“I suspected when I saw Lilith that Cam had met his match,” Roland said.
Lilith chuckled. She felt oddly comfortable with these unexpected companions. They seemed more interesting than anyone she’d ever known, except maybe Cam.
“Don’t mind my friends,” Cam said. “We’ve known each other a long time.”
“So, first is a toast,” she said to Cam, glancing around the creek. “What’s second?”
“A favor,” Cam said.
“I’m not letting you back in the band yet—”
“That’s not what I was going to ask,” Cam said, though the word yet made him smile. “The favor is this. Cast aside all that you’ve heard about me from others, and spend an hour with me, here under the stars. Just us. Well, and Arriane and Roland, but you know what I mean.”
“We’re good at camouflage,” Arriane said.
“Okay?” Cam said.
“Okay,” Lilith replied, letting him take her hand and lead her toward the desk, which was set with crystal glasses, mismatched golden cutlery, white napkins folded in the shape of swans, and two gleaming Russian samovars.
Behind them, Roland began strumming a 1930s Martin guitar in a soft, syncopated blues rhythm. It was a very cool-looking instrument, different from any guitar Lilith had ever seen, and she wondered where it had come from. Arriane whipped the napkins off the desk and unfurled them onto Cam and Lilith’s laps.
“Please allow me,” she said when Lilith moved to lift the silver lid. Inside, a steaming cast-iron skillet was filled to the brim with a fragrant red casserole, on top of which swam two over-easy eggs garnished with lush green sprigs of parsley.
“Shakshuka,” Lilith said, inhaling deeply.
“Don’t let her fool you,” Cam said. “Shakshuka is the only dish Arriane knows how to make.”
Lilith frowned at her plate. “I’ve never even heard of it. The word just rose up in me.”
“It’s an old Israeli dish,” Cam said. “Very light.”
“I’m starving,” Lilith said, and raised her fork. “How do you guys know each other?”
“It’s a long story,” Cam said. “Oh, ma?tre d’, you forgot to open my samovar.”
“Open it yourself, jerko,” Arriane called from the creek bank, where she was skipping rocks and mimicking Cam. “?‘The only dish Arriane knows how to make.’?”
Lilith laughed, scooping up a bright orange egg yolk. She savored her first delicious bite, then washed it down with a sip of champagne. “Wow, this is good, too.”
“It should be,” Arriane called from the bank. “It’s older than your grandma.”
Lilith put her fork down and turned to Roland, who was still sitting in the shadows, strumming his guitar. “Is that my song?”
He was concentrating on the neck of his guitar, playing an intricate melody.
“Roland’s a fan,” Cam said.
“What’s this about, Cam?” Lilith asked, glancing from Roland to Arriane to the transformed tree. No one had ever gone to so much trouble to impress her before. “It’s nice and all, but—”
“But it seems like an elaborate lead-up to a promposal?” he asked.
Lilith’s head swiveled to gape at Cam.
“Don’t worry,” he said quickly. “I’m not going to ask you to prom.”
“Good,” she said, surprised to feel a little disappointed.
He leaned in close enough to kiss her and took her hands. “You told me you didn’t need a date to play your music at the battle, and I respect that. It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to go with you, to buy you a corsage and have your mom take our picture and stand in line with you for punch and donuts, all the stuff that I would never want to do if I didn’t get to do it with you.” He smiled a smile that lit up his entire face. “But I can still respect your wishes. So instead, I brought the prom to you.” He glanced around the forest. “See, prom’s just like this, only with a few hundred more people. And a photo booth. And balloon arches.”
“Hmm…it’s not as bad as I imagined,” Lilith said playfully. “It’s actually kinda nice.”
“Thank you,” Cam said. “It took a lot of not-prom-court meetings to pull it off.” He laughed, but then his face grew serious. He lowered his voice. “Whatever Chloe thinks she overheard, all Luc and I were talking about was how much I like you. He was convinced I didn’t have a chance, and it brought out my competitive side. Because there’s nothing I want more than to have a chance with you.”
Lilith studied Cam’s full lips, and found herself leaning closer to him. Suddenly, she didn’t care about any of the rumors. She wanted to kiss him, badly. That was real. Everything else could fall away. Why hadn’t she seen things so clearly before?
“Care to dance?” he asked.
“I care,” Lilith said.