Page 17 of His Secret

“They’re a honey-brown. Really pretty.”

My smile grows. “Thanks.”

“Hey, Cruz. Oh, sorry. Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Adrian asks, busting in between me and Blake.

“Cruz?” Blake questions.

“My last name,” I say.

He looks relieved. “I thought you were trying to give me some fake name there for a second. Hopefully I get your real number by the end of the night.”

We watch each other, smiles on our lips.

“Cruz.”

“I’ll be back,” I tell Blake. “What’s wrong?” I ask Adrian as he tugs me farther down the bar.

“That guy. His name is Jeremy. He wants to uhh…you know. Like now.”

“Oh.” My eyes widen.

“Yeah.”

“Well, what are you thinking?”

“That I’m definitely not having sex with some random dude in a bathroom or an alley or even at his place. He doesn’t know I don’t know shit about this. I don’t even know what to expect. Like, I was thinking maybe a little flirting. Maybe a kiss. Oh, my god. I sound so ridiculous right now.”

“No you don’t.”

“I just wasn’t expecting things to escalate so fast.”

“Wanna go?” I ask him.

He looks over my shoulder. “I don’t wanna mess up what you have going on.”

“It’s fine.”

“You sure?” he asks, looking in my eyes. I nod. “Okay. Yeah, let’s go.”

“All right.”

I walk over to the table where Blake waits for me. “I have to get my friend home.”

“Oh, okay.” He looks disappointed at first, but then a slow smile creeps onto his face. “Well, can I get your number?”

I smile at him and glance over at Adrian who’s watching the exchange. “Sure. Yeah.”

He pulls his phone from his pocket and hands it over to me. I type in my number and hand it back.

“This is the real one, right?” he teases with a grin.

“It is,” I reply with a nod.

“Well, it was nice meeting you,” he states, coming in for a hug.

“Nice meeting you, too.”

When I pull away, I find I can’t bring myself to make eye contact with Adrian. I end up at his side, and we walk out and make our way to the car.