“You haven’t told me where we’re going to eat.”
“It’s a surprise. Think I can talk you into a pretty dress? You don’t have to; you can wear whatever you want.”
“Are you going like this?” I asked, motioning to his button down and shorts.
He shrugged. “I can swing by my place and change if I can talk you into dressing up.”
I didn’t have a huge wardrobe but… Mom and I were close to the same size. “I can try. I’ll look at my closet when we get home.”
“Great… now, notes?” He turned his puppy dog eyes on me and I laughed.
“Yeah, c’mon.” I led the way toward the class.
“You still bringing the French guy tomorrow night?” he asked almost conversationally as we reached our desks.
“That was my plan,” I told him, keeping my attention on my backpack. Though, I was kind of torn. Maybe I should talk to Mathieu before the party and make sure he was up for going, considering. That would be the right thing to do.
“Good,” Archie said, and I glanced at him. Surprise rippled through me, but he just smiled. “I told you, I want to meet him.”
Yeah. I should definitely talk to Mathieu ahead of time. Shaking that off, I dug out my notebook and handed it over.
“Thank you,” Archie said curling his fingers over mine. “Tonight?”
“You and me, I know.”
“Yeah, but if you want to go see everyone else, we can. I just wanted to give us some free time to do whatever we wanted.”
My stomach tightened and tingles went over my scalp as he kept holding my hand. “Sounds like a plan.”
His smile grew wider. “Excellent.” Then with a huff he flipped my notebook open and stared at the notes. “This stuff? Not so much.”
With a grin, I sipped my coffee and tried to pretend I wasn’t studying Archie. This guy? The warm, funny one with the wry sense of humor and the wicked playfulness? This was the guy I liked. That cold one in the cafeteria who shut Patty down so mercilessly along with Coop and even Jake?
Yeah, those weren’t my favorites.
I’d already talked to Jake about what would happen if I ever became one of those girls. He insisted it wouldn’t happen, but maybe I should talk to all of the guys about it.
It was one thing to be untouchable.
I don’t think I could stand it if I became invisible.
Chapter Twenty-One
Friday nights are for fun, too
Ian walked me to French again. Mathieu smiled when he saw us, his expression relaxed and without a trace of discomfort or irritation. His reaction relieved me and at the same time threatened to plunge me into another vat of guilt. With a squeeze of my fingers, Ian gave Mathieu a look then promised to meet me at lunch.
When I faced Mathieu again, he still smiled. “I heard he asked you to homecoming.”
“He did,” I admitted. “Mathieu…”
“Your boyfriends are stepping up,” he commented, but his beautiful accent made the words even more lyrical.My boyfriends. “It is about time. If half of what I have heard is true, it is more than time.”
Heat scorched my ears. I didn’t want to think about what stories he’d heard. “About tomorrow night…”
“You wish to remain only friends, yes?”
I nodded slowly. “I had a really good time with you on Sunday.” Beyond good. Sunday changed everything. Had it really only been five days earlier?