“I wonder what she’d do if I showed up in black. She’d shun me.” She snapped her fingers jokingly. “Oh wait…”

Except I wasn’t laughing now. I felt horrible that she knew exactly how my mother felt about her.

“I’m sorry she’s such a bitch, Raven.”

“It’s not your fault.” She looked out at the ocean, then promptly changed the subject. “You must be excited to go to Connecticut in the fall.”

“At this very moment, thanks to you, I’m in absolutely no rush to leave this spot, let alone Palm Beach.”

She blushed. “You’re funny.”

“You’re fucking beautiful.” That just came out. “I’m sorry if that was too forward. But it’s true,” I said.

“No.” Her cheeks turned pink. “Thank you.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

She pushed some hair behind her ear. “No.”

“I want to take you out.”

She looked down at her empty cup. “I don’t think so.”

Ouch. “Can I ask why?”

“It’s not that I’m not interested, but…you’re leaving in the fall, so I’m not sure it makes sense to start anything up. Then there’s the bigger issue of your mother. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“I get it.” I nodded. “I understand.”

Holy shit. I wasn’t used to rejection. I couldn’t remember the last time a girl had said no to me. I swear to God, my dick just stiffened. What was it about the chase that was so damn arousing? I had to find another way…

“Can we hang out as friends, then?”

She grinned skeptically. “Friends?”

“There’s this improv club near where you live. I wanted to go check it out this weekend. Would you want to go with me?”

“Venturing to the other side of the bridge, eh?” she teased. “What would Mother think?”

“Will you come with me, wiseass?”

“Seriously, what if your mom finds out?”

“She won’t. She doesn’t really question where I go. I’ll just tell her I’m going to meet a friend. And thanks to your rejection, that won’t be a lie, right?”

Raven blinked for a while before she finally answered, “Okay. Yeah.”

My heart sped up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah...to the improv club as friends,” she clarified.

“Cool.”

Jesus. I wanted to taste her lips so bad. They were so naturally red. She wasn’t even wearing lipstick. This “friends” thing was going to be painful. But I’d take it.

My five minutes expired. We drove back to the house, and she returned to her spot in the garden. I entered my number into her phone and sent myself a text so I’d have her digits.

“Does Saturday night work?”

She looked up to think for a moment then said, “Yes. That should work.”

“Should I pick you up at your house?”

“Actually, I’d prefer my mother not know. So, if it’s okay, I’ll meet you there.”

“Whatever you want.”

I was going to have to wait until Saturday to spend time with her again. I knew my mother would be around the rest of the week, making it impossible to interact with Raven. That bummed me out.

Even though I needed to leave and let her work, I stared down at my shoes instead. I was totally and utterly addicted.

“So, I know I can’t talk to you while you’re working, because I don’t want to get you in trouble. But I refuse to let days go by again without communicating. Can you text while you’re at work?”

She frowned. “No. Staff isn’t allowed to use phones during work hours unless we leave the house on an errand. I normally don’t have mine on me. I only snuck it today because I knew your mother was out. Typically, we have to keep our phones in the drawer in the kitchen.”

Miserable.

Scratching my chin, I tried to think outside the box. “Okay. Here’s what we’re gonna do. If we can’t talk or text, I’m going to communicate with you another way.”

“Telepathy?” She laughed.

“No.”

“What, then?”

“If you hear me playing music out loud, listen. You’ll know it’s for you.”

“Oh my God.” She blushed. “You’re crazy.”

“Maybe.” I winked.

I walked back into the house feeling exhilarated. My expectations hadn’t gotten the message that Saturday night was just a “friendly” outing and not a date. My blood was pumping. It felt like I could have run a marathon. Maybe I needed to do a few laps in the pool, take a cold shower—something. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this jazzed about anything.

Never.

I’d never felt this way about a girl.

Considering the situation, that was fucked up.***Later that afternoon, after my mother returned from the club, I was hanging out in my room when I heard her scolding Raven for something stupid—some item got put in the wrong closet, hand towels where the bath towels were supposed to go or some shit. Anyway, it was dumb, and my mother’s reaction was completely uncalled for.

Taking out my iPod, I immediately went in search of a song for the occasion. I downloaded one with just the message I wanted to convey.