All I've Never Wanted(95)

Fortunately, I didn’t see any other Valescans, but I did spot several Victoria’s Secret supermodels, professional athletes, movie stars, and singers, including a certain high-profile rap star mogul and his equally high-profile R&B songstress wife. Everyone was standing in the clearing with big smiles on their faces, while Parker and Carlo untied the blindfolds covering Adriana’s and Zack’s eyes.

The blindfolds fell away, and for once, I saw shock cross Adriana’s face as she stared at the giant carnival grounds in front of her. There was a Ferris wheel, merry-go-rounds, the whole shebang, and above all that was a giant sign that spelled out HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZACK AND ADRI in blinking neon lights.

“Surprise!” all the guests shouted.

“What?” Adri exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth. “No way!”

As everyone went to say happy birthday to the twins, I lingered behind, grinning at the sight of their happiness. Carlo told me earlier that Adriana was had been a huge fan of carnivals as a child, but her parents never let her go because they thought carnivals were too “low class.”

“You guys are really good friends,” I murmured, too starstruck to even approach some of my favorite celebrities, who were milling around like regular people. I narrowed my eyes at Carlo. “But don’t think I’m changing my mind about the plan.”

He sighed. “Maya, when will you learn to trust me?”

“I do trust you, I just don’t like hurting people.”

“Hasn’t he hurt you enough?”

I fell into silence. It was true. Roman had hurt me a lot, but did I really want to stoop to his level?

“Come on,” Carlo said quickly. “We can talk about this later, ok? Let’s just go enjoy ourselves for the time being.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Ok,” I agreed happily.

For the next few hours, I forgot about all my worries as I ran around the carnival grounds like I was a child again. They even had popcorn and cotton candy and everything! After a while, it didn’t even seem all that strange to share the Ferris wheel with one of the stars from a hit vampire-themed TV series. Let me tell you, he is even hotter in person.

In fact, there were so many people I managed to avoid Roman the entire night. Actually, even if I didn’t try to avoid him, he probably would’ve avoided me the way he had all day. Every time I came within five feet of him, he just moved away. Which was fine by me.

Really.

Soon, though, the rides stopped and the carnival grounds turned into a giant dance floor. The DJ from Iceland had been playing music all night long, but now he segued into a series of slow songs, and everyone paired up to sway to the music.

Well, everyone except Zack and Venice, who were doing some sort of strange interpretive dance mixed with the flamenco mixed with...hip-hop? I'm not sure, but needless to say, everyone was giving them a wide berth.

I sat down on one of the benches, watching the couples wistfully. The whole scene was so romantic, it actually made me wish I had a boyfriend.

Unwillingly, I felt my gaze slip to Roman, who was of course surrounded by a gaggle of young models and actresses near the merry-go-round. I blushed as we locked eyes for a second, and a weird look crossed his face before he turned away, totally ignoring me.

A moment later, he broke away from the group to lead a leggy blonde onto the makeshift dance floor.

I frowned. Well, he seemed to be having fun. Anger suddenly surged through me. Why did he get to have all the fun? I should be out there flirting too! I didn’t know why I was still feeling so bummed about last night. Surely I must’ve imagined the hurt look on his face.

Devils don’t have feelings.

“Excuse me, would you like to dance?” A smooth British accent cut into my thoughts.

I looked up, my breath catching when I saw the very handsome, very famous face of Oliver staring down at me. Known only by his first name, Oliver had recently been named as the “male model of the decade” by Vogue. Even in person, he looked photoshopped.

“You want a dance? With me?” I squeaked, pointing to myself.

He nodded, giving me a dazzling smile no girl could resist. “Only if you would like to, of course.”

Oh, would I look to!

I happily accepted, feeling better now that I wasn’t sitting by myself like some loser while Roman was flirting with everything in a skirt.

Oliver led me to the middle of the dance floor, near where Roman and the blonde were dancing. He gently grasped one of my hands in his while his other arm slipped around my waist.

Just then, Edwin McCain’s classic “I’ll Be” came on, and I sighed, wishing I was with someone I loved. It was the ultimate romantic song, and while Oliver was hot and all, it would’ve been so much better if I was dancing with my boyfriend. If I had one, that is.


“What’s wrong?” Oliver murmured, his intense blue eyes boring into mine and making me a bit weak in the knees.

Did the boy even know the effect his looks had on people? Seriously, he was almost as good-looking at the Scions. In fact, he might even be on par with them. It’s not fair.

“Nothing,” I lied, watching Roman and the blonde out of the corner of my eye. Gosh, they looked like they were glued together! Feeling disgruntled, I smiled at Oliver and pulled my hand out of his grasp to wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.