Sweetheart

CHAPTER 12

Tea was one of my favorite things.

I enjoyed it both in liquid form and as a release.

I was reminded of this indisputable fact yet again as I listened to my girls vent about their relationship woes. With my cousin, Freya, it always seemed to be about food.

”I think I need to break up with Wayne,” she said.

”Why?” Charlotte asked.

”Because of the cookies.”

There was a moment of silence, then I said, ”I think we”re going need more context.”

”I told Wayne he couldn”t have one of my Oreos, that they”re how I reward myself after a workout. And what does he do?” Freya said with an arched brow. ”He gets all mad and calls me a selfish cow for not sharing.”

”I”ll grab some cookies for you from the sweets table if you want,” I offered.

”Thanks, Scarlett,” she said, ”but that”s not the point.”

Raising her hand like we were in school instead of the live musical entertainment at a birthday party, my other cousin, Aurora, asked, ”What is the point exactly?”

I nearly laughed, both at how she said it—there was no sarcasm whatsoever, just honest curiosity. Aurora was one of the sweetest, shyest, most kind-hearted people I knew. Honestly, I worried about her sometimes. But we Kent cousins stuck together. There were five of us total, along with my big sister, Charlotte, and me. Needless to say, if anyone ever messed with Aurora, they”d have four pissed, vengeful, and very motivated girls on their hands.

The other thing that made me want to laugh?

Freya”s face.

She sighed at Aurora”s question then said, ”My boyfriend”s a jerk. I think that”s the point.”

”At least you have a boyfriend,” Aurora put in. ”Guys don”t even notice me.”

”That”s because most of them are idiots,” I said.

”Oh, I”m not complaining. Guys scare me—especially the hot ones.”

Freya sighed again. ”Unfortunately, Wayne isn”t hot. He”s just…Wayne.”

I did laugh at that.

”I don”t get it. Why couldn”t he just get his own cookies?” Charlotte asked.

”Exactly!”

I shrugged then said, ”I think food is better when it”s shared.”

My sister lifted a brow. ”You mean stolen while the other person”s not looking?”

”Same thing.”

”It”s really not, Scar, but okay.”

I shot her a smile. ”I bet Bo would agree with me.”

Charlotte tried to look annoyed, but a soft smile appeared on her face just like it always did whenever we talked about her gentleman caller—Lotte hated it when I called Bo that which meant I did it every time she annoyed me. But Bo really was a gentleman. He was the exception to the rule. A genuinely good-if-grumpy person, Bo Stryker was a unicorn in a world full of horse poo. That didn”t mean I”d stop teasing Lotte, though.

”You let him steal your food all the time while slapping my hand away,” I added, ”which is…hurtful to be honest.”

My sister snorted a laugh.

”I mean, he’s just your gentleman caller.” Watching her eye twitch made me smile. ”I”m your sister, Lotte. Blood is thicker than water, right?”

”First”—Charlotte held up a finger—”Bo asks before taking anything off my plate—something you never do. Second, he”s always hungry because of soccer and marital arts. And third, will you please stop calling him that?”

”So much for sisters before misters,” Freya said, throwing me a smile.

I nodded. ”Yeah, I”d never let a guy come between us.”

”I thought you were the one who got them together,” Aurora said.

”I was—but Lotte never gives me credit for all the good I do,” I said.

Aurora”s lips turned down at the corners. ”I know you”re all on the same page, but...I never want a boyfriend.”

Freya shrugged. ”They”re highly overrated.”

Just then, my phone buzzed in my hand.

It was a text from Sam.

Sam:Have you jumped out of the cake yet?

I bit back a smile then replied.

Me: Told you already, Bishop. I”m not jumping out of anything.

Sam: Why not? Could be a good surprise.

Me:Um, because this is a birthday party with a princess tea party theme, and the cake isn”t human-sized?

Sam:Too bad.

Another text came through a moment later.

Sam:Are you wearing the blue dress?

Me: Possibly. Why?

Sam:I”m just trying to picture it.

I shook my head as I typed.

Me:Again, why???

Sam:Because I like you in that dress.

My heart beat like a drum in my chest as I read the words.

Sam:I”m almost jealous of those kids getting to see you in it. But not really. You are my girlfriend ;).

Well, that answered that question.

I”d often wondered if the word would have as much impact if he wasn”t saying it to my face. Spoken or written, it didn”t matter. Sam calling me his girlfriend would likely always make my chest flutter.

Me: You”re crazy. I have to go. We”re about to start our set.

Sam:Good luck, Kent.

Me: Thanks, Bishop—we”ll need it lol. 13-year-olds aren”t the easiest to please.

Sam: Don”t worry. You got this. You and your cousins are going to blow the roof off that tea party. Wish I was there to see it.

I wish you were too, I thought.

Before I could chicken out, I replied.

Me:You”re a really good fake boyfriend. Bye, Bishop.

I didn”t wait for his response. Putting my phone away, I looked up, only now noticing that the girls around me had fallen silent. They were staring at me expectantly.

”What?” I said.

”Nothing,” Charlotte said, but by the small grin on her face, I could tell it was more than that. ”Good conversation?”

”Sam just wanted to wish us luck. No big deal.”

Though it was big, at least to me. The fact that he remembered and took the time to send those messages? Yeah, not going to lie. It moved me, melting my heart more than a little. Not that I”d say that to my family. Charlotte, especially, was a no go. She already suspected my feelings were far more serious than they should be. No need to prove her right.

”He was wishing you luck,” Charlotte said. ”Not us.”

Freya spoke next, sounding uncharacteristically cheerful.”Have I told you how much I love your dress?” she said.

I shook my head, wondering if she”d been reading over my shoulder. ”You hate this dress—and all dresses for that matter.”

”Hmm, well, I love that one. Speaking of which”—she added with possibly the worst segway ever—”how”s your love life?”

”Huh?” I said.

”That little text session.” Freya bounced her brows at me. ”Looks like things are going well with Sam. So?”

”So?” I echoed.

”Come on, Scarlett,” my sister said. ”She wants details.”

”I do,” Freya added. ”As someone whose boyfriend sucks, I”m living vicariously through you. I want all the tea.”

”Me too,” Charlotte said, ”although Bo doesn”t suck, and he even called just to hear my voice before this.”

”Me three,” Aurora put in.

”There”s not much to tell,” I said cooly, but they kept giving me—and each other—these knowing looks. ”I”m not sure what you want me to say. It was just a few texts.”

Aurora shrugged. ”You couldn”t stop smiling,” she said.

I frowned.

”When you saw his name on your phone, it was like the sun came out of your face.”

”That sounds painful, Ror,” Freya said.

”It does,” Charlotte agreed.

When Aurora looked to me, I nodded. ”Sunlight coming out of someone”s face would only work if they were a mutant—and even then, I”m not sure it would feel good.”

”Okay,” she said, ”so my metaphors aren”t the best.”

I couldn”t stop myself from adding, ”It was actually a simile because you didn”t use like or as. But carry on.”

”Anyway,” Aurora said, ”it”s still true. You don”t usually smile like that.”

I gave her a shrug. ”It”s probably because we”re about to play, and music is my first love.”

”You love something,” Charlotte muttered, but I pretended not to hear.

”Has anyone heard from Viola?” Aurora said, and I frowned.

”I haven”t,” I said.

”The last I heard she was on her way,” Charlotte said.

”Well, she better hurry,” Freya said after checking the time on her phone. ”We”re on in five minutes, and the birthday girl”s mom plus the scary-hot dude in the leather jacket who I think is her big brother has already looked this way a few times.”

”Viola”s not usually late,” I said. ”And when she is going to be, she always lets one of us know.”

Aurora bit her lip then said, ”Should we be worried? Because I”m kind of worried.”

”I”ll call her,” I said, but as I went to reach for my phone, our cousin rushed in, wearing a pink dress and looking frazzled.

”I”m here, I”m here,” she said, sounding out of breath. ”Sorry guys. Thanks for not starting without me.”

”No problem.” I leaned forward to smooth back the strands of hair flying about her face. ”What happened? Aurora was worried.”

”And the rest of you weren”t?”

”Hey,” Freya said, ”I was.”

Viola gave her a smile. ”No, you weren”t.”

”Well, I was getting there. I would”ve had to sightread the cello parts if you didn”t show.”

Charlotte chuckled, but I just shook my head.

”I mean, we all know I could do it but still.”

”Nice, Frey,” I said.

”What did I say?”

Viola patted her on the shoulder. ”It”s cool. We all know the cello is the more difficult and therefore superior instrument, so I understand.” I think all four of us rolled our eyes at that. Aurora was playing the viola tonight, but everyone knew violin was the best. ”And to answer your question, Scar, I”m late because I saw a dog on the side of the road.I couldn”t leave the big guy out there. It”s supposed to rain this week, you know?”

I did.

But my cousin Viola loved animals. It was one of the main reasons sheworked at a local animal shelter and had put so much energy there for the past several years. She took her job seriously, and I knew that rain or shine, Viola would”ve dropped everything to help an animal in need. It was just her nature.

”So anyway,” she added, ”I stopped, took him to the shelter, and got him settled in. I think I”ll call him Batman. He had the cutest ears.”

”What happened to your neck?” Charlotte asked, pointing to a red mark on Viola”s skin. ”Did the dog nip you?”

Her hand flew to her neck, and a flush spread on her cheeks. ”Ah no, he didn”t.”

”You said Batman was big,” Aurora said. ”Weren”t you scared to try and get him in the car?”

”Not really. I had help.”

”You did?” I asked. ”Who?”

”Well…”

Just then a guy entered and walked across the ballroom. I recognized him immediately, and as he made his way to us, I caught several of thebirthday girl”s friends murmuring. ”Is he a prince?” one girl whispered. Her friend nodded. ”He looks like one. So cute.” ”The cutest,” another said. And honestly, they were kinda right. As Dare Frost stopped in front of Viola and smiled, I could totally see it. He was a good-looking guy. Definitely prince material. Although, my mind noted, Sam”s eyes were bluer. And even if Dare was nice to look at, my boyfriend was definitely the cutest.

I blinked.

Did I really just think that?

Myboyfriend?

The cutest?

I gave myself a mental slap.

Viola tilted her head at Dare. ”Hey, what are you doing here?”

”You forgot something in the car,” he said and held out her bow.

”Oh, thank you,” she said, grabbing it quickly from his hand. ”I was in such a hurry, didn”t want to be late.”

”Now, I see why you were,” Charlotte mumbled, and I elbowed her side while biting back a grin.

”I forgot something too,” Dare said.

He leaned forward and placed a kiss against Viola”s cheek. I could”ve sworn I heard Aurora and several others sigh in response.

”Have a good night, flower.”

”You too,” she said breathlessly.

”Don”t worry about Batman. We”ll check on him tomorrow. Nice seeing you all again.” Dare nodded at us, shot one last warm look at Viola, turned on his heel, and walked out as quickly as he appeared.

”Okay, I get why you were late,” Freya said, ”and I approve.”

I crossed my arms, trying to look stern. ”Same, but next time, maybe set an alarm when you make out with your boyfriend? Then you won”t lose track of time.”

”Yeah, that wouldn”t be weird at all,” Viola said and shot me a grin. ”How”s your boyfriend? Sam Bishop, right?”

”He”s fine,” I said.

”Sooo fine,” Aurora replied which got a high-five from Freya. She shrugged when I looked to her, and I couldn”t help but laugh.

”Dare said he saw you at the Durham soccer game,” Viola said. ”It”s cool that you went to support Sam.”

Charlotte”s eyes filled with interest. ”You went to a soccer game?”

I mumbled under my breath.

”What was that?” she asked, unwilling to let it go.

”Two,” I said. ”I”ve been to two games.”

”Hmmm.”

I couldn”t even argue because I agreed with that ”Hmmm.” Why had I gone to two of Sam”s games when I had such a freaking busy schedule? Was it just to see his eyes light up when he spotted me on the sidelines? Did his smile mean that much to me?

The answer was as obvious as it was unsettling.

Thankfully, the scary-hot big brother gave us the signal, and a second later, we got down to business. Music I understood. It was easy in a way. All you had to do was play the notes on the page, follow them to the letter, add your own flair and perform from the heart. Tapping into my emotions had never been a problem. As our music filled the space, I knew this party was in for a treat. Playing in public wasn”t my sister”s favorite thing, but that was because she hadn”t accepted how awesome she was. And Charlotte was awesome in so many ways. Freya was the most natural and a total beast musically-speaking—I was convinced she was born with a violin in her hand. Aurora was the most surprising because, as introverted as she was in social situations, she played without any reservations. Viola made her cello sing like nothing I”d ever heard before, shaping the notes, pulling them from the depths of her soul. And I…well, I loved composing, but I also loved performing, especially with my girls.

Our set consisted of classical and contemporary music.

A few tea party standards.

More than a few pop songs—which the kids seemed to love the most.

And a couple of my original pieces.

We played some of our best music at that birthday. My mind usually shut off, and I could just lose myself. But my sister”s eyes kept coming to rest on me between songs. I have so many questions, they said. I tried to convey that I do too but wasn”t sure she got the message. The truth was…the longer I was with Sam the more I wanted to stay with him.

And that wouldn”t do.

Initially, my goal was to complete my list before graduation.

But maybe I should accelerate the timeline.

It made so much sense. I was a little disappointed I didn”t think of it sooner. I nearly missed a key change because I was so excited about my new plan. Freya shot me a confused look, but I just played on. Romance was like a flower. It needed time to grow and thrive. But what would happen if you cut that period short? The idea took root in my mind and would not let go.

Get my list done as quickly as possible.

Knock out the romantic things as if they were…well, exactly what they were. Items on a list. No sentimentality. No mushiness. Just business—as it was always meant to be.

Considering everything, it was the best course of action.

Less time with Sam, less time to fall for him. Right?

Hopefully my fake boyfriend would agree.