Sighing, I lie beside him, shivering a little when my shoulders hit the cold grass. “Totally awkward.”
“Tell me something about yourself.” He rolls his head to the side so he’s looking at me. “Anything.”
“Is this you asking about foot fungus again?”
He chuckles. “No. It doesn’t have to be something bad. Just something I don’t know.”
“I sing.” The words take me by surprise, and I bite my lip while I try to figure out how much I want to say about it. “It’s not a secret or anything. I go to open-mic night at the Vortex a couple of times a month. I’ve always loved it. I don’t remember a time it wasn’t something I looked forward to.”
He turns onto his side and studies my face. “I bet you’re amazing. Are you going to school for music?”
“Terrace doesn’t exactly have a music department.” I shake my head, suddenly embarrassed that I shared this much. “It’s just a hobby. It doesn’t mean anything.”
He grunts. “I know all about that lie, Mia. It’s like when I tell people football isn’t a big deal to me, that it’s just a way to get part of my tuition paid while having fun. But nobody works this hard for something they don’t care about.”
“It’s your thing.”
He grins, and my stomach does a little flip-flop at what a good smile he has and how it feels to have that smile directed at me. “Yeah. It’s totally my thing. And singing is yours, but I’m not going to be that guy who tells you to go after the dream. I know it’s more complicated than inspirational posters make it out to be.”
After talking to Arrow and seeing the intensity in his eyes when he talked about his thing, it’s a relief that Brogan understands. As a Woodison, I’m sure Arrow’s never given a second thought to whether or not he should chase his dreams. We’re not all that lucky.
“My high school brought in this motivational speaker my senior year,” I tell Brogan. “He was all about walking the tightrope without a safety net. He said if you have a net, you’ll need it. You’ll use it. But if you want to make yourself reach your dream, you have to take away the net so you have no other choice.”
“I don’t know if that’s a metaphor for bravery or suicide,” Brogan says.
“Exactly! I kept thinking only someone who’s always had a safety net would preach something like that. Maybe he didn’t have a career to fall back on, but he had family who would step up. Some place to sleep when he didn’t have money for rent, food when there’s no money for groceries. No one relying on him to keep the lights on.”
“So you sing,” he says. He reaches out and toys with a lock of my hair. “But you’re majoring in something practical.”
“I don’t know about practical. Criminology. I want to go to law school. That’s enough of a stretch, I think.”
“Ah, the money path. Not a bad plan. Then you can be the safety net for your kids, and they can grow up to believe they pursued their dreams without one.”
The butterflies in my stomach swoon. “That’s pretty much the plan,” I admit.
“Law school.” He nods as if he’s mulling the idea over. “You’re smart enough.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m the creepy guy who watched you tutor kids at the library, remember?”
“Right. I forgot about that.” I grin and he grins back, and we lie there in the cool grass with the sounds of the party carrying on around us. “Turns out you have some game after all, Brogan.”
“Why do you say that?”
I shrug and scoot closer. There’s a connection between us I can’t deny. It might not be that sizzling attraction I felt with Arrow, but maybe it’s safer than that. Warmth without the fire. “Because I’m lying here thinking about how much I like you.”
“I’m told I’m a very likeable guy. It’s a curse. I’m intimately familiar with the friend zone.”
“Hmm, and yet I’m wondering how I can get you to kiss me.”
He props himself up on one elbow and scans my face before his gaze drops to my mouth. “For real?”
The butterflies recover from their swoon to flutter wildly. “Oh, yeah.”
Slowly, he leans over me and sweeps his lips against mine. Once, then twice. I’ve been kissed before, but Brogan’s kiss is different. Most boys kiss like they’re trying to rush to the next event. The kiss is nothing more than an irritating