Sass & Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler Read Free Book Online Page B

pockets as if looking for a pen.
    “Here.” Daphne pulled her cell phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, clicked on New Contact, and handed it to him. “Just enter it and hit Save.”
    As he punched in his number, Daphne rocked on her sneakers and tried to ignore Walt’s smirking face.
    “There you go,” Luke said finally, giving her back her phone.
    “Great,” she said. “I’ll text you and we’ll go bowl or something.”
    “Yeah. Or something. I don’t really know what else there is to do around here. Maybe … go for a walk? Take in the air?”
    Walt snickered.
    “We could take in some
Jane Eyre.
” Daphne was so pleased with herself for coming up with that. Normally it was Gabby who said the clever stuff. Or Daphne would think of something hours after a conversation had ended. But this was brilliant. A perfectly timed reminder of their shared love of Brontë.
    Only Luke didn’t say anything. He didn’t even react. Shewas probably so breathless from being near him that she hadn’t said it loud enough.
Dang!
    “Well … see you later,” Luke said, touching the small of her back as he went by. He shot her one of his adorable, head-ducking grins and then headed for the door, Walt ambling along beside him.
    Daphne remained in place. The six square inches where his hand had pressed against her felt different from the rest of her skin. Like a burn or a swelling—but in a good way. Sure, he’d only been squeezing past her, but the contact had seemed significant.
    “Man, you don’t waste time, do you?” she heard Walt mutter as he and Luke loped off.
    Luke said something in reply, but Daphne was too far away to hear it. She watched as he paused at the exit to drop his Styrofoam cup into the nearby trash can (yet another sign of his gentlemanliness) and stepped outside, disappearing with Walt among the trucks and cars of the parking lot.
    Walking back to the table, Daphne could see Gabby and her dad blatantly
not
watching her. Instead, they sat hunched over their fries as if in prayer and didn’t look up until she reached her seat. Were they trying to give her privacy, or were they embarrassed by her? Most likely one of each.
    But not even her awkward family life could ruin this moment. This knowing. This stirred-up feeling. As if her inner organs were frolicking about inside her. Stomach leaping over lungs. Pancreas strumming her intestines. Heart twirling round and round. How could she ignore it? How could she pretend her future hadn’t just plunked down in front of her?
    I’ll see you later
, he’d said, patting her back—practically embracing her.
He
, Luke, would see
her
, Daphne, later. As in soon. As in he was looking forward to it.
    Her life was finally in motion.
    “Oh, give me a break,” Gabby muttered.
    “What?” Daphne said, annoyed that the remark had pulled her out of her reverie. “You were the one who told me to say hi.”
    “Yeah, but I wouldn’t have if I’d known it would make you even moonier. We can’t sit here all day, you know.”
    “Gabriella. Let your sister have fun,” their dad cut in, his voice softly chiding. “She’s young. She’s doing what she should be doing.”
    “Yeah,” Daphne said.
    Gabby’s eyebrows scrunched together. “What’s that supposed to mean? That
I’m
not doing what I should? That if I don’t throw myself at every pimply guy in town, then there’s something wrong with me?”
    “Luke is
not
pimply.”
    “I’m just saying she should have fun and you should have fun. No matter what you think that is,” Mr. Rivera replied. “Daphne likes people. And you like … other things.”
    “She sure doesn’t like people,” Daphne muttered.
    Gabby threw her napkin onto the table and pushed back her chair with a loud screeching sound.
    “
Mija
, relax. We’re having a nice lunch.”
    “I’ll be outside waiting. I need some air.”
    “Or some
Jane Eyre
,” Daphne said, smiling secretly to herself.
    Gabby looked at her as if