Free Moving Forward (Moving Neutral, Book Three) by Katy Atlas Page B

asked, to no one in particular.
    Tanner sucked in a breath.  It was one of the dresses that Lauren had gotten for me, a white mod-style sheath that fit me perfectly, made of smooth, gauzy material that almost looked vintage.  I couldn’t imagine how much it had cost, in part because Lauren had smartly cut the price tags off of everything she’d sent me.
    “Wow,” he said, the smile genuine this time.
    Darby looked me up and down, but didn’t seem to disapprove.  “You’ll be cold,” she said, reaching into the closet.  “Do you want to borrow this?”
    She held out a black A-line coat made of beautiful, shiny cashmere.  It was gorgeous. 
    “Oh, it’s fine, I can totally wear one of mine,” I said, fishing around for the army jacket I usually wore to classes.
    Tanner laughed, taking the coat out of Darby’s hands.  “When did you get all virtuous about borrowing clothes?  Alice said you mooched off her all summer.”
    I gasped.  “Alice let me borrow her clothes because I was stranded on a tour bus for two months with one single backpack!”
    Tanner started to laugh.  “So sensitive,” he said sarcastically.  “Take the coat.”  And then to Darby, he flashed a perfect grin.  “We’ll bring it back in one piece, I promise.”
    I saw her melt — it was almost embarrassing to watch.  I’d never had any trouble fending off Tanner’s charms, but every other girl we met didn’t seem to share my immunity.  I smiled, thinking about Madison and Liv glibly informing me that he’d been one of People’s 50 Most Beautiful People the year before.
    “Thanks Darb, but we’ve got to run,” I said, trying to cut through the crush that was blooming on the other side of the room.
    “Nice meeting you,” she called as we walked through the door and closed it.
    “She doesn’t seem so bad,” Tanner stage-whispered once we were out of earshot.
    “She’s in love with you,” I groaned.  “Oh my God, I am never going to hear the end of this.”
    “Well, on the bright side,” Tanner grinned at me, holding up the jacket so I could slip my arms through the sleeves .  “She seems to have good taste.”
    I pulled the jacket over my shoulders and promptly shoved Tanner in the arm. 
    “So where are you taking me?” I grinned, opening the door out of the dorm building.  “Or, um, us?”
    Tanner grinned.  “If it was just you, that’s a different story.”  He looked down at me, the glint in his eye unmistakable.  I looked away, already feeling spots of pink on my cheeks.  “But since it’s a group, how about the Standard?”
    I smiled at him.  “Ok.  I’ll text Madison and Liv,” I smiled.  “You’re lucky we got out of there before Darby invited herself along.”

 
    Chapter Seventeen
     
    Madison showed up first, doing a better job than Darby of keeping her glee over Tanner Cole’s presence to herself.
    “Hey,” she introduced herself to Tanner, biting her lip in this flirty, mock-shy way that had spelled disaster for just about any guy she’d met since we were about thirteen.
    “Keep it together, Mad,” I whispered into her ear as Tanner walked to the bar to get us drinks. 
    “Why?”  She pouted.  “You made it pretty clear you weren’t interested.”
    “I’m not,” I frowned.  “I just…”  My words trailed off.  Why exactly was I stopping her, anyway?
    “Come on, Case,” she pleaded, opening her big blue eyes as wide as she could.   “Can’t I have a rock star romance too?”
    I scowled for a second, and then sighed.  I had no claim over Tanner.  I didn’t particularly want him dating my best friend, but who was I to try to stop it? 
    Better Madison than Darby, at least. 
    “Fine,” I said.  “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    “Warn her about what?”  Tanner came back to us, followed by a waitress in a black dress carrying a tray of drinks. 
    I squinted at the bar, avoiding his question.  There were at least twenty people