It wasn’t even lunch, and this was the fourth time today a girl had smiled or laughed at Dylan, or both. This had been happening more and more since school started. And worse than that, there had been notes in his locker. With fucking hearts on them.
Speaking of his locker, there was a girl standing by it right now. He’d had a few classes with her, but he couldn’t remember her name. He didn’t much pay attention to names since he’d started ignoring people in second grade.
“Hi, Dylan.” She smiled.
God, he wasn’t used to that. So many years of people getting out of his way, dropping their gaze. Everything started changing when Aiden came along. Last year had been weird enough with everyone acting all nice to him and a few girls giving him shy smiles, but this year was fucking ridiculous.
“Hey.” He opened his locker and shoved a book in.
“So I, um… I was wondering… has… has anyone asked you to the dance?”
“What dance?” He glanced over to see her smile falter.
“Sadie Hawkins. Next Saturday.”
He grabbed the book he needed and stuffed it in his backpack. “No.” He’d sort of vaguely noticed some posters but hadn’t paid attention to them.
“Would you… would you like to go with me?”
He slammed his locker shut and stared at her. “Why would I want to do that?” Dances were stupid, and they were even stupider when Shadow Valley High was trying to act like a normal school by having them.
The girl blinked at him, her cheeks bright red. “Sorry. I… I’ll just go.” She hurried off down the hall.
Dylan tried to forget it, but the next day two girls asked him to the dance. One of them was a senior and she was pretty hot, so he actually considered it for a moment. But he had no desire to go to a dance, and he definitely didn’t want to do any actual dancing.
“What is with these chicks?” Dylan dropped his lunch tray on the table. “They keep asking me to that stupid dance.”
Tiago chuckled. “You should go.”
“Why? I hate that stuff.”
“Have you ever been to a dance?”
“No.” Dylan squeezed hot sauce on his tacos.
“Then how do you know you hate it?”
Dylan glared at the jaguar boy. “Did anyone ask you to the dance?”
Tiago shrugged. “Yeah.”
Aiden’s head snapped up and he stared at Tiago. “Who?”
“Doesn’t matter. I said no.”
“So you don’t want to go, but you think I should?” What kind of crap was that?
Tiago looked at his fries as if they were extremely interesting. “I’d go if the right person asked.”
Aiden sucked in a breath, and Dylan heard his heartbeat over the din of the lunchroom. Weird.
“Who’s the right person?” Dylan asked. There was definitely something going on. Were Aiden and Tiago sharing secrets? Of course they were. They spent a ton of time together now, and it made Dylan feel left out.
“It doesn’t matter. Nobody’s going to the dance,” Aiden said, his voice loud.
“Aw, don’t be jealous.” Tiago smiled.
Aiden’s face paled, and he shook his head.
Tiago’s smile widened. “Someone will ask you too… and you can turn her down like the rest of us too-cool-for-dancing types.”
Dylan munched his taco thoughtfully. “You got a crush on someone or something?” he asked Aiden. And it seemed like Tiago knew who it was. Why tell him and not Dylan? They’d shared a freaking girlfriend—sort of—and yet Aiden didn’t want to talk to him about this?
Aiden held up his hands. “No, no! No crushes. You’re right—dances are stupid. We should get together and do something that night. Play video games and blow things up. That’s the opposite of dancing, right?”
“Yeah, that sounds like fun.” Tiago munched on a french fry, though there was still a little smirk on his face.
Jealousy twisted inside Dylan. He liked Tiago, he really did, but sometimes he wished the boy had never come here. Dylan missed the days when it was just him and Aiden. “I guess.”
They didn’t have to say it would be at Dylan’s house. Aiden didn’t have any gaming systems, and Tiago never invited anyone to his house. As far as Dylan knew, he might not even have a TV.
“We could get pizza and snacks and stay up late,” Aiden said.
Tiago’s eyebrows went up. “A sleepover?”
“No,” Dylan and Aiden said at the same time, in very different tones.
“Sleepovers are for girls and little kids,” Dylan said.
Aiden looked freaked out. “No sleepovers.”
What was up with him? Was he having anxiety problems again? Aiden seemed a lot better now that the dark fae was dead, going outside for training and everything. He actually seemed to be really happy, although he acted extra weird sometimes. Maybe that’s just how he was dealing with it.
Tiago snorted. “I was just kidding, jeez.”
“So next Saturday. Gaming night. Should I come pick you both up?” Maybe Dylan would finally find out where Tiago’s house was. “We could all go to the store for snacks.” God, he loved having his own car. The road out of town taunted him, but at least he could get around Shadow Valley without depending on his parents.
“You paying?” Tiago asked around a french fry.
“Yeah, I guess.” It was no secret he had a ton of money and the other two… didn’t.
“Then I’m in.”
Aiden looked a little calmer. “I’m in too.”
“Then we’re on.” Gaming was much better than some stupid dance.
* * *
Grabbing Tiago’s arm, Aiden dragged him into a quiet corner.
“What?”
“Please,” Aiden whispered, fear clutching at his heart. “Please don’t tell Dylan.”
Tiago’s confused expression softened, and he lifted a hand like he was going to touch Aiden, but then he caught himself. “I won’t.”
“Then what was all that?”
That damn sexy smirk appeared. “I like watching you squirm.” His voice was a low rumble, his eyes dark.
Aiden had to look away before his body embarrassed him in the middle of the hall. “It’s mean.”
“It’s harmless teasing. And no offense to Dylan, but he’s kind of oblivious. He’s never going to guess.”
A group of students walked by laughing, and Aiden tensed. This wasn’t the place for a conversation like this. “Promise you won’t tell Dylan.”
“I promise.” All the joking was gone and Tiago looked sincere. Then a little twinkle returned to his eyes. “But I’m still going to tease you, because if I have to go all night without kissing you, I need something.”
Aiden’s heart jolted with a giddy mix of fear and excitement. He glanced around, but the closest kids were several feet away and weren’t paying any attention to them. For the tiniest moment he considered kissing Tiago right in the middle of school. Other couples got to, and it was so unfair that they couldn’t. Well, they could, it was just that there would be… consequences. Unknown consequences.
God, he was such a coward.
“Fine,” he told Tiago, stepping away to put some distance between himself and temptation.
Tiago moved past him out into the hall and glanced back. “See you later.”
Aiden swore he put extra smolder into that look.