“You’re quirky,” he said and kissed the tip of my nose. “I love that about you.”

Hold. The. Phone. What did he just say? The L word? And it wasn’t Like or Lust. Calm down. He didn’t say he loved me, just that I was quirky. Yeah, totally different. So what am I supposed to say back? Nothing? That I love that he loves that I’m quirky? That I love him? Wait! What?

“Hi, Willow.”

I looked up and saw Natalie from English class. “Hey, Natalie!” I looked at her date and recognized the guy with the personality of a rock. “Hi, Earl. I remember you from the fall dance. You went with Jenna.” Earl rolled his eyes. I guess Jenna’s master plan of making his life miserable so he wouldn’t ask her out again worked. “Do you know Brody? Brody, this is Natalie and Earl.”

“Hey, man,” Brody said to Earl, shaking his hand and doing that weird shoulder bump thing guys do. “Hi, Natalie. I remember you from English class.” He smiled at her, and her cheeks turned slightly pink.

Yeah, that smile gets ’em every time. And it’s mine. All mine. Mine, mine, mine. Jeez, I sound like I’m two. But it is mine.

“I heard you broke up with Jaden and you two are dating now.” Natalie looked between Brody and me.

“Yes. I’m sure the whole school’s heard by now,” I said with a shrug of a shoulder.

“Pretty much. Everyone thinks you two make such a cute couple. Way better than Jaden. What an ass.” I blinked in surprise. It wasn’t what I expected her to say at all. “Well, I’ll see you two in English. We have to go. We have dinner reservations.” Natalie smiled at Earl. He actually smiled back. It was the first time I’d seen his face register any type of expression other than boredom.

“Have a nice dinner,” I called after them. “Huh.”

“What?” Brody asked, looking down at me.

“Nothing, just something Natalie said.”

“The thing about Jaden? I told you, no one could figure out why you stayed with him.”

Brody and I saw four more people from school, and none of them seemed the least bit concerned about what happened with Jaden. I was cautiously optimistic that my reputation would survive the break up intact. Then again, one never knew about these things. It was high school, after all.

“Did you like the movie?” Brody asked as we walked to his Jeep.

“Yeah. Did you?”

“Mm-hmm. Are you sure you liked it?”

“Yes, why?”

“Because your face was buried in my shoulder for ninety percent of it,” he said with a chuckle.

“It was not. I watched it. It wasn’t even that scary. The one—”

Brody grabbed my upper arm and pulled me toward the Jeep. “Let’s go. Get in.”

“There’s the slut. Hey, Brody. Out with your tramp of a girlfriend?”

I cringed when I heard Jaden’s voice. “Brody, please just get in the car. Let it go.” Brody stood next to the open driver’s side door, looking at Jaden. “They’re just words. They can’t hurt me. Let’s just go. Please.”

Brody looked at me and grinned. “Of course we’re going. I’m not wasting my time on your garbage.”

He got into the Jeep, threw it in gear, and drove away, Jaden and the guys with him scattering out of the way. “Where do you want to go eat?”

I looked down at my hands. They were shaking. I slipped them between my thighs and the seat so Brody wouldn’t see. Blood was rushing behind my ears, making it hard to hear.

“Let’s go to your aunt’s.”

We pulled up to a stoplight, and he looked at me. “You don’t want to go to The Dive?”

“Not really.”

“Hmm. Any particular reason?” he asked, an edge to his voice.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact there is. I thought it would be fun to play pool and the last time we were there, I saw a couple of air hockey tables. I thought those might be fun, too. What do I have to do to make you understand I’m not ashamed to be seen with you? Why are you second-guessing everything I do or say? I’m with you tonight, Brody. Here, right now. If you want to go to The Dive, all you have to do is say so and we’ll go.” The car behind us honked. “The light’s green.” I turned and looked out the window, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I’m sorry.”

The ride was silent. We pulled into the parking lot of his aunt’s bar. I reached over and threaded my fingers with his. “I’m getting a chocolate milkshake, maybe two.” I smiled at him. “And then we can play pool?”

“Whatever you want.” He ran a finger down the side of my face, making me shudder.

Whatever I want. Yeah. Except a kiss. He’s a tease. A big, fat tease. If he doesn’t kiss me soon, I’m gonna… I don’t know what, but something.

We said hi to his aunt, who hugged me tight and said how glad she was to see me. When she saw Brody holding my hand, she winked and said she was really glad to see me.

The restaurant of the bar was packed and Aunt Bess—she insisted I call her that—said there’d be a wait before our food was ready.

“Do you want to play pool while we wait?” Brody asked.

I looked at the pool tables and bit my bottom lip, trying to keep from smiling. “Um, no, let’s play air hockey.”

“Okay, but I warn you, I’m pretty good.”

“Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you, Ace? Care to make it interesting?” I tossed the puck onto the table.

Brody laughed. “Sure. What’re the stakes?”

I raised an eyebrow and put a hand on my hip. “What do you want?”

Brody flipped the machine on. “To see you tomorrow.”

I nodded. “Okay. But you didn’t have to bet me for that. I’ll spend time with you anytime, you just have to ask.”

“Good to know. What do you want?”

I drummed my fingers against my bottom lip. “Hmm, so many possibilities. I’ll tell you after I win,” I said.

“So secretive.” He winked. “Okay, challenge accepted. Three out of five.” He slid the puck to me. “You shoot first.”

I lined up my shot. It flew into the slot before Brody had time to react.

“Crap. I think I’m in trouble,” he said with a laugh.

I won the first three games and the bet. We slid into a booth just as our food arrived. “That really wasn’t fair, you know,” Brody said, sticking a fry in his mouth.

I smiled and looked down at my plate, pretending to be engrossed in covering my French fries in ketchup. “What wasn’t fair?”

“You didn’t tell me you knew how to play air hockey.”

“You didn’t ask.” I took a bite of my burger, groaning when the melted cheese oozed into my mouth.

Just wait until you see me play pool. You are so gonna lose, buddy.

Brody took a sip of his Coke and looked at me over the rim of the cup. “So what do you want for winning the bet?”

I smiled and winked at him. “I’ll tell you when the time comes.”

After we finished eating, we moved on to the pool tables. “Wanna make it double or nothing?” Brody asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure.”

“I’m not going to help you this time,” he warned, selecting a cue.

“Okay. I think I remember everything you taught me last time.” I took a pool cue and rolled it between my hands.

He nodded and chuckled. “Okay. You break.”

Lining up my shot, I couldn’t help but grin. Brody was watching me, his shoulder leaning against the wall, a thumb hooked in a belt loop on his low-riding jeans. He looked sinful. I was still gonna beat him.

I took my shot, and the balls scattered across the felt. Five dropped into the pockets. “See? I told you I remembered. I’ll be solids.” I lined up my next shot and sunk another ball. Three more turns and two more balls hit the pocket before I missed, and Brody stepped up to take his turn.

He walked in front of me, narrowing his eyes. “You knew how to play.”

“Yup.” I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to smile. I couldn’t help it. A grin broke out over my face.

“You hustled me?” He laughed.