“It’s okay, Jeremy. No need to defend my honor.”

He frowned, his forehead furrowed in anger, and I quickly continued.

“It’s not even that I really liked him. I mean, he’s cocky but so hot. And I don’t know. I guess I just wanted someone to like me.” I shrugged. “So much for going to homecoming.”

I’d never admitted it to anyone but Jenna, but I’d really been looking forward to the dance. I wanted to go with my girlfriends to pick out my perfect dress then spend the day getting ready together and the night dancing, laughing, and having a great time.

“Go with me,” Jeremy blurted out, sending a wave of shock throughout me.

I shoulder-checked him and laughed. It felt like the first time I’d done that in weeks. “You don’t mean that,” I said, secretly wishing he did.

“Yes, I do.”

I caught his gaze in the moonlight. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” I whispered.

When he nodded, my brows came together.

“You hate dancing, Jeremy. Why would you go?”

He shrugged, but his eyes were telling a story I couldn’t quite read. “Because you want to.”

“And?” I prompted.

He gave me that look.

“Where I go, you go?”

He nodded. “Precisely. Even if it means I’ll be spending the next two weeks brushing up on my MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice.”

“Jeremy, you do realize we’re in the back half of nineteen ninety-nine, right?”

“Sierra, Ice Ice Baby will stand the test of time. Just you watch. Our kids will still be listening to it even when they’re teenagers. You can take that to the bank.”

My stomach twisted at the idea of our kids. I knew he didn’t mean ours together, but the thought was already implanted in my mind. And, even though I wasn’t ready for sex, I could picture a little Jeremy-Sierra baby.

I smiled and leaned my head against his shoulder. “You’re the best, Jeremy,” I told him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’ll never get the chance to find out.” With that, he stood up, pulling me with him. “Now, come on. We have a dance I need to practice for.”

Just as I’d thought, by Monday, the whole school knew that Danny and I weren’t a thing anymore. And you know what? I didn’t even care. Jeremy was more pissed about the looks and the whispers in the hallways than I was, and he stayed closed to me whenever he could. He was being overprotective, and I didn’t mind one bit.

“I’m so sick of this,” he grumbled as we walked into the lunchroom together.

Across the room, Danny was sitting with the other football players, and Mallory, naturally, was practically in his lap. Jeremy scowled and clenched his fists at his sides.

I placed a hand on his arm. “Calm down, Rambo. I don’t mind. I promise. I’m over it,” I said, waving them off.

He peered down at me. Then his eyes lit up as an idea struck him. Instant worry swirled in my belly. I was used to Jeremy’s not-so-brilliant plans, and I had no idea what he was about to propose. Before I could ask what the hell he was thinking, he grasped my hand, entwining our fingers. Then he pulled me in close, and my heart started beating fast as his lips hovered just above my ear.

“We’ll show them you’re really over it,” he whispered.

I barely had time to catch my breath as he dragged me over to the table where they were selling tickets to the dance. In his loud, booming voice, he asked for two tickets and let everyone in the room know that he was going to have the prettiest date there. My face flushed with embarrassment until I saw Mallory’s mouth gaping. I decided to play along with Jeremy and slid my free hand into the back pocket of his jeans. I wasn’t prepared for the tight, toned cheek to feel so incredible beneath my fingertips, and he wasn’t prepared for my touch. He jerked as he nearly choked on his spit.

I looked up at him innocently. “Oops. I was just going for your wallet, sweetheart,” I teased. “Did I pick the wrong pocket?”

His jaw tightened as he gazed down at me, heat in his eyes. I hoped I wasn’t misinterpreting it.

“Be careful, Sierra. You know what happens when you go into places unannounced.”

My eyes widened as I realized just what was happening. Jeremy and I were flirting. And I loved every second of it.

Once the senior sitting at the table handed Jeremy the tickets, he surveyed the room. Danny was scowling in our direction, and Mallory was now looking at Jeremy if he were the new it-man she wanted a piece of.

Over my dead body.

Jeremy took us to an empty table on the other side of the room, where we sat down next to each other, our thighs brushing. We couldn’t have been sitting any closer to each other if we’d tried.

“And that, my sweet Sierra, is exactly how it’s done.” He brushed his hands off as if he’d finished some exhausting project.

Feeling bold, I leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. When I pulled back, I gave him a saucy wink. “Just so you know, that’s more than Danny ever got. If you play your cards right, you may get even luckier.”

“Don’t go teasing a man, Sierra, if you don’t plan on following through.”

I met his eyes. “Who says I won’t?”

Silence, along with rounded eyes, answered me—he hadn’t expected me to say that.

For the first time since I’d met him, I’d rendered Jeremy Banks speechless.

It was minor, but it gave me hope. Things were changing.

“Oh, Sierra,” Lexi breathed. Her eyes were shimmering with tears. Next to her, Mom was looking at me the same way. “Jeremy’s jaw is going to hit the floor.”

My sister was disappointed that she hadn’t been asked to the dance. She’d planned on going with some girlfriends, but when she couldn’t find a dress, she’d opted to just stay home. Still, a part of me felt bad. She’d told me she’d be fine. Some new book had come out and she said she’d rather stay home and read. The stars in her eyes, however, told me the truth. It was her first high school dance, and instead of dressing up with me, she was just watching from the sidelines. But that was Lexi. She didn’t do anything half-assed, and if she didn’t have a flock of butterflies in her stomach at hello, she wasn’t interested. After what had happened with Danny, I got it, and I didn’t blame her for it.

My cheeks flushed with heat. “Don’t be silly, Lexi. Jeremy doesn’t look at me that way.”

She laughed and shook her head in disbelief. “Are you freaking kidding me? That’s the only way Jeremy looks at you.”

Those same butterflies Lexi’s looking for attacked my stomach, making it clear that for me, Jeremy was the only one I wanted. Still, I willed myself to calm down. Lexi’s a romantic. She’d been hoping for a Jeremy-Sierra love connection since she’d discovered the L-word.

“And what way is that?” I asked, hoping she’d spell it out for me. That maybe I wasn’t the only one who had noticed Jeremy’s change towards me.

She sighed dreamily before her eyes rested on mine. “You know, I’ve always been a little bit jealous of your friendship with Jeremy.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and opened my mouth to protest, but she held a hand up, stopping me.

“From the moment the two of you met, you’ve been inseparable. This solid unit that nothing could ever come between. Sure, you guys included the rest of us, but that didn’t matter. It was always the two of you. And I don’t know when it happened, but sometime over the last year, things have changed.”

Lexi paused to gauge my reaction, causing me to squirm under her scrutiny. Those damn butterflies took flight again. I sat on the edge of my bed, suddenly feeling a little bit dizzy and overwhelmed. Was she right? Things had changed. But I’d thought it was just me. Lexi had apparently noticed it, too.