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“That’s cool that she did what she wanted.”

“My parents are pretty supportive people.” His eyes scroll over me. “Do you have any tattoos?”

I shake my head. “Nah, but I’ve thought about getting one. I just haven’t found the right one yet.”

“You should check out my sister’s work. She has a website.”

“Okay, yeah, send me the link and I’ll check it out.”

He rubs his lips together, reluctant over something. But finally, his lips part. “I⁠—”

He’s cut off by his watching beeping. He glances down at his wrist and grimaces.

“Dammit, I have to go. I have this dinner thing I need to be at in like twenty minutes.” He fiddles with his watch. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I pat the marker against my palm. I could tell him no right now, retract my agreement, say I just remembered something. Going to a party two weeks in a row isn’t my thing. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” So much for getting out of that.

He’s all smiles as he walks backwards, pushing open the door in the process. “And I’ll text you later tonight and maybe tomorrow, you know, because you just gave me your phone number, which means I can talk to you any time you want.”

“Do not abuse that power. It’s a privilege, not a right,” I pretend to scold.

He chuckles before stepping out the door, calling out, “Oh I totally won’t do that. I promise.”

Oh he’s totally going to.

The door clicks shut, and I sigh. So much for keeping a low status here. I just became friends with a guy who spends most of his time running around in front of a huge crowd underneath blinding spotlights. He draws major attention and if I spend time with him, so will I.

Turning around, I wander across the linoleum floor, heading toward the stairway. But then realizing I still have the girl’s marker in my hand, I backtrack to the sitting area.

“This is yours, right?” I ask as I hold out the marker to her.

She looks up from the book she’s reading. “Oh, yeah, thanks.” She takes the marker from me. “You were that girl that was just talking to Wylder, right?”

Her friends are paying attention to me too. This is just what I expected. Albeit it happened a bit sooner than I’d anticipated.

“Um, yeah.” I shift my weight. “Why?”

The girl sets the maker down on top of the book. “Are you dating him?”

I shake my head. “No, we’re just friends.”

“Oh.” This seems to both cheer her up and intrigue her. She closes the book that’s open on her lap and places it onto the table, before leaning forward, propping her elbows onto her knees, and resting her chin in her hands. “So you hang out with him and stuff?”

“Sort of.” I’m vague on purpose. I give a quick, but longing glance at the stairway. I should’ve just gone up it and tossed the marker to her on my way.

She chews on her lip, mulling something over. “Could you maybe put in a good word for me? I’ve been trying to get his attention for months.”

Is this girl kidding me?

“Who are you?” I try to subtly throw her the hint: I don’t even know you, so why would I do that?

“I’m Eva.” She sits up straight and points at her two friends. “And this is Sophie and Mae.”

The other girls wave at me, but Mae looks like she’s just as confused by her friend’s friendliness as I am.

“Eva, you can’t just ask her to set you up with some guy when you don’t even know her,” she says then looks at me. “Just ignore her. Eva doesn’t understand boundaries sometimes.”

“Hey, that’s not true.” She chucks the marker at Mae, who ducks out of the way.