Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ipick up my phone and check it for the thousandth time today. Nothing.

"Still waiting to hear from Alison?" my dad asks. I look over at him. He's sitting on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest.

"No," I say a little too quickly. "Just checking the time."

"Well, it's probably the same time as it was thirty seconds ago, which was the last time you checked the time," Dad answers looking at me out of the corner of his eyes.

"Okay, fine. I was checking to see if Alison texted me. I know, I'm pathetic." I throw my phone down on the couch next to me.

"You just now realized that?" Juliet says as she bounces onto the seat next to me.

"Well, hello to you, too," I retort.

"So what made you finally admit you're pathetic?" Juliet asks. Her eyes are mischievous as she waits for an answer.

"Nothing." I turn my gaze back to the TV.

"Alison," Juliet says as she looks at my dad. They both nod at each other.

"Okay, fine! You guys got me! I'm sitting here pathetically checking my phone over a girl. Go ahead and laugh at me. Call me lame. Whatever." I cross my arms in defeat as I watch both of their faces, waiting for what's to come next.

"I was just going to say that it's about dang time," Dad answers.

"Ditto," Juliet adds.

My mouth drops open. "What?"

"I honestly can't remember the last time you've been this way over a girl. It's refreshing. Everyone deserves to be giddy over someone." Dad's answer completely shocks me.

"Now wait, I don't know if I would use the word giddy," I interrupt.

"Hmmm, constantly checking their phone. Smiling randomly for no reason at all. Bouncing your leg up and down on the couch." Juliet slams her hand on my knee and pushes it down, trying to stop it from moving. "Yup, I'd say giddy."

I stick my tongue out at her. She makes a kissy face at me.

"Archer and Alison sitting in a tree . . ." she starts to sing.

I cut her off. "Oh, absolutely not. We are not going there. I'm not a child."

"You may not be! But I am!" Juliet starts jumping around the couch continuing her song. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

I look over at Dad. "You're not going to stop her?"

"Nope. In fact, I might just join her." Dad gets up off the couch and starts joining in on the song.

I roll my eyes. "You guys are insane! Maybe this is the reason why I don't date much because they'd turn and run the second they saw you two."

Juliet stops jumping on the couch and whips around towards me. "Alison's met both of us. Multiple times actually. And if I'm not mistaken, I think she liked me and Dad before she liked you." She throws her hands on her hips and stares me down.

Dad points at me. "You know, she's not wrong."

"You two are impossible," I say as I lean back in my chair. Honestly though, I'm secretly trying not to laugh myself. I'm in too much of a good mood to actually be offended by anything they're saying.

As I sit and watch them make fools of themselves, I hear a buzz coming from the seat next to me. I quickly grab my phone and see a text come through. Alison's name pops up on the screen.

"See! Look at him! He's grinning like an idiot! Must be Aaaaaaalison!" Juliet shouts.

"Ooooooooooh!" Dad answers back.

I roll my eyes and open her message.

Hey! I have some exciting news. Can I call you?

I stare down at the screen. Nothing since last night. Since the kiss. And this is the first thing she texts me? I doubt the exciting news has anything to do with us.

I try to shut my brain off and not read too much into it as I type a response. Within a few seconds, my phone is ringing.

"Hey, can you guys be quiet for a second!" I shout, holding up my phone so they can see who's calling.

"Oh, Lover Boy needs quiet, Dad," Juliet says jumping down from the furniture and putting her finger over her mouth to shush him.

Dad looks at me and smiles. "Go ahead."

I click the green button on the screen. "Hello?"

"Hey, Archer!" Alison's voice is higher than normal. She's clearly excited about something.

"Hey, Ali. What's up?"

"Ali?" Dad asks, raising his eyebrows while Juliet starts making kissy faces again. I wave my hand at them and head into the bathroom.

Oh the perks of hotel rooms. Not much space for privacy.

"So, I have an exciting question for you," Alison starts. My stomach tightens. "I just got a call that they want us to present an award at this year's music awards."

I pause for a second to process what she just said. My mind is still on what happened last night.

"Oh, okay," I finally answer.

"We'd walk the red carpet together. Sit together for the whole show. And then obviously present for female artist of the year. The nominees for that category are big names. Not going to lie, I'm kind of freaking out. One of them has been someone I've listened to since I was a child. She's actually the reason I decided to get in to music. I would just die if I actually got to meet her. I almost met her once before but I was too nervous to go up to her and say anything so I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. Then she walked away and . . ."

"Alison," I cut her off.

"Sorry. I was rambling, wasn't I?"

"A little bit," I chuckle. "So what exactly are you saying?"

She's a little more hesitant in her answer, "Well, I guess I'm asking if you would want to do this. Present the award. With me." Her voice trails off. She's nervous. Is she worried I'm going to say no or is she still thinking about yesterday, too?

"Well, if you want to do this, then I'm in."

"Awesome! I'll let them know that we'll both be there. We're going to have to do a fitting for our outfits. Probably hair and makeup, too." She stops talking and I realize she's waiting for my answer.

"Oh, that's fine."

"Archer?" she says so quietly I can barely hear her.

"Yeah."

"There's one more thing."

"If I have to learn some random choreography, I'm out," I joke.

Alison giggles. "No, no, nothing like that. It's just . . . I'm nominated for an award, too."