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Ten was past Stephanie’s bedtime, but she knew the night was young for her sister.
“Don’t they have cars?”
“Spencer got a DUI, Allie got into that fender bender so hers is in the shop and Jules rides her bike to work and school, remember she sold her car for tuition.”
Right, she did remember that.
Her next thought was safety. “Have you been drinking?”
“Yeah, but Jules is driving. You know she never drinks.”
Jules was one of Simone’s oldest friends and Stephanie’s favorite. She’d spent a lot of time at the Holland house because her dad liked to drink and when he did he was mean. As far as Stephanie knew, the girl had never touched a drop of alcohol because of it. She was by far Simone’s most responsible friend, which was part of the reason Stephanie liked her the best.
With a sigh she grabbed her keys from her purse and held them up. When her sister reached for them Stephanie pulled them back. “How am I supposed to get home?”
She wasn’t asking because she didn’t actually know how she would get home. The room was filled with people she knew and even though she felt like an outsider, she wasn’t. There were at least a half-dozen people here that would give her a ride. She was only saying it in hopes that her sister would realize that she should think about what she was asking. Consideration had never been Simone’s strong suit.
“I’ll give you a ride.”
Both Stephanie and Simone’s heads spun towards Ace. The mental image of him “giving her a ride” that popped in her head had nothing to do with a car.
“Oh no, I wasn’t…I don’t need…you don’t have to…” Stephanie tried to explain but ended up bumbling over her words and not making any sense because all she could picture was her going for a ride. On Ace.
“Great!” Simone accepted on Stephanie’s behalf as she snatched the keys out of her hand. “I’m so glad you made it. You look too hot to go home and eat ice cream in sweats alone.” With that she kissed Stephanie on the cheek and disappeared in the crowd.
Wow. Was she that predictable? Apparently so.
“I agree.”
Ace once again wrapped his arm around her, this time tugging her closer to him. “You look way too hot to go home and eat ice cream in sweats alone. But you said you’ve had a long day, so if you want to go home and eat ice cream in sweats, you should not be alone.”
A lump formed in Stephanie’s throat. His compliments felt like…more. More than just shallow, surface observations. It felt significant…in the scariest way.
Before she really had the opportunity to process that, the floor lights dimmed and then the stage lights came on. Dax stepped onto the wooden platform, thanked everyone for being there and introduced Chase to the stage.
“So what’s it going to be? Concert and dancing or sweats and ice cream?”
Stephanie knew he was offering to leave and take her home. This was his big night. The grand reopening of the bar and grill that apparently, he was the co-owner of. Chase Malone and Virginia Valentine were getting ready to perform and he was still willing to leave.
Trouble with a capital T.
