The Romeo Club

What the hell’s going on with me? Maybe I’m too good of a teacher.

Trey cleared his throat. “What am I supposed to do next?”

I licked my lips then said, “If it seems like your date takes well to the hand holding then you can lean in and kiss her.”

He scooted closer then leaned in. “Like this?” His voice sounded deeper, almost hoarse.

“Y-you should let go of her hand first, then kind of turn and bend in.” I maneuvered myself toward him.

Oh God. What am I doing? Abort. Abort. Abort.

But instead of stopping, we both moved in closer. Our faces were inches apart. I felt his warm breath on my cheek. My skin broke out in goose bumps. And not in a bad way.

“You’ll need to cup the girl’s face, guide her toward you.”

His palm caressed my cheek and tingles raced through me. Trey moved in. Over his shoulder, I saw Rex coming down the aisle.

“Oh God,” I blurted.

Trey pulled back abruptly. “What?”

I ducked down, tucking my head against his chest, using him to shield me. “Rex is here.”

From beneath Trey’s arm, we watched him walk past toward the front row.

“It’s okay, he’s gone now,” Trey said.

“Phew, that was close.” I attempted to sit up. “Oh crap.” My earring was caught on the bottom of his shirt. “My earring is stuck.”

He attempted to lift my head, but it pulled on my earlobe. “Hold on, let me see if I can get it.” He shoved my head down, almost into his lap, then brought it back up again. “I can’t see to get it unhooked.”

Just then a flashlight turned on and a movie theatre usher pushed down our row. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to leave. We can’t have inappropriate behavior going on in here.”

“Wait, it’s not what it looks like,” I said. “I snagged my earring.”

The attendant snorted. “Yeah right lady, I’ve heard that before. Now leave.”

Trey stood, my earring still attached to his shirt. He helped me stand as well. He wrapped his arm around me to guide me out. Let me just say, walking down the aisle, attached to Trey was probably one of the most embarrassing things I’d ever do. People hooted and hollered. My face burned.

When we got into the lobby, Trey led us into a corner, where he finally freed me from his shirt. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and ushering me outside.

When we got into his truck, Trey burst out laughing.

“Hey, it’s not funny. This had to have been my worst first date ever.” But even I erupted into a fit of giggles.

“At least it was a memorable first date.” Trey offered me one of his sweatshirts that hung on the back of the seat. “S-so how did I do, I mean before the earring thing?”

I raised my gaze until I met his. “You’re perfect.”

And he was. If I didn’t watch myself, I might end up falling for him.

Chapter 17

Sunday morning, I woke up more confused than ever. And the Trey laced dreams hadn’t helped matters. With my cell in hand, I sat in the backyard, wondering what to do. It was after eleven, so Kenadi should be up by now.

I picked up my phone and dialed her number. As soon as she answered I blurted, “Oh my God, I need help. Like right now.”

“That doesn’t sound good. Want me to come over?” Kenadi said.

“Please. And hurry.”

“Be there soon.”

I went back inside to change out of my pajamas. When I went through the dining room, I heard my mom lecturing Drake. “You came in after curfew last night, young man. Do you know what the teenage pregnancy rate is?”

Whoa, Mr. Responsible was getting into trouble.

“Chloe and I haven’t done it, geesh,” he said.

Finally, I wasn’t the one getting all the sex talks. I smirked and rushed up to my room. When I finished putting on a pair of jogging pants and a sweatshirt, I went back downstairs, right as the doorbell rang.

“Hey,” I said, ushering Kenadi into the backyard. We plopped on top of our picnic table. “So, something kind of happened last night.”

She glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “As in … ”

“As in Trey and I held hands. And we almost kissed.” I spilled the details of our ‘date’ and how we got kicked out.

When I finished, Kenadi let out a low whistle. “You got it bad.”

“But I can’t. I mean, I have a boyfriend. Not to mention Trey’s one of my best friends and he’s head over heels in love with Portia.”

“Or is he?” She gave my ponytail a tug.

“Trust me, if you heard the way he talks about her, you’d know.”

“Yeah, but he spent the entire night hanging out with you.”

“But that’s what we always do. Well minus the hand holding and stuff.”

Just then, Jimbo burst into our yard, dragging a black lacy nightie. He headed for my mom’s stone fairy figurines and dropped the piece of clothing.

“What’s that dog doing?” Kenadi leapt to her feet.

We watched in disgust as he humped the stone figure.

“Shoo—get out of here.” I chased after him. His tongue hung out of his mouth as he loped back into his own yard. Grossed out, I went over to retrieve the lingerie.

“What are you doing with that?” Kenadi snickered.