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Everyone who was paying attention bursts out in good-natured laughter. Even Tori has to chuckle though she’s in the process of flipping us all off with red-polished middle fingers.
“Okay, who owes me a hundred?” Kara calls out. She’s met with a chorus of boos.
“Nobody was dumb enough to take that bet,” LaToya says.
“Hey, it’s not my fault I was born with the grace of a llama,” Tori pouts. But then she flashes a grin at Dalton. “Thanks for saving me.”
“No worries,” he says.
“I’ll have to make it up to you somehow.”
Before Dalton can respond, Kara shoves herself between them, announcing, “Okay, listen up everyone! It’s a short flight to Ibiza but this is an expensive-ass plane so I want you all to be making the most of it.”
The Krew roars with approval and gets back to the party.
Then, to Dalton, Kara says more quietly. “If you’re done flirting I need to talk to you in the back. We have plans to look over. I’m not sure I love the venue for night four.”
“Really?” he asks. “We went over the plan a dozen times.”
“Well we’re going over it again!” Kara snaps and bustles toward the back.
Dalton, seeing Nick and me watching, shrugs helplessly. “The queen demands it,” he says. Then he heads off after her.
I glance up at Nick, cocking an eyebrow. “Was that…?” I start.
He flashes that lop-sided grin I love. “I think it was,” he says.
Dalton’s crush on Kara has been obvious from Day One but so far it’s appeared entirely one-sided. This is the first evidence of jealousy from Kara.
“Maybe we’d see a bit more of that if we got Dalton laid,” I muse.
Nick wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me against him. “Now don’t you go starting trouble,” he says.
“Why not?” I pout. “I like trouble.”
“Is that why you like me?”
I playfully push him away. “Who me? Who says I like you?”
“Someone passed me a note in fourth period,” he teases.
He’s absolutely adorable when he’s messing around like this. For a moment I can see the boy he must have been, fearless and tough, smart and driven.
We take a seat off to the side of the main party, neither of us feeling the need to dive in. At this point, Kara knows we aren’t lame, and besides she’s still in the back.
I fix Nick in an evaluating gaze and stroke the side of my chin.
“Nick in grade school…” I muse. “Let me guess. All the little girls had crushes on you.”
He scoffs, looking away but the spark in his eyes tells me I can’t be that far off. “Hardly,” he says.
“Who was your first girlfriend?”
Nick hesitates, the smile fading off his face like an extinguished flame. “Marlene,” he says. “Seventh grade.”
“Pretty?”
“Adorable. I asked her out at lunch. She said yes.”
