Billionaires Don’t Fall For Awkward Girls by Emma Dalton

Chapter Thirty

After a long day of cleaning the studio Friday evening, it’s time to party. I go home to get changed and shower, then take the bus to DeAngelo’s house. My friends and Brayden are waiting for me outside, and we enter the house along with a throng of other kids. Like the last time I was here, the place is packed. Kids are dancing, chatting, a few are making out. Kara and Brayden grin at each other. They had their first kiss in this house. Sure, Teagyn forced it upon them, but I know they both wanted it.

We down some Coke as we talk about school and football and book club.

“Brayden, you made it!” DeAngelo says as he slaps the quarterback. His eyes move to us and he smiles. “And you brought your girl and her friends. Nice. Have fun, kids. Don’t be shy.” He walks off to slap more of his friends.

“Understatement of the year,” Ally mutters under her breath.

I shoot her a smile. “Let’s try to have fun. Um…should we dance? Standing around here kinda feels lame, doesn’t it?”

Charlie frowns. “I should be doing homework right now.”

Kara gives her a look. “When you’re old and gray, you’ll appreciate these high school memories.”

“Nope.” She pops the P.

Kara laughs, shaking her head. She slips her arm through her boyfriend’s. “Well, I want to dance. Come join us, guys.” She and Brayden head to the dance floor, where it’s full of kids shaking their bodies around the place.

I turn to Ally and Charlie. Ally backs away while Charlie has a determined look on her face not to have fun. Just like the last time we were at a party.

I roll my eyes. “Kara’s right, you know. You’re only a teenager once. Let’s live a little.”

Charlie and Ally don’t follow me as I dance my way onto the dance floor. The best thing about dancing at a party? Getting to freestyle. I don’t have the opportunity to do it often at dance practice. Even if some of my moves might be awkward.

It’s not long before Ally and Charlie dance beside me, Kara, and Brayden, Ally hardly moving and Charlie standing straight as though her spinal cord is made of wood.

Brayden swings Kara in his arms and she giggles in this shy and adorable way that makes me smile. Ally is right—those two are written in the stars.

The music turns faster and so does everyone’s dancing. Teagyn and her friends do some cartwheels, prompting cheers and applause from the rest of the kids. A few football players perform some sick dance moves that’s got everyone excited and clapping until their hands fall off.

My friends and I continue swaying our bodies from right to left, and Ally and Charlie have let loose somewhat and are enjoying themselves. I hope. Kara and Brayden are wrapped in each other’s arms, as if they’re listening to their personal slow music that the rest of us can’t hear.

“So adorable,” I sigh as I watch them stare into each other’s eyes. Ally and Charlie nod in agreement. Those two are seriously in their own world right now. They don’t blink or flinch when a guy the size of a car crashes into them or when someone accidentally spills soda next to them. Nope. They’re in Love Land.

“Had enough?” Charlie shouts over the music. “Can we go home now?”

“No way!” I shout back. “We haven’t even been here an hour.”

Charlie grumbles. “This is a waste of time.”

“Hanging out with your awesome friends is not a waste of time,” I tell her.

She crosses her arms over her chest, knowing she can’t argue with that.

I gesture around. “Any cute guys catch your attention?”

“No,” Charlie says.

Ally’s eyes sweep around the room and her cheeks redden. I follow her gaze, but there are way too many kids here.

I elbow her. “Who is it?”

She blinks and looks at me. “What? No one. I don’t have a crush on anyone.”

“Lies! Tell me who it is.”

She shakes her head, cheeks reddening even more. Man, she’s so busted. “I told you it’s no one. I only have crushes on the men in my books.”

“I don’t believe a word of that.”

Her eyes once again flit around the room and try as I might, I can’t pinpoint the person she’s looking at. It could be a jock, a guy from theater, a mathlete, anyone. It’s so frustrating. But I need to respect her privacy. She’ll tell us if and when she’s ready.

I just hope she doesn’t keep her feelings to herself. All invisible girls deserve to fall in love.

We continue dancing, and thankfully the music doesn’t slow down because it’d be really weird to dance by myself.

As I’m swinging my body around, not caring how silly I look, my eyes widen and my lips part when I spot Easton chatting to some of his friends. What’s he doing here? Doesn’t he know I’m here and we’re supposed to be avoiding each other?

We haven’t spoken much the past week, which is how I preferred it. That kiss was so gah! Even after a week, I still feel so weird about it. I wish he could forget about it.

I turn to Ally and Charlie. “I need to go. I need to get out of here!”

They curiously stare at me, then take in Easton leaning against the wall with his arms crossed casually over his chest as he nods to his friends.

They nod in understanding and we tell Kara we’ll see her later. She wants to come with us, but I convince her to stay and have fun with Brayden.

It’s a challenge to push through the crowd of dancing kids. I feel like I’m crashing through a wall as I shove my way through. But we don’t make it far before we’re thrown back by some football players who have formed a chain and are playing a game.

Darn it! I need to flee from here.

Charlie’s pulling Ally’s hand and she’s gripping mine, but our hands separate as the kids knock into us. I try to elbow my way through, but it’s hopeless. Ally and Charlie have gotten to freedom while I’ve been left behind.

“Wood?” a voice says from behind me, the sound so soft it sends a zap up my spine. Oh, crap. He’s right behind me. Maybe if I pretend I don’t hear him, he’ll go away. So I start dancing in place, squeezing through some kids.

An arm latches around my waist and I’m tugged back until my back presses against a hard chest. A chest I know very well.

“Are you running away from me, Wood?” he whispers in my ear, his breath warm on my cheek.

I whirl around. Easton stands there looking as sexy as ever. His normally perfectly neat hair is a little disheveled, as if he didn’t bother with it today and his eyes are so brown and so kind…have they always been this beautiful? I shake that thought away. “No! Why would you think that?”

A slow smile spreads on his face as he chuckles. “No reason. Having fun?”

“Yeah, lots of fun.” I look away from him, crossing my arms over my chest and tapping my shoe on the floor.

From the corner of my eye, I see him shove his hands into his pockets. “Wood—”

“It was nice talking to you, but I need to go.” I turn to leave, but he takes my hand.

“Where?”

“Um…to feed my rabbit.”

His eyebrows lift. “I didn’t know you have a pet.”

I straighten up. “Yeah, I do. Her name is Jane Austen and she’s really cute. See ya!” Once again, I turn to leave, but he catches my arm.

“You don’t have a pet rabbit.”

“How would you know that?”

He shrugs, holding up a finger. “One, neither you nor your parents are home often enough to take care of it.” He holds up a second finger. “Two, you’ve never mentioned it before and you don’t have pictures of it on your locker or notebook.” He puts up a third finger. “Three, I didn’t see one at your house.” He puts up a fourth finger, bending so close to me that my eyes sprint to his lips. “Four, you’re a terrible liar.”

I just stare up at him. His smile is still strong and a little mischievous, like he caught me, and it’s so sexy I’m going to die.

I open my mouth to refute all that, but someone slams into me and I fly into Easton’s chest, my nose smashing against the hard muscles.

“Ow,” I mumble. But instead of the pain, I focus on his smell. It’s an expensive cologne with a hint of something else. Maybe his natural Easton smell.

He backs away from me. “Are you sniffing me?”

My eyes widen. “No! I was just admiring how soft your shirt is. Whatever fabric softener your mom uses is killer, like totally amazing.”

He chuckles. “My mom doesn’t do the laundry. The staff takes care of that.”

“Oh, right.”

He laughs again. But it quickly drops when another kid sends me flying into him again, though this time our faces smack into each other. Oh my gosh! Our lips were this close.

Easton backs away, gripping my shoulders in case someone sends me flying again. “Want to get out of here?”

“Um…” I glance around for Charlie and Ally, but don’t see them anywhere. I hope they made it out alive. “Why?”

“We need to talk.”

“Okay…”

I follow him out to the back porch, where there’s a swing. Kind of like it’s made for two people to share a romantic evening under the stars.

“I need to text my friends that I’m alive,” I tell him. “One sec.”

I shoot off a group text to Ally, Charlie, and Kara, reassuring them that I’m still in one piece and that they should go home without me.

Easton drops down on the swing and pats the spot next to him. I sit, keeping some distance between us. There aren’t any kids here, since most are partying inside. It’s nice and peaceful out here…except I’m with the guy I’m trying to avoid.

I squeeze my fingers in my lap, looking anywhere but him. We’re so close I feel the heat leaping off his body. His close proximity makes me shiver.

“You cold?” He sweeps his jacket off his shoulders and wraps it around mine.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

We sit in silence.

“Look, Wood, I don’t want things to be weird between us.”

“Weird? Nothing’s weird.”

He gives me a look like I’m lying through my butt.

I slump forward. “Yeah, you’re right. They’re weird.”

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

“I mean, yeah. Because of what happened. What I did, I mean.”

He’s quiet for a bit, then shakes his head, scooting closer to me. “But things don’t have to be weird. We’re good friends and I don’t want that to change.”

I gape at him. “Friends? We’re not friends.”

“I thought we were.”

My mouth opens and closes so quickly I probably look like a broken toy. “But I’ve always seen you as my sworn enemy.”

His eyebrows furrow. “Why?”

“Are you serious? I’ve held a grudge against you because of how you treated me on the first day of school.”

“How did I treat you?”

“You don’t remember?”

He shakes his head, lifting his hands helplessly. “Honestly? That day is a blur. Other than you giving me a tour, I don’t remember anything.”

“Right. The tour. That’s what I’m talking about.”

“What do you mean? You gave me a tour and then I cut class.”

I laugh sarcastically, not sure what I should be more upset about. That he’s being so cute and confused right now, or that he doesn’t remember.

“No, you said some horrible things to me,” I tell him, turning away and tugging his jacket closer to my body. It suddenly dropped a hundred degrees.

“Dani, I didn’t say horrible things to you.”

I face him, exasperated. “I can’t believe you don’t even remember. Those words have been sitting on my heart for weeks! You hurt me.”

His eyes widen and his face contorts with confusion. “I hurt you? I’d never do such a thing. You’re a nice person. An amazing person who cares so much about her parents and her friends and you’re so passionate and driven.”

I scowl. “Yeah, well you didn’t know all of that on the first day when you just met me. I was just an annoying girl who talked too much.”

He gives me another confused face. “Wait, I said you talked too much?”

“I believe your words were ‘Don’t you ever shut up?’” I cross my arms over my chest and twist away from him, remembering how much pain those words inflicted on me. “And then you said another second of being with me and you’d pull your hair out.”

His face goes sheet white as his eyes widen. “Dani, I didn’t say that.”

“You did.”

He sighs heavily, scrubbing a hand down his face. “If I said that, I didn’t mean it. It wasn’t personal. My parents forced me away from my boarding school in London—which I loved—to come here because they wanted to control me. It had nothing to do with you.” He takes my hand, staring into my face with sincere eyes. “Dani, I don’t think you talk too much, not at all. I love hearing you talk. And I love being around you. That guy you met on the first day? It wasn’t me. It was some messed-up version of me who was dealing with his own personal problems.”

I yank my hand out of his. “It wasn’t just the first day. Every time I crashed into you, you always told me to watch where I’m going.”

He shakes his head. “I only said that because you always glared at me and gave me death looks. I had no idea what I’d ever done to you, so when you crashed into me and gave me such glares, I guess my defenses kicked in. I’m sorry. I never meant to offend or hurt you. There’s nothing about you that I hate.” His eyebrows furrow. “Wait a minute, all this time you gave me those looks was because of what I said to you on the first day? That’s why you looked like you wanted to kill me?”

I nod.

“It was all a misunderstanding. I was so bothered and messed up because of what was going on at home and I took out my anger on the first person I met, which was you. In turn, you were so hurt by what I did that you held a grudge against me. All this time we could have been friends.”

I keep my gaze on the ground. “What bothered me most, though? You never apologized.”

He takes my hands. “I didn’t remember what happened to realize I owed you an apology. But let me apologize to you now, Dani.” He stares into my eyes, so deeply that my heart skips a beat. “I’m sorry for what I said to you. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize.”

I think about it for a bit. It’s obvious he’s torn up about it. And I can’t know what it was like for him on that first day, what he was going through. And his apology was the most genuine thing I have ever heard in my life.

I don’t want to be his enemy anymore. I want to be his friend.

“Yeah,” I say with a shy smile. “I forgive you, Easton Knight Jr.”

He smiles. “Friends?”

“Friends.”

Then we sit here in silence.

“So…boarding school, huh?” I say a little while later. “What was that like?”

He leans back in the seat, puffing out his cheeks. “I went to a boarding school in London all my life. I liked it a lot, had many friends. I was away from my family and everything that I try to avoid here.” He shakes his head. “But I guess my parents didn’t like me being on my own. Didn’t like that I had too much freedom. So they tore me away from my friends—from everything—and forced me to go to Edenbury High.”

“But why public school? Why not the all-boys private school Carlos Reyes goes to?”

He shrugs. “My parents don’t exactly get along with the school board. My mom’s brother went there and they had some problems—probably about money, what else?—and my parents didn’t want me to go there. They needed to keep me close to home, so welcome Edenbury High.” He turns to me and grins. “But I’m glad I came here because I met you.”

I laugh and look away. “I would never in a million years think my number one enemy would be my friend.”

His smile drops. “I’m really sorry about that.”

I shake my head. “Forgiven and forgotten. I think I’ve learned that I need to let go of grudges. You never really know what someone is going through.”

We sit here for another few minutes before I get up. “I’d better go home. It’s getting late.”

He gets to his feet as well. “Can I drive you?”

“Okay, thanks.”

He slips his phone from his pocket, presses a number, and tells his driver to come get him. Easton and I walk back into the house, through the many kids still dancing or chatting, and out the front door. The shiny black car is waiting for us.

As we approach, an older man steps out of the car and holds open the backdoor for us. “Hi, Joe,” Easton greets with a smile. “This is Dani. We’ll be dropping her off at her house first.”

The driver tips his hat. “Yes, sir.” He nods to me. “Hello, miss.”

“Wow, no one has ever called me miss before.”

Easton chuckles, gesturing for me to get in, then climbs in after me.

The seats are just as comfortable as they were on that night. The images are still strong in my mind, but I’m trying to forget about it. Easton and I are friends. Just friends.

He bumps his shoulder into mine. “What are you thinking about?”

I shrug as the car zooms down the street. “Nothing specific.”

He continues bumping my shoulder. “You’re a bad liar.”

“I’m just tired.”

He doesn’t say anything and when I glance at him, I see his eyebrows are drawn and his face is washed with unease. “What?” I ask.

He sighs. “I just hate that you and your parents work so hard.”

“No, it’s fine. Mom working for your family has helped us tremendously. She doesn’t have to clean as many houses anymore and I stopped working at Mikey’s.”

He nods slowly, but doesn’t seem to relax one bit.

“We have reached the young lady’s house, sir,” Joe says. He gets out of the car and opens the door for me.

Easton smiles at me. “I’ll see you at school on Monday. Good night and sweet dreams.”

“See ya, and thanks for the ride.” I smile at Joe, who tips his hat, then make my way to the front door. Before I go inside, I turn back and catch the shiny black car still there. It doesn’t drive off until I’m in the house.