Much Ado About a Boy Read online

  His thick eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know the part in The King and I where Mrs. Anna is dancing around and the king is watching? When she stops, he tells her to keep going, but she won’t, so they dance together.” I watched as his confusion deepened. “You have no idea what I’m talking about,” I guessed.

  Bentley shook his head. “I’ve never seen that movie,” he admitted.

  My mouth dropped open. “The King and I? Are you serious? Every self-respecting theater geek has not only seen The King and I; they’ve probably been one of the kids in the production at least once.”

  “You included?” He chuckled.

  I drew myself up with dignity. “Yes, in fact. I played barefoot child number seven when I was twelve. Dyed my hair black and everything.”

  “You did?” His eyes widened as his gaze roved over my coppery curls. “Like, using permanent black dye?”

  “Semi-permanent,” I admitted. “But it was such a drastic change that the dye kind of stained my hair, and so after that, it was kind of a dark greenish-red until it grew out.”

  “Your mom let you do that?”

  “Why not? It’s just hair.” I shrugged.

  Bentley chuckled. “Well, that’s what I call devotion to your craft.”

  I could only nod. I would totally shave my head if it was right for the character.

  Bentley took a step toward me and reached out his hand to touch one of my auburn curls. He ran it through his fingers as my breath caught in my throat and I stood pinned like a butterfly under his gaze. His eyes were warm and deep, like a bar of dark chocolate melting on a hot summer day.

  “Oops, almost forgot.” Bentley grinned. He pulled his phone from the pocket of his tux. “Just a second.” His thumb moved over the screen, and a moment later, music filled the gazebo. I whirled around and noticed the tiny speakers for the first time. There were four, balanced on the outside rail, just waiting for this moment to come to life.

  “This is amazing,” I said with a small squeal. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

  “Well, I owed you.” He slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Wanna dance?”

  “Of course.” I thought of the hours we’d spent practicing the tango. “No tangos though.”

  “You got it.” He swept me into his arms, and the gazebo raced by as he whirled me through a dance. No tango and not even anything formal, but way better than any dance we’d done before. Because in this moment, he was Bentley, not Benedick, and I was Bailey instead of Beatrice. I had one hand on Bentley’s shoulder, the other clasping his in the classic dance pose. I could feel his fingers resting in the small of my back, and even through the silky fabric of my dress, I could feel the heat from his skin.

  He guided me expertly around the gazebo as the songs played, and it took me a minute to realize he’d picked songs he knew I’d like—Broadway songs. “Tale as Old as Time” from Beauty and the Beast, “As Long as You’re Mine” from Wicked, “Out of my Dreams” from Oklahoma … Compiling the playlist must have taken hours.

  “Why are you doing all this?” I heard myself ask.

  He grinned down at me, never breaking his smooth stride. “What do you mean?”

  “This.” I took my hand off his shoulder for a moment to gesture around the gazebo. “It must have taken you all day. Or days, plural. Why?”

  His forehead wrinkled for a minute in that adorable way. “I feel really bad about homecoming,” he said. “Standing you up on homecoming was super lame, but the worst was not talking to you about it afterward. I felt like such a huge dirtbag. I wanted to make it up to you.”

  “I thought it was because you found a better date,” I admitted softly.

  I wasn’t sure he’d heard me, but he did. He brought us to a stop in the middle of the song. “Bailey, no! That’s not it at all. I had … something came up, and I couldn’t. And then I was mad at myself and at …” He trailed off. “I can’t talk about it,” he finally said.

  We started moving again and I had to remind myself that all this was new. There were still a lot of things I didn’t know about him—just as there were things he didn’t know about me.

  To tell the truth, it didn’t feel like a new relationship. Well, it did in that it was exciting and the butterflies in my stomach were morphing into giant birds with wings that tickled through me. But in another way, it felt good, natural. Like Bentley could tell me anything and vice versa. Like we were old friends, but better than friends.

  The song came to an end and Bentley stopped dancing again. I stopped with him, my skirt swishing in the sudden silence.

  “I’m having a really good time,” he said softly. His eyes dropped to my lips, and my heart started thundering. He leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine, very gently in the barest whisper of a kiss. I gave a little gasp and all the air left me in a whoosh. I stepped closer, went up on my tiptoes. Every bit of me yearned to draw closer to him, needing his touch. His lips tightened against mine as he gave a brief smile; then his hands were on my waist, pulling me closer as he deepened the kiss.

  Everything went still; time itself seemed to stop. There was no past, no future, only the present and the feeling of Bentley’s mouth, hot on mine. I buried my fingers into the soft curls at the back of his head and gave myself up to the whirling in my heart.

  Chapter Ten

  A boyfriend. Did I have a boyfriend? Okay, maybe not yet, but things were definitely headed in that direction. Bentley kissed me goodbye on the porch after our date and promised he’d see me the next week in school. I floated inside and up to my room, where I threw myself on my bed and relived every second over and over.

  Harper and Summer had been tag-teaming me on a group text all evening, demanding to know how it was going. Now, I sent them the emoji with the heart eyes and sat back to wait.

  Three seconds later, my screen lit up with their replies, rolling in faster than I could respond.

  Girl, you’d better tell all!

  Looks like a good sign!

  Squeee!!!!

  Tell us everything!

  Whyyyyy are you keeping it from me?

  I giggled and typed my reply. Yes, yes, yes! I’m floating. Talk tomorrow.

  I loved my friends, but right now, I wanted these memories to stay between me and Bentley. I wondered if he was thinking of me, or did guys even think that way? Maybe he’d gone home to watch a basketball game and hadn’t given our evening a second thought.

  Except I knew that wasn’t true. He’d put a lot of energy and time into our date—the flowers, the decorations, the dinner, and the dancing. I wished I’d thought to take pictures of everything, but I was so caught up in being there, I’d completely forgotten about my phone and my camera. I guess that means you’re having a really good time when you don’t think about how you’re going to share the experience on social media because you’re too busy having the experience.

  There was a light tapping of fingernails on wood; then my mother pushed the door open and stuck her head in the room. “You’re smiling,” she said. “Does that tell me everything I want to know?”

  I sat up and brushed my hair off my face. “Mostly.”

  She beamed at me. “I’m so glad. Need to talk it through?”

  I shook my head. “I’m good. Kind of want to process it, you know?”

  “I do know.” Mom smiled. “Let me know if you need me.”

  I nodded, and she blew me a kiss before closing my door again. I know it seemed cliché, but I couldn’t help the happy little sigh that burst from my lips. Was this what being in love felt like? I’d had performer’s high many times: when you are waiting in the wings for your cue and you know it’s going to be a fantastic show; when you put your whole heart and soul into a ballad; when you finish and there’s a split second of silence while the audience absorbs it, then breaks into applause; and when you’re holding hands with your cast members at the end of the night, all bowing in a raggedy row
. That’s the kind of high I’d experienced.

  But even then, it hadn’t been quite the same. Not quite as … giddy. Not as many tingles in my stomach. Just the thought of Bentley’s lips, warm against mine, sent the butterflies swarming in dizzy circles.

  My text alert went off again. It was him. I had a great time tonight. Thanks.

  I bit the edge of my lip as if I could hold back the happiness that bubbled out of me, like a Mento dropped into a Diet Coke. Thank YOU! I had a great time too.

  Talk tomorrow?

  Looking forward to it.

  I put my phone on the charger and changed out of my dress into a comfy pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. I could barely believe this was happening to me. I had to be the luckiest girl in the world.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I will stop your mouth,” Bentley said.

  “Okay, now you take her by the shoulders and turn her around,” Mr. Meadows prompted.

  My skin shivered as Bentley’s hands closed around my shoulders. He spun me gently to face him.

  “Good. Now strike the final pose,” Mr. Meadows said.

  I put one hand in Bentley’s and the other on his shoulder. He stepped back smoothly, and I leaned with him but kept my feet anchored to the floor. We held our upper bodies in the rigid dance pose of the tango, but pressed our foreheads together, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. We’d rehearsed this move last week, and it had made us both break down in embarrassed laughter. But after our date at the gazebo, things had changed. Heat flared between us, a longing that took me by surprise, made all the better because I knew now that it was reciprocated.

  “And, end,” Mr. Meadows said softly.

  We stayed that way, staring into each other’s eyes for one moment longer, then broke apart.

  “That was very good,” Mr. Meadows said. “Very powerful. You two have worked hard, and you should be proud.”

  It was a standard director-to-actor, coach-to-athlete speech, but I still felt a dart of pride. We had worked hard, and the performance was fantastic—made all the better because now there was real feeling between us.

  “You don’t think we should end on a kiss?” Bentley asked. He nudged me with his shoulder. “I mean, it’s no bother.”

  I giggled and nudged him back. “Yeah, sacrifices must be made for the sake of art,” I told Mr. Meadows. “We’re totally willing to go along with that.”

  Our teacher’s eyes narrowed as he evaluated us. I didn’t know how keyed in he was to the grapevine at school, but he’d probably at least heard rumors that Bentley and I were an item. Not that we’d had that much time. It was Monday afternoon and our homecoming makeup date had been the weekend before, but word traveled fast around a town like Sweet Water. The whole school would know we were dating by the end of the week, if they didn’t already.

  Mr. Meadows shook his head, a grin playing around his mouth. “The kiss is up to you two,” he said. “I never direct students to get closer than their comfort level.”

  At my side, Bentley’s hand found mine, our fingers intertwining.

  Mr. Meadows noticed and grinned. “I’m guessing your comfort level has evolved from our first rehearsal?”

  I laughed, feeling the blush spreading over my cheeks. Had it really only been a few weeks since we’d sat in icy silence in this same room? It felt like a different lifetime, like I had always known Bentley and now I couldn’t know life without him. I would be less than myself, like there was a room in my heart with a locked door that only he could open.

  Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. But seriously, the intensity of my feelings overwhelmed even me sometimes.

  “I’ll let you two decide on the kiss,” Mr. Meadows said, breaking into my thoughts. “We’ll see you on the bus in the morning.” He gave us another smile and went into his office.

  “Hmm.” Bentley pulled on my hand, bringing me closer. “I’m going to say yes, then.” He threaded his fingers through the belt loops on my jeans and tugged me against him.

  I darted a glance toward Mr. Meadows’s office. His back was to the window, but I knew he knew what was happening.

  “Wanna get out of here?” Bentley whispered in my ear. “We could go to the beach.”

  An afternoon and evening at the beach would be the perfect thing for my frayed nerves. Getting to spend the whole time in Bentley’s arms was an added bonus.

  “Let’s have a bonfire,” I said. “We could invite Summer and Gabe and Harper and Jett.”

  Bentley kissed my forehead. “Deal,” he said.

  When you live near the ocean, you’re almost always ready for a beach party, so plans came together quickly. Bentley and I stopped at the Sweet Water Market for food and then by our houses to change. By the time we got to the beach, Summer and Gabe already had the sunshade up and towels laid out. Harper and Jett showed up a few minutes later with enough firewood to keep us going for a long time.

  “Eat first, or swim?” Bentley asked as we gathered around the coolers of food.

  “Swim, of course!” Gabe laughed. In one quick motion, he threw Summer over his shoulder and waded into the surf. Her shrieks carried back to us on the sound of the waves, and we all laughed.

  “That’s textbook Gabe,” Bentley said.

  The afternoon went too fast. The sun was warm as we played beach volleyball, boys against girls. Of course we were no match for the three boys, but we won after implementing the rule that the boys had to play while hopping on one foot. We celebrated our victory by diving into the waves. I was not the best swimmer in the world, but I could hold my own and came up in shoulder-deep water, floating, bobbing.

  “Hey you,” Bentley called. He swam toward me with long strokes, the sunlight gleaming on the sculpted muscles along his arms. Heat pooled in my belly, and I was glad for my new swimming suit—a high-waisted two-piece in a deep turquoise that made my pale skin look like porcelain. The top had ruffles and skinny straps that tied around my neck. I’ve never been an itty-bitty bikini kind of girl, so I liked that this suit had plenty of coverage. It bared only a few inches of skin around my middle, but still made me feel cute.

  Bentley reached me and wrapped his hands around my waist. Even in the coolness of the water, my skin seemed to burn where he touched me.

  “Having fun?” He grinned.

  “Always,” I replied as I leaned in to kiss him.

  It was the perfect afternoon: spending time in one of my favorite places with Summer and Harper, two of my favorite people on the planet. And Bentley was quickly becoming someone I cared about, someone I wanted in my life.

  Someone I could love?

  I let the question drift away on the water as Bentley ducked his head to mine for a long kiss. There was plenty of time to think about love and the future. Right now was the time to enjoy the newness.

  After we were tired of swimming, we gathered for food, wrapped in our wet towels. Jett lit the fire, and soon we had hot dogs and marshmallows roasting above the coals. Bentley wrapped a blanket around our shoulders and I leaned into him, enjoying the heat from the fire on my face and the warmth from Bentley at my back. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and a contented sigh escaped me.

  But there was sand in my swimming suit, itching me in places where I really did not want sand. I turned to press a kiss to Bentley’s cheek and slid out of his arms. “Costume malfunction,” I said. “Be right back.”

  He squeezed my shoulder, and I grabbed my makeup bag from my purse, then hurried across the sand toward the restrooms. Already, I felt the distance between us and the urge to be back in his arms as quickly as possible.

  Chapter Twelve

  The bathroom at the beach had plumbing, but it was still a public bathroom, with concrete floors and bad lighting. Not unlike some of the backstage dressing rooms I’d been in where bringing your own lighting wasn’t optional. If you tried to rely on the dressing room’s fluorescent lights, you’d go on stage looking like the Joker from Batman.

  I took
care of the sand problem, washed my hands, then leaned into the mirror, checking my reflection. There were new freckles across my nose, and I could feel the beginnings of a sunburn on my shoulders. But I didn’t care. Being with Bentley made me feel like there was electricity in my veins, and I had my own glow that didn’t come from the sunburn.

  There was definitely a spark in my eyes. I’d teased Harper and Summer when they’d fallen in love, but now, I got it. There was something magical. The familiar comfort of Sweet Water had been transformed into something else—still familiar, still comforting, but now, a place that was extra special because I had someone out there who cared about me and I cared about him.

  I smeared some moisturizer on my nose and gave my reflection a happy little sigh.

  “Oh, how cute!” A dry, sarcastic voice cut through the air, and I jumped back as Tasha sauntered around the corner, her friends Olivia and Jenny trailing behind her, as usual. She stopped and threw her weight into one hip, jutting it out at me like the prow of a ship. “Wow, Bailey, looking bedraggled as usual.” Tasha wrinkled her nose. “Have you ever heard of styling gel? It’d help a lot with those frizzies.” All three girls laughed.

  “Very funny.” I rolled my eyes and began cramming my makeup back into my bag. The sooner I could get out here, the better.

  Tasha tipped her head to one side and ran her fingers through her long hair. She wore a tiny red bikini top and a pair of high-waisted denim shorts. Even though summer hadn’t even technically started yet, Tasha’s back and stomach were already tanned. “Oh relax,” she said, fluttering her fingers at me in a gesture of dismissal. “I’m only kidding.”

  “Uh-huh,” I muttered. It was pretty much the way this group operated. They’d throw out insults, and when you pushed back, they’d pretend to be joking. I’d had run-ins with them in the past, but it was only a few more weeks of school and then I’d never have to see them again. I could tough it out.

  “So you and Bentley are going out?” Tasha asked, turning to the mirror. She fluffed her hair, but her eyes in her reflection zeroed in on me.