Free Second String (In Too Deep #3) by Casey McMillin

I hadn't even thought about Sal or what arrangements Emily had made for him for the night. I figured she probably kept him in one of the upstairs bedrooms. My first instinct was to go searching for her, but I was too stubborn to do that since I'd told her not to move. I decided to play it cool. I'd probably act like I hadn't even noticed she'd been missing.
    After twenty minutes of waiting for her to return, I gave up my plan of nonchalance, and set out in search of her. I spotted her in the kitchen talking to Josh. I felt a little stab of jealousy at the sight of her talking to another guy even though I knew Josh would never try to cock block me. Emily was wrapped up in a knit sweater, and even though she was now inside, she clutched herself as if she were still chilled.
    I was less than ten feet from the place where she and Josh were standing when a girl I barely recognized crossed the kitchen with her arms outstretched to me.
    "Eeeethan!" she shrieked.
    Before I could respond, or make a plan, or even t hink, she'd crossed over to me and put her arms around my neck. Josh and Emily were both looking at me as if they were interested to find out how I'd react. I pried her hands off of me with as much grace as you can do something like that.
    " Heyyy… " I trailed off, unable to come up with the girl's name. She could tell I was uncomfortable. I was watching for Emily's reaction from the corner of my eye.
    "I can't believe you don't remember me," she said. "I was only your partner for a whole year."
    "Nikki? Seriously? Is that you?" I asked. I couldn't believe how she'd changed. She was my partner for a couple of seasons of ballroom dancing when we were like ten years old. If I remember correctly, I won more contests when I danced with Nikki than any other partner. We were actually really good together. My parents made me start taking ballroom dancing lessons when I was eight. I continued until I was twelve or so, entering and winning contests in all sorts of styles. My mom never paid for the lessons I wanted in break dancing, so I had to learn how to do that on my own. Nikki used to wear her hair slicked back in a knot with glitter everywhere and a big bow. She used to look like a gangly little girl. The Nikki standing in front of me was a far cry from gangly.
    My gut reaction was to be as diplomatic as possible with the girl-juggling while being slick enough to keep my options open. Any other time, and in any other situation, that’s exactly what I would've done. But I just couldn't bring myself to do that with Emily. Maybe I liked her too much. Maybe I thought she would see through it and wouldn't tolerate it. Either way, I couldn't let myself girl-juggle that night.
    "Nikki, this is my friend Josh, and my girl Emily." I gestured to Josh and Emily who were both watching with great interest. Emily's expression was unreadable, but Josh's was clear enough. His eyebrows rose in surprise, telling me he couldn't believe I'd just called someone my girl in the presence of another girl. I have to admit, I was a bit surprised myself. I was the king of stringing girls along without them even noticing, and had I really been trying, I could've had both Emily and Nikki feeling like they were the center of my universe. I shrugged at Josh, before crossing to stand next to Emily.
    I asked Nikki if she was still dancing. She said she still did it for fun, but was in school to become a nurse. I told her Emily was a dancer, which opened up a whole new line of conversation about Laker Girls and life in L.A. in general.
    We were still standing in the kitchen when it was time count down to the New Year. Collin's mom went through the house announcing that we had one minute to go until midnight. I'd been standing next to Emily the whole time we were talking to Nikki, but I wanted to make my intentions clear for when the clock struck midnight. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "I hope you're expecting to be kissed," I said. I couldn't help but