
He’d sent one text early in the day, a “thanks for last night.” Even his words typed on the screen were thrilling, as if they’d been whispered in my ear. Liv was right. I had it bad. It made me smile to admit it.
“Not a date, huh?” Petra said from her chair by the window as she caught me grinning foolishly for about the fiftieth time.
“Okay, maybe a date,” I answered.
“Tell!”
I did. And Petra said he sounded delicious, which of course he was.
I was nervous walking to school on Monday. I hadn’t heard from Zander the rest of the weekend. Not a big deal. He said he wanted to hang out again, but it wasn’t like we were exclusive. Or even anything, really.
I hoped I could pretend that’s how I actually felt.
He wasn’t at his locker when I passed and I wondered whether he might be waiting at mine, but when I rounded the corner, I saw only Erin, Liv, and Hannah, ready to pounce.
“How was it?”
“What happened?”
“What’s his house like?”
“Does he have any brothers?”
I laughed, holding up my hands. “Easy, guys. Stop.” The sharp edge of nerves relaxed. “Hannah, it was great,” I said. “Liv, I had dinner with him and his mother, then he drove me home. Erin, his house is nice.” I paused, thinking about the dining room, filled with old things. “Unusual. His mom collects stuff. Antiques.”
“Did he kiss you?” Liv’s eyes gleamed.
“That would be awfully forward, wouldn’t it?” I said innocently. “I mean it was only dinner …”
“Cassie!” Liv practically stomped her foot. “Did he?”
“Yes,” I answered, forcing myself to sound blasé.
“Aha! I knew it!” She lowered her voice. “Was it amazing?”
“Um, yeah.” I turned to my locker, fiddling with the lock to get a grip on my emotions, which were flying so high it seemed equally possible that I could laugh hysterically or burst out crying.
“Oh, Cassie, that’s so awesome! I’ve got goose bumps for you,” Liv said, adding, “But still …”
I glanced up. “What?”
“Just, you know, be careful.”
“Because he’s a player?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Yeah, I know, Liv. We talked about that.”
“You did?”
“Uh-huh.” I traded the books in my bag for those of my first- and second-period classes and swung the door shut. I turned to face the three of them, all leaning forward like they might pull the words from my mouth. “He said he knew that’s what people said about him and they were right. But that he’s not playing me.”
It sounded defensive, even to my ears.
“But,” Hannah jumped in, rescuing me from Liv’s skeptical look. “You never answered my other question. Does he have a brother?”
Everyone laughed and we started down the hall, Liv changing the subject—thankfully—to her first weekend as a working girl at TREND.
He found me at lunch.
I’d dreaded going in there, afraid he’d be sitting at his usual table with his usual friends and ignore me, as usual, proving Liv right. But he didn’t. I’d just paid and was walking with my tray when he spoke, his voice close behind, making my back shiver as if he’d touched me.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
I turned, my tray sticking awkwardly between us. “Hey, Zander.” It came out cool. Perfect. Much calmer than I felt.
“Let me take that.” He reached for the tray, carrying it easily to the side with one hand so he could walk close to me. Close enough that I could see heads turning as we passed. “I thought I might see you at church yesterday.”
“I had to work.”
“Oh, so you got to see your boyfriend then.”
I was confused for a minute. “Ryan?” I looked up to see him smirking.
“So that’s his name.”
I played along. “Mm-hmm. Yeah, we spent the day together. It was very romantic, side by side over a dead body.”
Zander paused. “What?”
Oops. I’d been working so hard on my banter that I’d totally forgotten to pay attention to what I was telling him. Too clever for my own good. “Yeah,” I said, still walking, forcing him to keep up. “I guess I forgot to mention it. I work at a funeral home.”
I was cringing inside, wondering if he’d just veer off, back to his table without another word, maybe even taking my lunch with him in his hurry to escape.
“That’s weird,” was all he said. We’d gotten to my table, Liv, Erin, and Hannah already sitting there, trying desperately not to look up. Zander put my tray down. “Hi, ladies,” he said smoothly.
“Hey,” they all answered.
He turned back to me. “I’ll leave you to your lunch, but are you free on Friday?”
“I have to work.”
“Graveyard shift?”
“Ha-ha. No, but I probably won’t be done until around ten.”