Never in his wildest dreams did Finn ever expect to say he was on the way to crash homecoming with Eden Sayed of all people. So much had changed in just a few months, from their first hookup to working together to now... whatever this was.
All of these thoughts ran through Finn's mind in the span of a moment as he glanced at her. The setting sun cast a glow over her profile as she grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the door of his high school, laughing the whole way.
The two of them stumbled into the building. Somehow, the students responsible for collecting tickets were nowhere to be seen and they slipped into the gym unnoticed.
The first thing Finn saw when they entered was a blonde boy being tossed in the air by the hands of the crowd. He turned to Eden in confusion. "Am I seeing things, or is Cairo crowd-surfing?"
"That's definitely him," Eden confirmed.
Finn snorted. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow managed to get himself crowned homecoming king. I mean, seriously, I swear he knows more people that go to this school than I do."
"How else would he have enough people to invite to his parties every weekend?"
That was true enough. Before he could say anything else, Ashton bumped into him, knocking the crown that was perched atop his head askew. So this was their homecoming king. "Hey, Finn! You showed up! We're all about to head to Henry's place!"
The blonde girl behind him laughed. Finn noticed they were holding hands when she let go to straighten the crown on Ashton's head. "They just got here! Let them enjoy the dance for a bit!"
Ash grinned. "As you wish, Jackson."
As the two of them headed off, Finn heard the girl grumbling. "Don't ever refer to me by that racist president's name again. I swear to God, if you call me Trump, I will murder you in your sleep."
Finn had no clue what that was all about, but Eden drew his attention by pointing at a group of people a few feet away from them. "I think they finally put Cairo down."
The two of them walked over to join their friends, who greeted them enthusiastically. Cairo's hair was all over the place, likely from being tossed in the air, but the grin on his face said it was worth it.
Even Maddox was there, standing next to a black-haired girl who Finn vaguely recognized from one of his classes. He smiled tentatively at Finn, who returned the expression. He owed the other boy an apology at some point, but tonight wasn't the occasion.
The DJ changed the song to something with a heavy bass beat. The crowd immediately started jumping up and down, screaming the lyrics to whatever hot rap song this was.
Finn glanced around the room. The student council had chosen a casino theme, so two giant dice blocks sat in one corner of the school's gym. He hadn't even seen that the carpet that he and Eden had walked in on led to a photo booth, or that there was a giant "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign off to the side. Red and black streamers and playing cards of all kinds were strewn around the room.
Eden also seemed to be appraising the decor. "As far as casino themes go, Vegas is a little banal, isn't it? They should've considered Monte Carlo."
"At least it's better than the Titanic theme they tried to do three years ago," Finn said. "Someone misspelled it as 'Titantic' on the welcome banner."
She scoffed. "Now that's just offensive and stupid. At least have enough decency to look up the name of the historical tragedy you're making fun of."
He held up his hands. "Not my idea. I was just a lowly freshman." And now they were seniors, attending their last homecoming. He'd secured an offer to his dream school, was maybe more-than-friends with the most beautiful girl, and had presented—and done well—at his challenging internship. All in all, senior year was shaping up to be the best yet.
The only thing that would make it better would be if he could actually figure out how Eden felt about him. They were friends at least, he could say for sure, but anything beyond that was still a huge question mark. He didn't want to misinterpret her teasing remarks as flirting, but what else could it be?
The subject of his thoughts turned to him suddenly with a wicked grin. Finn wasn't sure he liked the devilish gleam in her eyes. "I believe you said something about white boy dance moves earlier."
He groaned. "I was joking. Seriously, no one wants to see those."
Eden gestured all around them. "Do you not see what everyone else is doing?" She had a point. Most of his classmates were pumping their fists in the air and jumping, or swaying in place (off-beat, at that). It was a pitiful sight. Maybe Finn wouldn't be the worst of the bunch.
"Lucky for you," she added, "I happen to be an excellent dancer."
He didn't doubt that in the slightest. It must've been a curse on white Americans that so many of them inherently lacked rhythm. He used to think it was white people in general until he met Kieran, who quickly proved him wrong.
Without giving him another chance to protest, Eden grabbed his hands and pulled him into the midst of the crowd. Finn let her take the lead as she started moving to the beat, awkwardly shuffling along as she attempted to guide him.
To her credit, she really did try. His feet simply refused to move to the correct beat, and he had no clue what he was doing with his arms.
Cairo bounced up to them with a cackle. "Dude, what the fuck are you trying to do?"
Finn dropped his arms. "Dance, supposedly."
"You look like a blindfolded 13 year old boy whose parents just announced their divorce trying to hit a piñata."
He blinked, more surprised than offended. "That was... oddly specific."
Eden looped her arm through his. "At least the enthusiasm was there. But..." she grimaced. "You really weren't kidding about not being able to dance."
"Why does no one believe me?" he grumbled.
She laughed. "Okay, okay, we won't subject you to any more embarrassment."
Cairo snorted. "Too late for that."
"Cairo, I'm going to—"
His friend shrugged off the beginnings of the threat. "Enough of that, it's time to go! We're all headed to Henry's." As he skipped away—literally skipped, the madman—he tossed one last jab over his shoulder. "You're only invited if you promise not to inflict those dance moves on anyone else's eyes!"
Finn rolled his eyes, turning back to Eden. "He's never going to let me live that down."
Eden smiled sheepishly. "My fault."
"Oh well. Come on, you heard the idiot; it's time to party!"
The party in question was already in full swing by the time they arrived at Henry's mansion, if the roaring bass music and people spilled out in the backyard was any indication. Finn was surprised no one had fallen in the Nakamuras' pool yet, but he predicted it was only a matter of time.
The host in question was nowhere to be found, though Finn noticed that most of the art that decorated the house was missing. He didn't blame him; Henry's dad was a renowned art curator and his mom an interior designer. Any damage to the usual decor in the house would cost about an arm and a leg, far too much for any high school student to pay off. Better to avoid dealing with that situation in the first place.
As Finn and Eden reached the kitchen, Ashton stumbled in from the backyard. He was clad only in a pair of tiny swim trunks, his homecoming crown, and snorkeling gear, though his hair was dry.
"A little cold for a swim, isn't it?" Finn asked.
Ashton grinned. "The pool's heated! I'm about to cannonball off the roof!" He dashed off with a maniacal cackle before Finn could react.
"O...kay then." He turned back to Eden, who'd raised an eyebrow at the interaction. "Should we grab drinks?"
"I got it," she said, heading for the kitchen counter. In her heels, the top of her head was at his eye level, and her shoulder brushed his as she walked past him. "What do you want?"
He was tempted to say "you", but he wasn't feeling bold enough at that point in the night. "Surprise me."
Eden handed him a mystery concoction moments later, leaning against the counter and raising her own cup to her lips. He took a long pull from his cup and grimaced. "Rum and Coke?"
"It's a classic. Besides, it reminds me of the night we first met."
Finn raised an eyebrow. "You mean the night where you pretended it was the first time we'd met?"
"Not my fault you didn't recognize me," she said. "Honestly, it's kind of bruising my ego. Am I really that forgettable?"
She was anything but forgettable, which Finn knew all too well after spending so much time together over the last few months. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed her sooner. Then again, he'd probably assumed she wouldn't give him the time of day, but he'd never been happier to be proven wrong.
"Past me was an idiot and missing out."
Somehow, they wound their way outside next to the pool. True to his word, Ashton was now having a water fight with some other people in the pool. His supposed cannonball was the likely reason for the water on the deck, which made the poolside a treacherous landscape.
Finn gingerly stepped over a puddle. He'd embarrassed himself enough with his uncoordinated dancing; slipping and falling into the pool would be the icing on the cake.
It seemed the universe had other plans, in the form of a sandy-haired boy named Cairo Ashford, who somehow managed to be everywhere at once. He popped up near them and met Finn's eyes with an evil grin. Before Finn could even react, he felt Eden collide with him and instinctively wrapped his arms around her.
And then they were both falling.
————
Kieran's headlights swept over my front door as he pulled into the driveway of my house. We'd spent the ride in an amicable silence, letting the radio fill the background with noise as we left Union Station. Moonlight filtered in through the windshield and provided slight illumination as he put the car in park.
The cheesecake I'd stolen sat on my lap, untouched—I hadn't wanted to risk making a mess in his car while he was driving, especially since there had already been one dessert fiasco tonight. I started eating as soon as we arrived and nearly swooned at how divine it tasted. I was tempted to demand Kieran drive back just so I could ask for the recipe.
"How does it taste?" he asked after a beat.
"Delicious," I mumbled through a full mouth. "You want some?"
"Sure," he said, turning to face me. I speared the last chunk and held it up, expecting him to grab the fork from me. Instead, his hand wrapped around mine, steadying the utensil as he took a bite. His fingers were warm on the back of my hand, but the touch only lasted a second as he released his grip.
I set the fork on the plate as I waited for the verdict. He swallowed and nodded appreciatively. "Damn, that was good. Makes me want to go back just so we can get another round."
I was about to tell him I had just thought the same thing when I noticed a smear of cheesecake at the corner of his lips. Kieran caught the expression on my face and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You have a little—" I gestured to the spot. He swiped a tongue over his lips and missed entirely. "Here, I'll get it." Without thinking, I leaned over the console and gently swiped my thumb across the edge of his mouth. We both froze for a second as our eyes met, my hand lingering on his cheek. The softness of his skin was at odds with the intense look in his eyes. Slowly, he moved closer, as if drawn in by some unseen force.
Suddenly Kieran's phone rang with some Spanish pop song, interrupting the moment. He dropped his gaze to answer the device and I leaned back in my seat, heart pounding. I couldn't tell if I was more relieved or disappointed. What the hell had been about to happen?
"What?" Kieran asked from beside me. I looked over, nothing the way his eyebrows rose and his mouth parted in shock. "Wait, really?"
Whoever was on the other end of the line said something inaudible. His surprised expression gave way to a wide grin. "That's amazing! I can't thank you enough for all your help." He exchanged farewells and hung up.
I watched for a few moments as he stared at the window, clearly still reeling from whatever news he'd just gotten. Finally, I couldn't take the suspense anymore. "Well? What was that all about?"
Kieran turned to me slowly, dark eyes churning with a myriad of emotions. "That was... that was my coach. He said there's a professional team that's interested in signing me."
"Who? Sporting? LA Galaxy?" Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't either of them. Those teams were good, but certainly not enough to warrant such an awestruck reaction from Kieran.
He shook his head. "Abby... he said Real Madrid wants me."
I was tempted to make a joke about the way he phrased that sentence, but then the team name registered in my mind. My jaw dropped. "Real Madrid... You mean like Spain Real Madrid? La Liga?"
"The Real Madrid," he confirmed. Tentative excitement began to blossom on his face. "Can you believe it? I can't even imagine myself playing at that level."
"I can," I said. I could practically hear the deafening cheers inside the stadium as Kieran turned to the crowd with arms outstretched, as if to embrace them, celebrating the goal he'd just scored with them. Valencia would be scrawled across his back in gold letters, the Real Madrid crest emblazoned on the front of the jersey spanning his broad chest. The image was so vivid in my mind that I had to blink a few times to clear it. "People always said you were going to be the next Messi, Modric, Mbappe."
He laughed, and I caught a glimpse of the dimple in his cheek. "I'm starting to think you only know pro soccer players whose last names start with M."
"How about Valencia?" I murmured. The question was meant to be teasing, to alleviate the tension that was beginning to build between us, but it had come out much quieter and much more serious than the light-hearted air I had intended.
Kieran's eyes were filled with a sort of wonder I had never seen before as he turned to face me. "Do you really think I can make it?"
It took me a moment to place the emotion in his voice as a rare note of vulnerability. Kieran was always so confident, so sure of himself, that the question caught me off-guard. I could count on one hand the number of times I had ever seen the self-doubt beneath his confident exterior, yet here he was, baring himself to me without a second thought. His eyebrows were knitted together in a worried frown as he waited for my response, eyes large and dark in the moonlight.
We had somehow moved closer, both leaning toward each other over the center console. Kieran looked at me, and it felt like we were the only two people in the world. I was close enough to see every single one of the dark lashes that framed his irises.
I blame those damn brown eyes of his for what happened next.
"Absolutely," I said, and closed the distance between us, pressing my lips to his.
Kieran froze, and I immediately thought I'd made a mistake. Just as I went to pull away, he reached up and cupped my face, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. His lips were warm and soft, a complete contrast to the fireworks exploding in my stomach.
Last time we kissed, we were trying to prove something to others—now, there was no one but the two of us, and it was better than I could ever have remembered. Kissing Kieran gave me an adrenaline rush that was stronger than any goal I'd scored, any game I'd won.
Then reality kicked in. What was I doing? We were supposed to break up after this weekend, and I had kissed him as if we were actually dating. I'd blurred the line between real and fake, again, and this would only make things more complicated for us.
I jerked back, breaking the spell that had settled over us. Kieran's dark eyes were swirling with emotions, too many for me to decipher. His eyebrows furrowed.
Heat rose in my cheeks as the magnitude of what I'd done settled over me. Shit, shit, shit. I reached for the door handle, words spilling out of my mouth in a rush, even as my lips tingled from the aftershocks of that searing kiss. "I definitely should not have done that— I don't know what came over me— Uh, thanks for the ride and for, you know, tonight. I had a lot of fun but I'm just gonna—" I finally yanked my seatbelt free "—go now. Bye!"
"Abby, wait—" Kieran reached for me, but I ducked his hand and scrambled out of the car.
I didn't look back as I dashed up to my front door, cursing myself the whole time. It didn't matter that he was sweet, loyal, and caring, or one of the most attractive people I'd ever laid eyes on. We were fake dating, supposed to fake break up, and I definitely could not afford to have these very real feelings for my brother's best friend.
Except that sometime over the last couple months, he'd become so much more than that to me. And that was the problem I'd been refusing to acknowledge. Somehow, along the way, I had fallen head over heels for Kieran Valencia.