Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,97

was up there, on the big screen? Heck, up there, Kate could even go back 200 years into the past to find her soulmate. After all, guys like Leopold no longer existed in this world. So her only real prayer to find one would be to somehow find a way to go back 200 years and pray there was one looking for her back then. It was only the thoughts that she would have to find a time portal and jump off a bridge that kept her feet firmly planted in this reality.

When the movie ended, she gathered up her things wordlessly.

“You want a ride?” Greg asked, not looking at all bothered by any of it.

“Sure.”

On the way home, even the Alpha Chi litany had stopped giving him an out. So, at the last turn to her dorm, Greg bit the bullet with a sigh.

“Oh. Uh, hey, I was going to ask you,” he said, fumbling for the words but trying to act cool about it. “I mean, you probably already have plans, and that’s cool.” The words stopped as they jammed into a bunch in his heart, refusing to let him breathe. “Uh, some of us are getting together on Saturday… I think Saturday, it might be Friday. I’m not sure.”

Taylor’s gaze came over, and worry mixed with confusion crossed her face.

“It’s just… It’s… Well, it’s Paige’s birthday,” he said, and he did not dare look over at her. “They… the guys were thinking about having something at the student center for her.”

“Friday?” Taylor asked, and Greg had no idea how to answer that.

“I’m not… they just… Nelson… I’m not sure. It’s either Friday or Saturday. He was going to try to find out what worked for everybody.” Greg pulled into the big parking lot and found a space two rows back from the door. He should have gone around to the front. Why he hadn’t thought about it was anybody’s guess. “I know, you’re probably busy…”

“Uh, no,” she said softly. “I don’t think I have anything else going.”

“Oh, well, it might be Saturday too,” he said as he carefully parked in the spot that faced away from the building before realizing this was stupid. He should’ve just pulled up to let her out near the door. “I… I’m not real sure.”

Slowly Taylor nodded. “Nelson invited me?”

Oh, what that soft note of hope did to Greg’s heart. “Y-yeah. He said he’d love it if you could come.”

A breath that lit her eyes brought a smile with it. “Y-y-yeah. Then sure. I’ll be there.”

There was more he should have told her. Something about them singing and that Nelson hadn’t actually been the one to think about inviting her. But Greg couldn’t get any of that out.

“So are we on for tomorrow night dancing?” Taylor asked from so far out of the blue Greg hadn’t seen it coming.

It cracked like a solid hit between the eyes. Crying felt like a real possibility because keeping his feelings to himself was starting to hurt something fierce. “Uh, yeah. I guess. If you want.”

“Cool,” Taylor said, and with that, she half-bounced across the seat and kissed his cheek. “Can’t wait.”

Dancing with Taylor would have easily been the highlight of his week if Greg had been able to enjoy it. Unfortunately, Ryan and Clara had invited not just Lauren and Wes but Nelson and Paige as well. The six of them spent the entire hour on the opposite side of the room laughing and having a blast.

Greg tried not to notice or to let Taylor notice, but that didn’t work all that great.

“Fantastic,” the male teacher named Marco said when they had successfully learned a death-defying dip that required the couple to hold both hands in a grip and then drop the girl almost to the floor. “Man, you guys made that look easy. Why don’t we try something a little more challenging?”

Glancing over at Taylor, Greg knew this was the last place she wanted to be right now. It didn’t help that she had barely even looked at him most of the evening. He stood slightly behind her as they watched Marco and his partner Amelia demonstrate the move. It was something of a variation of the past-leg dip except the girl went all the way to the side, put her hand around his neck while he picked her completely up off the floor at his side and dipped her nearly upside down.

“You’ll want to get a little momentum going with a counter spin