Rose rolled her eyes at him. “You’re sweet. But most people would disagree with you.”

“Most people have decided who you are at first glance. You make an impression, Rose.”

“Gee, thanks. Is one glimpse all it takes? Why don’t you say what you really think?” She was being facetious, but there was also truth somewhere in there. People really did peg her as some kind of moody, emo slut in record time, had for years.

So why hadn’t Bellamy?

She’d been aggressively hostile to him from minute one, but he’d never displayed anything but affection toward her. “I didn’t mean that,” she added. “You’re not like most other guys.”

“I’m not?”

“No. I have no idea how to describe you. That’s how much you’re not like them.”

“That’s a good thing, then?” It appeared to be a genuine question.

“Uh-huh. Of course.”

He stopped her. The street was quiet. A pungent scent from the gaping flowers on a tree in the middle of the road infused her nose. The sun’s heat kissed her pale shoulders and the back of her neck.

“Rose, I have a question to ask you. It’s important. It could…change things.”

She began to slowly pull away, but he held firm. Weighty questions were almost never welcome ones in her experience, and this guy was her mother’s confidante at a crucial time in their lives.

“Important how? In what way?”

He looked away at a stray dog venturing across the road then seemed to stare off at nothing. His confidence seemed to have momentarily deserted him. He clearly didn’t like the question any more than she would.

“It might sound strange,” he said, “but I’d like to know—no, I need to know—how you feel. About me.”

She mentally scrambled to find his angle, what she thought he wanted her to say. “Is this a ‘would you date me if I asked you’ question, or something else?”

“You decide.”

“Okay.” She thought back over the last twenty-four hours, choosing moments and impressions and feelings like a fruit-picker whose criteria for selecting has already decided how the final dish will taste. “I feel like you want to tell me a secret,” she told him. “But either you can’t or my mom won’t let you. Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s a deal-breaker. I think it’s between you and her, and if it’s important enough that I know, she’ll tell me. Like I said, I feel awkward describing you ’cause you’re not like anyone I’ve ever met. What I’m saying is, I think I’d date you if you asked me. So…ask me.”

Bellamy turned to face Rose directly and leaned in towards her face, slowly. For a moment, she thought he would kiss her. He opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out.