Spring Fling (18 page)

“You can do it!” Lindsey urged, sensing her indecision.

“Let me take a look at the list,” Danielle said.

Lindsey handed it over. As Danielle studied the songs, Lindsey asked, “Did Ava seem weird at dinner?”

“Weird? How?”

“She didn‟t talk very much. It was like she had something on her mind.”

“Maybe she was thinking about Josh.”

“Or maybe something happened when Cooper came over today.” Danielle glanced up from the song list. “What could have happened?”

“Maybe something romantic?”

Danielle shook her head. “She said she wasn‟t interested in Cooper.”

“Saying is one thing. Doing is another!”

“You think they kissed?”

“They were at the house all by themselves,” Lindsey pointed out. “And Cooper
is
a good-looking guy. Maybe Ava couldn‟t resist.”

“I can‟t see her making the first move.”

“I‟m not saying she made the first move. Cooper probably did and now she‟s freaking out. I‟m sure Cooper is an excellent kisser. She probably liked kissing him.”

“If she wants to talk about it, she‟ll bring it up,” Danielle said. “Let‟s not ask her any questions! If we do, she won‟t tell us anything. She‟s probably sorting through her feelings. It would be great, though, if she could forget about Josh and finally move on to a new guy.”

“Speaking of guys, what‟s going on with Ethan? Did you have a good time with him today?”

“We had a blast,” Danielle said, remembering their day at the indoor flea market.

They‟d gone from booth to booth, poking through what they liked to call “old junk” and pretending they were looking for hidden treasures. “He wanted to hang out tonight, but I told him I already had plans.”

“Are things getting serious? Has he kissed you yet?”

“We‟ve only gone out twice!”

Lindsey pounced. “You didn‟t answer my question. You‟re avoiding! That means he
did
kiss you.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Linds, but Ethan
hasn’t
kissed me yet.”

“You sound bummed about that.”

“Not bummed. Confused,” Danielle explained. “When he walked me to the front door last night, I expected him to kiss me good night, but he didn‟t. All I got was a hug.”

“Maybe he‟s shy?”

“Maybe.”

“Or maybe
you’ll
have to make the first move!” Lindsey declared. “Remember, you‟re Daring Dani!”

“How about letting Daring Dani make it through tonight before you have her kissing guys!”

“Have you picked a song?” Lindsey asked.

“Kelly Clarkson‟s „Since U Been Gone.‟ You?”

“Forget Britney and Christina. I‟m going with Rihanna‟s „Umbrella.‟”

“I‟ll go put our names down,” Danielle said.

After giving their names and song choices to the karaoke hostess, Danielle headed back to her table. As she was walking through the crowd, she bumped into a guy from behind.

“Sorry,” she said.

“Not a problem,” he said, turning around.

Danielle gasped. “Rory! What are you doing here?”

“Surprised to see me?”

The words slipped out before she could stop them. “I thought you were throwing a party tonight.”

A party you didn’t invite me to!

Rory instantly looked uncomfortable. “The party. Yeah. About that…I really wanted to invite you.”

“But you didn‟t,” Danielle pointed out.

So much for liking me!

“I didn‟t think your boyfriend would be too happy if I did.”

“Boyfriend?” Danielle asked, her voice filled with confusion. “What boyfriend?”

“That guy you‟re always with.”

“Ethan? He‟s not my boyfriend.”

Rory‟s eyes lit up and he moved closer to Danielle, backing her up against a wall.

“Guess I made a mistake.”

Rory put his arms up, boxing Danielle between them and leaning his body toward her. Instantly, she knew he was getting ready to kiss her, but for some reason, the thought didn‟t excite her. After all, she hardly knew him! He was moving way too fast.

Danielle managed to duck underneath one of Rory‟s arms, putting some space between them. “So why aren‟t you at your party?”

“There wasn‟t anyone there who I wanted to hang out with.” Rory moved closer to Danielle again. “But there is now.”

Before Danielle could say anything, the karaoke hostess called out Rory‟s name.

Rory waved to her and then took Danielle‟s hand in his. “Why don‟t you do a duet with me? We‟ll pick a song together.”

“What were you going to sing on your own?”

“„Born to be Wild.‟” Rory stared at Danielle, giving her a lopsided grin. “It‟s my motto.”

Chills traveled down Danielle‟s spine.

It sounded like Rory was a bad boy.

And every girl knew how hard it was to say no to a bad boy…

But she could handle Rory.

Hadn‟t she just avoided his kiss?

It wasn‟t that she didn‟t want him to kiss her. She just wanted to get to know him a little bit better first.

Obviously he wanted to kiss her.

Unlike Ethan, who
didn’t.

What was up with that?

“So, will you sing with me?” Rory asked again.

“Yes!” Danielle exclaimed. “I‟d love to!”

Ethan was bored. When Damian, Steve, and Howie had suggested going to a karaoke club, he hadn‟t been excited by the idea. Who wanted to spend the night listening to lousy singers? And there was
no way
he would be getting up onstage. But he didn‟t have any other plans and he didn‟t want to stay home alone, so he‟d come along. Cooper, whom he still hadn‟t seen today, had left them a note that afternoon, saying he was having dinner with his cousins who were also in Miami for the week.

“Hey, isn‟t that Danielle up onstage?” Damian asked, pointing a finger.

Ethan nearly choked on the soda he was drinking. “What did you say?” he asked between coughs.

“Look!”

Ethan looked. And saw that Damian was right. There, up on the stage, was Danielle.

“Who‟s the guy she‟s with?” Howie asked.

Guy?

What guy?

Ethan suddenly noticed a guy walking from the right side of the stage, holding a microphone out to Danielle. Ethan‟s eyes widened with shock.

It was Rory.

Rory!!!

What was he doing here? He was supposed to be having some sort of party tonight.

And how had Danielle hooked up with Rory? She‟d told Ethan she was having a girls‟ night out.

“Guess who I found!” Steve exclaimed, returning to their table with Jade, Crystal, and Lindsey. “Our next-door neighbors!”

Ethan gave a sigh of relief. Not that he‟d thought Danielle had lied to him, but there had been a tiny seed of doubt in his mind when he saw her with Rory.

“Did you see who‟s up onstage?” Damian asked Jade.

Jade turned to the stage, and her mouth dropped open in shock. “It‟s my baby sister!” She gave a whoop. “Show them how it‟s done, Danielle!”

“You go, girl!” Crystal hooted.

“Way to go, Danielle!” Lindsey shouted before giving Howie the evil eye and pulling the bowl of peanuts on the table away from him so she could have some.

The music started and the song was “You‟re the One That I Want” from
Grease.

A horrified Ethan watched as Rory and Danielle sang the words to each other and imitated the dance steps from the movie, trying not to crack each other up.

They were having a blast.

And there was nothing Ethan could do about it.

Nothing!

Rory was singing to his girl.

His Danielle.

Whoa!

Wait a minute.

Waitaminutewaitaminutewaitaminute!

His
Danielle?

Did he think of Danielle as his girl?

The answer came immediately.

Yes, he did.

If anyone should be singing to her, it should be him!

Damian leaned close to Ethan, whispering in his ear. “That guy is making time with your girl. You‟re never going to get that kiss if you let him do that.”

“She‟s not my girl,” Ethan whispered back.

At least not yet.

But she would be!

Ethan rose from the table.

“Where are you going?” Damian asked.

“To sign myself up for a song.”

There was no way he was letting Rory get the better of him. No way! Rory might have sung a duet with Danielle, but Ethan planned on singing a song just for her.

After that, he was going to kiss her, even though he still hadn‟t had a chance to tell Cooper the bet was off. He‟d worry about that later.

Right now all he wanted to do was send a message to Rory to back off, and that was what he was going to do!

When Ethan got up onstage, he felt like everyone in the karaoke bar was staring at him. Of course, they weren‟t, but enough sets of eyes were on him that it made him nervous.

As a result, his voice cracked.

And he started sweating.

Unlike super-cool Rory, who had looked like a member of a boy band, Ethan felt like a messy slob while he stood behind the microphone and crooned Cheap Trick‟s “I Want You to Want Me.”

But he managed to do it, singing the song from beginning to end.

There had been some boos from the audience, but he ignored them. Okay, he‟d never make the cut on
American Idol
, but he didn‟t think his singing was
that
bad.

While he‟d been onstage, he‟d searched the crowded club for Danielle, wanting to make eye contact with her. He wanted her to know that the song he was singing was for her.

In the middle of the song, he found her and their eyes connected.

He gave her a smile, pointed a finger at her while he clutched the microphone, trying to channel his inner Jonas brother, and continued singing.

She‟d smiled and waved at him until Rory walked in front of her and blocked Ethan‟s view.

Grrrr!

When the song was over, Ethan left the stage and started searching for Danielle, but he couldn‟t find her. She wasn‟t anywhere in the club.

Where could she have gone?

And then Ethan had a thought.

A horrible thought.

Could Danielle have already left the club?

And if she had already left…

Could Rory have driven her home?

If Rory had driven her home…

No, he didn‟t want to think about what would happen after that. Everyone knew what happened after a guy drove a girl home.

He kissed her good night.

Sometimes more than once!

Ethan couldn‟t get the image of Rory kissing Danielle out of his head. Ick! No! If anyone should be kissing Danielle, it should be him.

But there was nothing he could do to stop it. Danielle was gone.

Ethan sighed and headed back to his table.

As he wove his way through the club‟s patrons, he noticed someone and stopped in his tracks. He rubbed his eyes, unable to believe it.

Rory was
still
here!

He hadn‟t left.

That meant he
hadn’t
taken Danielle home!

Just then, Ethan‟s cell phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw he had a text message from Danielle. It read:

Great song choice! Are u trying to tell me something? ;) Sorry I had to leave.

Crystal wasn‟t feeling well and we had to take her home. See u tomorrow.

The text put a smile on Ethan‟s face.

When Ethan got home, he found Cooper in the living room, watching the Cartoon Network. Damian, Steve, and Howie had already gone up to bed, so Ethan and Cooper were alone.

“How was your night with your cousins?” Ethan asked, plopping on the couch next to Cooper.

“Fine. They were filling me in about colleges.”

“Can you believe that this time next year we‟ll be seniors?” Cooper shook his head. “I can still remember my first day at South Ridge High. I was so nervous.”

“You? Nervous? I don‟t believe it.”

“Believe it. I thought everyone was going to see me as a spoiled rich kid.”

“That‟s so not you.”

“My friends know that,” Cooper said. “But sometimes people jump to conclusions. I know that‟s going to happen when I go to college.”

“College is still far away. I wouldn‟t worry about it now. We‟ve got other problems.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “
We?
And what problems are you talking about?” Ethan got off the couch and stuck his head out in the hallway, wanting to make sure no one was around. “I wanted to talk to you about the bet,” he whispered.

“What about it?”

“I want to call it off.”

“You do? How come?”

“I‟m falling for Danielle,” Ethan confessed. “I like her a lot.” Cooper‟s face lit up with a smile. “Really? That‟s great!”

“So you‟re okay with calling the bet off?”

“I‟ve been wanting to call it off since yesterday.”

Ethan was surprised. “You have? How come?”

“You‟re not the only one who‟s fallen for someone.”

“Ava?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, but I don‟t know what‟s going to happen. Her ex-boyfriend really hurt her.

She only wants to be friends with me.”

“If anyone can make her fall in love again, it‟s you.”

“I don‟t know.” Now it was Cooper who left the couch and checked out the hallway. “If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell Damian.”

“Sure.”

“Ava and I kissed today.”

“What was it like?”

“Great. Well, I thought it was great. Ava didn‟t say much about it. She kind of pretended like it didn‟t happen.”

“What‟s your next move going to be?”

“I don‟t know. I‟m still trying to figure it out.”

“Hey!” Ethan exclaimed. “I just realized something. Since you kissed Ava, you won the bet!”

Cooper rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Forget about the bet! It was over for me the second I met Ava. If I cared about winning, I would have been gloating about kissing her.