There's Something About Sweetie(81)

He took her hands and kissed them gently, one at a time. Sweetie concentrated on not swooning. “You … look … incredible,” he said, letting go of one of her hands to stroke her cheek. “Wow. That eyeliner … that lipstick … that dress …” He shook his head. “Wow,” he said again.

Sweetie trilled a laugh. “I’m gonna have to start wearing this outfit more often. But seriously, you don’t look so bad yourself.” She gestured at his body and then leaned in close, putting her nose right up against his neck, thrilling in the way his breath caught in his throat at the contact. “And you smell really good too,” she said in a voice that was just slightly husky.

“You saying I usually stink?” Ashish asked, and then laughed. “I wore some cologne tonight. You know, this being a special event and everything.”

“I’m honored,” Sweetie said, putting one hand to her chest. Ashish’s eyes lingered at the cleavage highlighted by the sweetheart neckline of the dress, but he made a valiant effort to bring them back to her eyes. She knew the feeling.

“So, you nervous?” he asked. “Because you don’t need to be, you know. Your voice is … gilded.”

“Gilded? Have you been reading the thesaurus again?” Sweetie asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Enthralling,” Ashish said, stepping in closer. She could feel his body heat swirling around her like a luxurious blanket. Her head almost swam with desire. “Just like you.” He touched his lips to her throat, lightly. “I really like you,” he whispered against her skin.

She couldn’t speak for a full three seconds. “Obviously.” She’d tried for a debonair, nonchalant voice, but it came out as a squeak.

Ashish pulled back and grinned at her. “Obviously.” Kissing her knuckles again, he asked, “So what time’s your set?”

She blinked at the change in topic and then laughed. “Why, you got someplace important to be?”

He didn’t laugh. Sweetie’s smile faded. “Um, at nine.”

He nodded, drumming his hands on his thigh. “Okay. I, uh, have somewhere to be at nine thirty, so you might not see me right after. I’m sorry.” He seemed nervous suddenly, on edge.

Sweetie frowned, a little disappointed. “Oh, well, that’s okay. At least you get to see me sing, right?”

His face relaxed into a small smile and his eyes warmed up, like he was really seeing her again. “Right. Hey, let’s take a selfie together.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and Sweetie scooted in close to him.

They both smiled huge, goofy smiles. Sweetie smothered a laugh; she hadn’t realized she was smiling that big, and she didn’t think Ashish had either. They were both just really, really, almost drug-induced-level happy. The last time she’d felt this floaty was when she had a root canal and the dentist gave her some laughing gas.

I’m so incredibly lucky, she thought as the phone made its clicking shutter sound. We’re so lucky.

“Yo, Ash!” Pinky’s voice cut through the crowd. Standing on tiptoes, Sweetie saw her at the counter at the far end of the room. “It’s buy-one-get-one with Frequently Caffed cards tonight! I need yours!”

Ashish rolled his eyes. “What happened to yours?” he shouted back.

“Left it at home! Pleeeease?”

“Seriously?” he muttered, setting his phone down on the table to get out his wallet. “Pinky’s got a caffeine problem.” He turned to Sweetie and smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

She grinned. “Okay.”

It was only when his phone beeped that she realized he’d left it behind. Her eyes automatically went to the screen.

Sweetie froze, the floaty feeling gone; her heart dropped like a hunk of cold lead. It was a text from Celia.

Can’t wait to see you at Bedwell. 3 more hours. <3

I’m wearing my red halter … same as that one time ;)

It beeped again, but Sweetie forced herself to look away. She didn’t want to see any more. She didn’t need to see any more.





CHAPTER 27





Sweetie was turning away, numb, when she felt a big hand on top of her head. Her heart racing, she turned, expecting to find Ashish, but saw Oliver smiling at her instead. “Heyyy, girl. Ready for your big night?”

“Yeah—but wait.” She frowned. “Did you just palm my head?”

Oliver’s grin turned sheepish. “Sorry about that. Hazards of being a ballplayer, you know. Any circular object, you just wanna …” He made a palming motion with his hand and then waved it off. “Anyway. You look amazing, by the way.”

Sweetie managed a watery smile. “Thanks.”

Oliver frowned. “You okay?”

“Oh, yeah, totally.” She picked up Ashish’s phone with as straight a face as she could manage. “Could you give this to Ashish? He left it on the table. And, um, just tell him you found it. Okay?”

Oliver paused and then nodded. “Yeah, all right. Hey, if there’s anything you want to ta—”

“No, I’m good.” She took a deep breath and put a hand on his arm. “So, how are you doing? With the whole breakup thing?”

Oliver shrugged, looking over her head at something for a moment. “Ah. You know. It sucks. It hurts. I keep expecting it to go away, to get better with time, but it’s just gotten worse. I miss him like a … like a freaking limb or something.” He cleared his throat and smiled at her, a broken thing. “Do I sound pathetic or what?”