Definitely, Maybe in Love(5)

I attempted a smile, hoping it would stifle my desire to thump Lilah's  skull, then I glanced at Dart. He seemed, well, pleasant-not at all like  Lilah. After a subtle clearing of his throat, he elbowed his sister.

"Oh, pardon me," Lilah purred. "This is my brother." She waved one bony hand at me by way of introduction.

Dart extended his hand. "It's so nice to meet you." His voice was happy and spirited. "Spring? That's a cool name."

"Thanks," I said. "I've always liked it." I wondered if I should tell  him the rest of it, but rattling off Spring Elizabeth Honeycutt McNamara  Shakespeare-Barnes always earned me the most peculiar looks. I kept  meaning to scold my mother for changing our name to something so  ridiculous.

Dart's gaze held on me for only a second before it rolled naturally to  Julia, who was pinching my arm so hard I was probably bleeding under my  shirt.

"Ouch!" I winced. Julia elbowed me, and I'm sure Dart caught the  gesture. "Uh, this is my roommate Julia," I said, wondering if she'd  cracked a rib.

Dart's hand was now held out to my roommate. Her free hand slid into  Dart's as Lilah muttered some kind of apology about not noticing Julia  standing right there next to me. Dart was smiling, Julia was glowing.  They weren't speaking, but their eyes were locked. Even I felt the  sparks.

Lilah shifted her weight to one side impatiently, then pursed her lips.  "Dart," she said, "let's mingle. You asked me to introduce you to the  pretty girls on campus." She narrowed her eyes at Julia.

Dart didn't seem to hear his sister's sneery remark. And with Julia's  hand still in his, she slowly began to pull away from me. Then Julia's  vice-grip hold on my arm was gone as the two of them broke free from the  group.

"I like your hat," Dart said to her, as they were swallowed up in the  sea of other couples. When I turned back, I allowed my eyes to linger on  Lilah, feeling one corner of my mouth lift. She was furious, causing  the other side of my mouth to lift in response. I took one step  backward, then turned on my heel. My job here was done.

"Oh, Spring, wait." Lilah's voice was nails on a chalkboard. I squinted  in preparation before turning back. "You haven't met my date." Without  moving her eyes from me, she reached one arm back and dragged forward  the person standing behind her.                       
       
           



       

"Henry," she said, "this is one of the girls who live across the street from you."

A vague look of recollection crossed the guy's face, making me wonder  what catty tales Lilah had told him, and further wondering if he  recognized me as the girl who'd caught him chewing out his moving man  earlier today.

It did kind of stun me, though, how good-looking he was up close. He had  the whole tall, dark, and handsome vibe going on. Too bad it seemed his  personality was just as brooding.

Lilah grinned sardonically at Henry Knightly's confusion. "We all call  their place the Brown House," she explained. "It's the only house on  your street not painted a decent color. Quite the eyesore, if you ask  me. The city should have it condemned."

"Be sure to write your city councilman," I said.

"Always have to be so clever, don't you?" she accused with another sneer. "Save any more cats lately?"

Knightly's eyes suddenly moved to mine, but he didn't speak.

Lilah waved in my direction. "This is Spring," she garbled to her date. "You know … "

He looked at me for another moment then nodded. "Hello."

I replied out of convention, mirroring his nonverbal gesture and  disyllabic greeting. His eyes didn't remain on me for long after the  introduction. When they slid off my face, I took the opportunity for a  more detailed physical appraisal.

I am only human.

Sure, the bone structure of his face was what may be referred to as  chiseled. There was definitely a defined chest there, nice shoulders,  and long legs. If I had a yen for dark, curly hair, he might have been  extremely appealing. Up close, however, his brown eyes were flat, and  their glazed-over expression informed that he didn't give a flying frack  about meeting me or about being at a party.

He wore a blue, gray, and black-diamond argyle sweater under an open  charcoal jacket. It was a Friday night, the end of summer, and the guy  was dressed in business casual.

At the same instant that I moved my gaze to his face, Knightly looked at  me again. An expression of confusion paired with disapproval creased  his brow. Oh, yeah, Lilah had definitely been talking crap. Why else  would a complete stranger be staring at me like I was his worst enemy?

"Henry!" Lilah stood right next to him, but her shrill voice was loud  enough to be heard from fifty feet. "I promised you the first dance,  remember?"

Knightly's eyes remained on me, but he nodded in Lilah's direction.

"See you later, Spring," Lilah said, linking her skeletal arm through  his. I snickered under my breath as I watched them walk away.

It startled me when Henry Knightly turned and looked at me over his  shoulder, locking our gazes once more. Not until he was out of sight did  I realize I hadn't been breathing.





Chapter 3

I waved to Julia as I strolled by, but she didn't notice. She appeared  natural in the arms of Dart, and dancing to what was sure to be her new  favorite song. Mel's entire left arm waved to me, flailing over some  frat guy's head like a castaway signaling to a rescue plane. I wiggled  my fingers at her as I passed, continuing my solo meander around the  perimeter of the party.

A tall, red Hawaiian shirt stepped into my path, practically walking  right over me. "Dude," I growled. "If I bruise, you're so dead."

"Sorry."

"Alex?"

Hawaiian Shirt spun around, looked down, and blinked, trying to place  me. But I would've known those lazy blue eyes with pink-hooded lids and  that lanky frame anywhere. "Spring?" he said at last, his face  brightening. "Hey. Wow." He actually did a double-take. "You look  amazing."

"Oh, well, thanks." I gestured at him. "You, too. I didn't know you were back at Stanford."

Freshman year, Alex Parks and I had had a class together. There'd been a  mild flirtation, but nothing much. Couldn't remember why. As I looked  up at his smiling, carefree face, his sun-streaked hair falling across  his forehead, I kind of regretted not going out on at least one date  with him.

"Took a couple semesters off," he said, sliding his hands into the  pockets of his khaki shorts. "But it's good to be back." His eyes kind  of slid up and down my body, not a very subtle check-out. "And it's  great to see you. Really. That hair is crazy cool."

I toyed with the end of one braid. "Thanks."

He ran a hand through his surfer-boy hair. "So, what's-"

His words were cut off by a thunderous clash of cymbals and a drum roll.  When tropical music blared through the speakers, cheers broke out. From  the ripple effect of the crowd, I knew something was happening to the  left of the dance floor.                       
       
           



       

"They're starting a limbo contest."

"Is that where you're headed?" I asked, trying not to sound disappointed.

"I was." He pulled back a slow smile. "Not anymore." Seeing all those  teeth made me wonder what his breath smelled like. If it was anything  like his aftershave, I was already wanting to be a little closer. He  grabbed a drink and chugged half the cup. "Want one?" he asked.

"Not right now," I said.

"Yeah, I'm done, too." He handed his cup to some guy who was walking by.

"So, you took time off?" I asked. "Where'd you go?" Our heads naturally  drew together as we moved off to the side, away from the center of  revelry.

Alex was two years ahead of me in school and should have graduated last  year, but he explained that he'd decided to defer his senior year to  travel. As information poured out, I decided that such a decision-to  just take off like that-was a pretty gutsy move. It made him intriguing,  probably because I didn't have that kind of freedom in me.

"Hi, Spring," Julia said, appearing from behind us. Dart was at her side, their shoulders touching.

"Having fun?" I asked her.

"Yes, we are," Dart answered for the both of them.

Oh, brother.

Alex's muscular arm reached out as he and Dart shook hands while I  briefly introduced them. Neither Dart nor Julia seemed to hear a word I  was saying after that, so the four of us settled into two comfortable  yet separate conversations.

But it didn't last, as something hard and sharp jabbed me between the  shoulder blades, knocking me forward, right into Alex's chest. It wasn't  completely unfortunate, and we both laughed as he steadied me.