Shawn let out a long, slow breath, and for the longest time, he just held me, his hands smoothing over my arms to warm me through my jacket that was doing a poor job. After a while, he gently pulled back, still holding me but waiting until I lifted my gaze to meet his.

“I hate to leave you like this, but I’m playing at the coffee shop. My set starts in twenty minutes. Do you want to come?”

I shook my head immediately, but couldn’t find the word to tell him I wasn’t up for anything right now, least of all a crowded café.

He nodded in understanding. “Look, I don’t want to overstep, Giana, but… do you think…” He paused, swallowing. “Could we maybe hang out Friday night?”

I blanched. “What?”

“Is that all I had to do to get you to speak? Ask you on a date?” Shawn smirked.

I couldn’t help the genuine chuckle that left me then, and I wiped the wrist of my jacket against my nose. “I have a boyfriend,” I reminded him, though my conviction was weak.

“To be honest?” Shawn dipped his gaze until I was looking at him again. “I don’t care. Not when he treats you like this.”

My brows bent inward, heart squeezing in my chest at the insinuation that Clay treated me any way but with respect. But this was the picture we’d painted for Shawn, that Clay was a cocky athlete, that he neglected me, that I couldn’t see that I deserved better.

This had been the plan for me.

While we’d played the game to get Maliyah back in his life, we’d also weaved the perfect story to get Shawn in mine.

And both had worked.

This was what I’d wanted. This was what Clay had offered to help with, what I’d asked him to prepare me for in more ways than he originally signed up for.

Shawn Stetson was asking me out.

So why was my throat shutting down at the thought of saying yes?

“Hey, I’ll behave,” he promised, smiling when he saw the worry in my eyes. “Just friends. We can hang out as just friends, right?”

I let out a long breath. “I don’t see why not.”

His smile widened. “Great. I actually have a Friday night without a gig for once. What do you say we keep it low key… you come over to my place? We can talk, get to know each other, maybe watch a movie?”

My cheeks warmed with that last part, because we all knew what watch a movie meant in college.

But this was what I’d been planning for, what I so painstakingly wished for. Even now, the thought of Shawn leaning in to close what little distance was still between us, the idea of him kissing me? It was intoxicating.