Awkwardly Ever After by Marni Bates Read Free Book Online

hands had slowly moved down my back in a caress that I could easily have broken if I had wanted to protest.
    But I hadn’t.
    I blew out a frustrated breath as I forced myself to walk toward him. “I remember it, thanks. I just don’t think we need to talk about that night. It was obviously a mistake. So . . . let it go, Dylan.”
    â€œLet it go?” Dylan pretended to consider the idea as the distance between us shrank.
    My body felt all tingly as I drew up within touching distance. I had half-hoped he would step back into the house so that I could pass him in the hallway with my sense of personal space perfectly intact.
    Yeah, like that was really going to happen. Even with ten feet between us there was something about his gaze that left me feeling like I was pressed against him as closely now as I had been on the dance floor.
    â€œThere’s just one thing stopping me from doing that, Melanie. Something you seem to be forgetting.”
    â€œOh yeah?” I said with false bravado as I pressed myself against the doorjamb so that I wouldn’t accidentally brush against him. “What’s that?”
    Dylan leaned forward and I fought the urge to remove a clump of mud from his hair. “You made me promise to stay close.”
    My breath caught as he inched forward.
    â€œAnd I always keep my promises, Melanie.”

Chapter 5
    Prom tickets will be going on sale this week and run $12 for one ticket and $20 for a pair. So time to pluck up the courage to ask the person who has your heart. Don’t forget: The memories you create this night will follow you for the rest of your life.
    So go big or stay home.
    Â 
    â€”from “Preparing for Prom,”
by Lisa Anne Montgomery
Published by The Smithsonian
    M ackenzie called my name and I used the distraction to scramble past Dylan.
    It wasn’t like he didn’t already know how his proximity got to me. Dylan was an observant guy, and there was no way he had failed to notice my pulse thrumming erratically in my neck, my uneven jerky breathing, the way I had forced my fingers to cling to the pockets of my jeans so they wouldn’t be tempted to venture anywhere else. I felt like I had pretty much plastered an enormous sign on my forehead that read, Melanie Morris has a crush on Dylan Wellesley.
    And I knew that if I told him to back off, he would instantly give me space.
    All I had to say was, “That’s one promise I don’t want you to keep anymore, Dylan,” and he would respect my wishes. He wouldn’t even consider going around them, because if anyone tried to pull that crap with his sister, he would go ballistic. Logan and Dylan seemed to get along just fine, but there was no doubt in my mind that if Dylan heard Mackenzie crying, he would get right in the hockey captain’s face.
    I doubted Dylan would appreciate it, but the word that most readily came to mind when I thought of him was sweet. Hot chocolate sweet. The kind that made me feel warm and safe while I melted like a marshmallow.
    So he didn’t try to stop me from hurrying over to the others even though I knew he’d probably been hoping I’d answer the one question that always seemed to hang heavy in the air between us.
    Am I willing to give us a shot or not?
    And all I’d been able to determine with any real sense of certainty was . . . not now.
    â€œThere you are, Melanie.” Mackenzie held up the DVD of Pocahontas and gestured at the couch where Izzie was perched nervously between two Notable hockey players, a bowl of popcorn sitting on her lap. “Are you ready?”
    â€œUm . . . sure.”
    Izzie tried to stand up but couldn’t seem to manage it without risking the upheaval of the snacks. “Here. Take my spot, Mel.” Her eyes were full of desperation.
    â€œThat’s okay.” I didn’t want to get close to Spencer King any more than she did. I wasn’t about to discount the way he had winked