“Thomas, you didn’t see Ren while I was in the bathroom, did you?”
“No, no, no.” He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, putting both hands on my shoulders. “Let’s make a pact. No more talking about Ren. I just want to talk about you.” He grinned. “And me. Now come on.”
He pulled me forward, and I stumbled a little as we made our way across the grass.
“Where are we going?”
“I told you, it’s a surprise.”
We walked all the way to an empty blanket on the outskirts of the yard and Thomas sat down, loosening his tie and taking off his jacket. His shirt and hair were rumpled and I wished for about the thousandth time that Addie were here to enjoy all this hotness. It was totally wasted on me.
“Now lie down,” he said.
“What?”
“Lie down.” He patted the blanket.
“Thomas . . .”
“Relax. I’m not going to do anything. Just lie down for a second. I promise I’ll stay right here.”
I looked at him for a moment, then lay down on the blanket, smoothing my dress around me. “Now what?”
“Close your eyes. I’ll tell you when to open them.”
I looked at him, then exhaled, half closing my eyes. Did he have to be this gorgeous? It was really complicating my life.
He started counting down slowly. “Twenty . . . nineteen . . . eighteen . . .” By the time he got to “one” I’d been lying there for half a century, and I opened my eyes to the sound of a collective cheer going up from the lawn.
All around us, white paper lanterns lit by candles were rising into the air. There were hundreds of them.
Thomas grinned at my stunned expression. “Valentina told me they were doing this. Cool, right?”
“So cool.”
We watched quietly for a moment, the lanterns twirling up to the stars like graceful jellyfish. The night was beautiful and magical and ugh—I was so miserable I could cry. Here I was in Italy witnessing a scene out of a fairy tale, and all I could think about was Ren. Was I going to be like Howard? Heartbroken for life? Was I going to have to buy my own long board and start baking blueberry muffins in the dead of night?
“Told you you’d like it. They’re doing fireworks later too.” Thomas reclined on one elbow, lowering his face close to mine. A bunch of lanterns were reflected in his eyes and for a second I lost track of why I wasn’t into him. And then I remembered.
“Thomas, I have to tell you something.”
“Shh. You can tell me later.” Before I could react, he rolled on top of me, pressing his lips against mine and my whole body into the ground. For a second it was like Christmas and my birthday and summer vacation all rolled into one, but then it was all so wrong. I wriggled out from under him and sat up.
“Thomas, I can’t do this.”
“Why?” He sat up too, a confused look on his face. This was probably his very first experience with rejection. Poor devil.
I shook my head. “You’re great. And so good-looking. But I just can’t.”
“Because of Ren?”
“Yeah.”
“Why’d you even come here with me if you’re into Ren?”
“I’m sorry. It was really lame of me. And I should have told you earlier.”
He stood up and grabbed his jacket, brushing grass off his pants. “Lucky for you, lover boy’s right over there.”
“What?” I whipped around. Ren was standing a few yards away, his back to me. I scrambled to my feet.
“See you around,” Thomas said.
“Thomas, I really am sorry,” I called after him, but he was already on his way back to the house.
I took a deep breath, then scooped up my shoes and half ran over to Ren. He was wearing a navy blue suit and it looked like someone had held him down and given him a haircut.
I touched his back. “Ren?”
He turned around and I felt the shards of my broken heart crumble to dust. He looked so good. Like so good.
“Hey.” Not even a hint of surprise.
“I was really hoping you’d be here. Could we talk?”
Suddenly Mimi materialized from a nearby group of girls. She was wearing a fitted black dress with cutout panels along the rib cage, and her eyes were outlined in dark liner. She looked like a tiger. I’d never seen anything more terrifying.
She linked her arm with Ren’s. “Hello, Lina. How’s Thomas?”
“He’s okay,” I said quietly.
“Ren, let’s go back inside. I think the band’s going to start again.”
“Ren, can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked.
He was looking just past my right ear. “I’m kind of busy.”
“Please? It will only be a minute. I just have to tell you something.”
“He’s busy,” Mimi said, tightening her grip on his arm.
He looked down at her hand, then back up at me. “Okay. One minute.”
“Seriously, Ren?” Mimi growled.
“It will just be a second. I’ll be right back.”
She turned and flounced away. That girl knew how to flounce.
“What’s up?” Ren asked quietly.