Page 45 of Finding My Charming

“You two seem to be having fun.” I whipped around at the sound of a deep voice. Calvin was looking down at us with a smirk. Behind him were a few other guys from school, and casually walking up to join them was Vincent.

I threw away my half-eaten funnel cake and quickly brushed off my hands on my shorts. I could only pray my face wasn’t covered in sugar.

“Hi, guys.” I smiled at the group, but my eyes kept flitting back to Vincent. He was looking down at his phone, and disappointment trickled in the longer it went without him noticing me.

“Have you guys tried these? Word of caution — grab napkins.” Ari pointed behind us at the food cart.

Calvin and his friend Barrett laughed, and a few of the others started yelling about more food and funnel cakes as they wrestled each other in line. Vincent finally looked up and must have noticed the empty space between him and the rest of us. I swallowed with the first step he took nearer and completely stopped breathing as he drew closer and closer.

Barrett glanced at him then looked back at us. “Have you guys met Vincent? He plays soccer in the summer league with us.”

Before I could respond, Vincent was nodding. “Yeah. I won the big dog from them earlier.”

Calvin and Barrett laughed.

“Did your cousin like it?”

He looked over and met my eyes, and I swore I felt my heart skip a beat. This guy is turning me into a romantic sap!

“Yeah. She loved it. As of thirty minutes ago, I’m her boyfriend.”

Lucky little brat.

“Hey. Have we met you before? You look familiar.”

My eyes shot to Ari. What was she trying to do?

Calvin looked confused for a second then smiled. “Yeah! He came to your party with us. Did you guys meet then?”

I looked from Vincent to Ari then back. She was grinning, but he had a tight look on his face.

“I don’t—”

A smile broke across his face. “Yeah, we did. I thought I recognized you earlier, but I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen you.”

I felt my head nodding, but my mind was floating away. He remembers me?

“I was actually hoping to run into you again since the hallway had been pretty crowded, but I couldn’t find you for the rest of the night.”

Holy crap! He did remember me!

“It was a big party.” Wow. Could I have come up with a lamer response? I was mentally berating myself when Ari finally jumped into the conversation.

“Maybe it’s fate you guys met again.” She winked at him then glanced over at me.

I shot her a quick dirty look. She would pay for that later.

“I guess it is.” Vincent was looking at me with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “I’m not usually one to believe in things like that, but I think it’s slapping me in the face this time.”

Calvin looked at his friend then at me then Ari. He shook his head a few times and sighed. “Come on, Ari. Let’s go check out the churros.” Without another word, he stepped forward and placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her away.

Vincent and I watched each other in silence for a second before his smile grew. “Do you want to go on a ride? Most of these look pretty sketchy, but can you ever turn down a Ferris wheel?”

I peeled my eyes away from him and turned toward the towering wheel. I’d ridden it every year, but I wouldn’t deny they looked a little worn down.

I glanced back to him and returned his smile. “Sure.”

We fell into step with one another in a comfortable silence. Normally, I would be panicking trying to think of anything to fill the silence, but this felt different. Each time I peeked at him, he was watching me with his lopsided smile. I bit my lip and stopped at the end of the line. Judging by the number of people in front of us, we’d be waiting for a while.