I laugh at Kym. “He’s still seventeen, so you better watch your hands. And yeah, he’s really cute.”

I put on the dress. It has a plunging neckline, a triangular top that twists into skinny gold braided straps over my shoulders, and an empire waist highlighted by matching gold braiding. I feel regal and sexy at the same time. I add the gold platform sandals, simple gold earrings, and large gold dinner ring that Kym set out to finish the look.

Kym comes back in to check on my progress. “That dress is perfect with your tan. Mr. Soccer Cutie is going to be drooling all over you tonight, girl.”

“No, he won’t. We’re just friends, and honestly, I think I’d rather make Vanessa and RiAnne drool.”

“I think it was Betsey Johnson that said women dress for other women. If we dressed for men, we’d all run around naked.”

“That’s funny.”

“Besides, you showed me their dresses. They will look young and overdone, and you’ll look stunningly elegant.”

I walk out into the family room where Cush is waiting.

“Whoa,” he says. “Now that’s a dress. I wasn’t sure about the white dinner jacket, but Kym was pretty adamant. Now I see why. We’ll look good together.”

“Of course you’ll look good together. I’m good at my job,” Kym says from behind us. “All right, get together. I want to take some pictures.”

Cush wraps his arm around my waist.

“No, like this,” Kym says, repositioning his arm. “You don’t want your jacket sleeve to bunch. And you must only touch her dress with your fingertips, so you don’t change the flow of the fabric.”

“Uh, okay,” Cush laughs.

“You’re a good sport,” I tell him as we walk out my front door to his Mercedes coupe.

“I’ll be just about anything you want me to be when you wear a dress like that.”

He gently pushes me against the side of the car and kisses me, which takes me completely by surprise.

It’s a long, deep kiss.

A kiss very much the opposite of Brooklyn’s.

And possibly a little bit hotter.

But I pull away. I can’t kiss him.

He backs away with a smirk on his face. “You kissed me back,” he says as he opens my door.

“I did not,” I reply as I slide into the passenger seat. “You just surprised me. It took me a minute to react.”

The party is scheduled to start at eight, so we planned to show up around nine. At eight-thirty, just as we’re getting in the car, Vanessa texts me.

Vanessa: Where the fuck are you? Everyone is here.

Me: Just getting ready to leave my house. Be there in a few.

“It’s Vanessa,” I say. “She wants to know where the fuck we are.”

Cush’s eyes slide down my plunging neckline, and he shakes his head. “As much as I’d like to take you to my house and attempt to take it off, a dress like that deserves to be seen.”

I try to change the subject to something less awkward. “What are you talking about? Look at you. All the girls are gonna be like, Cuuussshhh. Like always.”

He raises his eyebrows and flashes me his dimples. “Maybe I want you to be all like, Cuusshh.”

I let out a big, huffy breath. “Cush, you know I like Brooklyn, right? I’m going to spend the weekend with him.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “After all the complaining you did at school about him this week? Why would you go with him? You deserve better,” he says as he starts the car.

While he drives, I can’t help but stare at him. He does look sexy tonight. Even before the steamy kiss. He’s always been super cute and funny, but he looks leading-man worthy tonight. I wasn’t joking when I said the girls are gonna go crazy.

Cush grabs my hand as we walk into the party. Heads turn, and people openly stare. I think my dress is worthy of stares, but I know they are staring at two things:

One. How good Cush looks.

And two. The fact that we are holding hands and making a very public entrance together. Like a couple.

Shit.

RiAnne’s mom greets us with air kisses. “Keatyn, your dress is stunning. So perfect for Monte Carlo. This whole party has gotten me in the mood to go there. Harold and I just booked a three-week trip.”

“Have you been there before?”

“No, we haven’t. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“It’s beautiful. Monaco and the coast of France are two of my favorite places in the world. You’ll have an amazing trip.”

Cush and I get away from RiAnne’s parents who, I am shocked to see, are greeting everyone, and walk through the room, nodding and saying hi. We stop to talk to a guy from the soccer team.

“Hey, Leo. What’s up? You ready for this weekend?” Cush asks him.

“You know it.”

“You know Keatyn, right?”

“We have Italian together,” I say.

“Italian? I thought you were in French? How many languages do you speak?” Cush asks.

“Well, I’m fluent in French, speak passable Italian and Spanish, and know just enough German to be dangerous. Leo’s family speaks Italian at home with his grandparents. The class is pretty easy for him.”

“So, what’s the deal with this party? Vanessa has never given me the time of day. I can’t figure out why I got invited.”

“The piranha is looking for fresh meat,” I tease. We all laugh. “Did they tell you the alcohol is in her bedroom? Just pretend to use the bathroom. We’re heading back there now. When we get back, go check it out.”

I lead Cush to her bedroom, where we run into RiAnne.

“Keatyn, your dress is amazing.” She looks down at hers. “I told Vanessa this was too princessey.”

“I think your dress is gorgeous, RiAnne. How’s the party going?”

“Fine. Vanessa is being a bitch, though. Isn’t she supposed to be mingling? I swear she’s ignoring everyone except for that quarterback. She’s been all over him. I think he’s scared of her.”

“You should go talk to him, Cush. He’s on your soccer team, isn’t he?”

“He’s JV, but yeah.”

“RiAnne says, “I’m headed back out there. Help yourselves.”

“Do you want something?” I ask Cush.

He takes a step closer to me. “Just you.”

“I meant do you want a drink?”

“Naw, I gotta drive you home, plus I need to stick to water. Coach wants us fully hydrated. We could have three games tomorrow.”

I think about how I always had to stay sober, so I could get Sander home. It’s really nice to have someone worry about getting you home. Not that I’m going to get drunk, but maybe I can let loose a little. Not be so strict with myself.

“Well in that case, I’m doing a couple shots.”

“If you get drunk, I might have to take advantage of you,” he says with a sly grin as he pulls me into his arms.

“Do I have to get drunk for that?” I tease back, like I would have before we kissed.

He looks at me for a beat and smiles widely. “Probably not. So I’ll go find Alex and try to rescue him from Vanessa’s evil clutches.”

“Just talk sports. Vanessa’s eyes will glaze over, and she’ll walk away.”

While I’m contemplating what kind of shot I want, Mandy and her friend, Alicia, wander in. “We heard there was booze in here,” they giggle.

“There is. I was just contemplating what kind of shot I want.”

“So, did you really dump Sander? Are you and Cush dating now? He is sooo hot. Hotter than Sander, I think. He seems more manly,” Mandy says.

“And did you see he’s, like, the only guy in a white jacket? You two look amazing together. Your dress is so pretty,” Alicia says sweetly.

“Thanks. And no, I didn’t dump Sander. I suggested we break up, but it was a mutual thing. We’re still friends.”

“That’s so cool. What about Cush?”

“Cush and I . . . ” I laugh and shake my head. I have no idea what Cush and I are. We’re good friends, who just shared a ridiculously steamy kiss. A kiss I should have gathered my wits about faster and pulled away from sooner. But I don’t want to say that. I mutter out, “He’s hot. That’s all that really matters, right?”

The girls nod at me and giggle, but I mentally cringe. I so did not mean to say that. For it to sound like I’m some shallow little bitch who is only here with him because he’s hot. I try to fix it. “I didn’t mean I’m only here with him because he’s hot. We’re friends.”

They both stare at me blankly, so I pour three shots of passion fruit rum. “Cheers,” I say.

“So why are we here tonight? I mean, we’ve been to some of Cush’s parties, but nothing like this,” Alicia says.

“Honestly, Vanessa is trying to decide who is worthy of sitting at our table next year.”

The girls’ eyes get big.

“Sit at the popular table. With the hottest guys. Um, sign us up,” Mandy says.

“You’re both cheerleaders. You’re already popular.”

“Not like you.”

I pour three more shots. “I’m not sure if I’m even going to be sitting there next year.”

“Are you moving?” Mandy asks.

I clink their glasses and toss back my shot.

And wonder why the hell I just said that.

The girls freshen up in RiAnne’s bathroom and I go back out to the party. I spot Vanessa walking away from Alex and Cush, rolling her eyes at them.

I think the sports talk must have worked.

She looks pretty in her red dress. With her dark hair, she always looks great in bright colors.

“Love your dress,” she sneers at me. “Very virginal.”

I am so done with her nasty comments, and I’m not putting up with them anymore.

“That’s enough, okay. I know what happened with you and Cush, and I know what happened with me and Cush. While I may look virginal, I can assure you that I’m not,” I lie.

I so lie.

Her face maintains its perfect shape, but I can tell she’s pissed at me. The corners of her eyes have widened, and she’s tapping her foot. She starts to open her mouth, which I know will spew more nastiness.

I’m not even going to let her get started.

“This party is kinda boring,” I whisper to her. Then I say much louder with my happy, breezy voice, “So Cush and I are heading out. We have another party to go to but wanted to at least make an appearance. Thanks for inviting us.”

Her mouth falls open in disbelief. I’ve never seen her look so surprised. She is an expert at always looking calm and collected no matter what feelings are roiling beneath the surface.

I walk away, leaving her standing alone with her mouth wide open.

“Let’s go,” I say to Cush, grabbing his hand.

I don’t know why I’m lying about another party. There is no other party. But I’m so pissed at Vanessa, I can barely see straight. Everyone will hear that we only came to this party out of obligation. Now we’re leaving to go have some real fun.

If Cush is surprised by what I just said, he doesn’t show it. He wraps his arm around me, pulls me into a kiss—um, well it’s more than a kiss. It’s sort of a mini make-out. The kind of kiss where everyone can totally tell that tongues are involved.

The kind of kiss that makes my knees feel weak.

And the kind of kiss I should pull away from and slap him across the face for. But I can’t. Since I just lied to Vanessa, I have to go along with it.

“Your wish is my command,” he says sweetly. Then he turns to Alex. “You and the rest of the soccer team should head out too. We’ve got to be on the bus at seven-thirty.”

Ohmigosh! He’s brilliant! Not only are we leaving, we’re taking Vanessa’s prized stallion and all the soccer guys out the door with us.

She’s going to be beyond pissed at me, but when Cush flashes me his dimples, I decide I really don’t care.

We head out of the party, saying good night to people along the way.

“You’re leaving already?” Ellie says. I’m shocked Ellie got invited. We have math class together, and she’s always talking shit about Vanessa. She also loves to gossip.

“We have another party to go to,” I whisper to her in supposed confidence, totally knowing she will spread it like wildfire the second we’re out the door. “We wanted to at least make an appearance. You know how it is. See you at school.”

We stop to thank RiAnne’s parents for having us, and breeze out the front door.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Cush says the second the massive iron doors shut behind us. “Why did we just do that?”

I give Cush big eyes. Eyes that say, I don’t want to talk about it right now. “See you later, Alex,” I say.

“Get some sleep, boys, and be ready to tear it up on the pitch tomorrow,” Cush says to the six other soccer players behind Alex.

Once we pull out of Vanessa’s neighborhood, I turn to Cush. “I can’t believe we just did that either. I wasn’t planning it, but then Vanessa said something to me.”

“What’d she say?”

“She said, I love your dress. Very virginal.”

“I take it that pissed you off?”

“Yeah, but I’m even more pissed at myself. I lied. Twice. Then I did something bitchy. I said something she would’ve said. I’m just as bad as she is.”