Wha? I thought.
And then Iggy appeared in the doorway, carrying a silver platter and—get this—wearing a bow tie. I kid you not. Okay, the bow tie was worn over a ratty, laundry-deficient T-shirt, but still.
“Iggy?” I said, stating the obvious. I shifted awkwardly, eyeing the candlelight and suddenly relieved that I was still in my plain old jeans after all. I imagined the flock gathering later, singing “Maaax has a boyyy-friiiiend” in chorus. I guess our date wasn’t as private as I’d thought. I didn’t know how I felt about that.
“Thanks, man,” Dylan said, striding over and taking the platter. “You know you weren’t required to wear a bow tie….”
“Sometimes a man just has to suit up,” Iggy replied. He crossed his pale arms and puffed out his chest proudly. “This was one of those times.”
“And I appreciate it.” Dylan nodded, obscuring the mysterious new platter from my sight. “Thanks again. You remember the next part of the mission?”
“Mission Entertain Gazzy and Nudge So They Don’t Get Bored and Cause Major Property Damage or Worse is well under way. You and Max are good to go, dude.”
“Good to go where?” I demanded, but Iggy just wiggled his eyebrows at me.
With one last salute and a tweak of his bow tie, which he had gotten from God knows where, Iggy ducked through the door curtain and flew off into the dark night. Dylan came back to sit across the table from me. He set the platter between us and took off the lid, revealing neat piles of graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows.
“I’ve always wanted to try to make s’mores with a candle. Shall we?”
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” I said, simultaneously reaching for a marshmallow and popping a graham cracker in my mouth.
“Well, I tried.” Dylan smiled. Then his expression grew slightly more serious. “I swear I’ll win your heart in the end, Max.”
I coughed out graham cracker crumbs. My cheeks flushed and I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. Suddenly I felt squirmy and smoldering and turbulent inside, like a million hot coals had been poured into my stomach.
But to be honest, it wasn’t such a bad feeling.
44
“I DON’T THINK the candle-marshmallow thing is working,” I said. “I’ve been holding mine over the flame for, like, a billion years now, and it’s barely browning.”
The air was soft and cool and smelled like rosemary and pine sap and smoke from the candles. Outside the tree house, it was a pitch-black night. Inside it was all cozy, golden light, flickering shadows on the walls. I practically had to stop myself from hyperventilating from the sheer romance of it all.
“We might be forced to eat raw s’mores,” Dylan agreed solemnly, but I saw the crinkles at the corners of his eyes when he looked at me.
That was when I realized just how close we were sitting.
“You know, some people really like raw s’mores,” I mumbled, licking my lips.
And then, before I could talk myself out of it, I dropped my marshmallow on the table, leaned forward, and kissed Dylan.
Right on the mouth. On purpose. Yes. You read it here first.
For a second he was startled, but then he responded, bringing his hands up to cup my face. His lips moved against mine slowly, gently, softly. It was a quiet kiss. A tentative kiss. An innocent, feathery, earth-shatteringly right kiss.
And I wanted more.
I edged closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, tangling my fingers in his dark blond hair. I tasted the chocolate from the s’mores on his tongue, and our mouths moved together almost like a duel, a graceful and elegant kata—
“Aaagh! My eyes!”
Dylan and I froze for an instant, and then sprang apart as if electrified.
“That was Nudge’s surprised squawk,” I said. My voice was hoarse and I cleared my throat, my mind reeling over what I’d just been doing, what I’d just been feeling. My face was hot, my hands were trembling, and my lips were all tingly.
“Nudge? Is something wrong?” Dylan said, instantly on the alert.
Slowly Nudge’s face edged around the green cloth curtain. “Um, sorry.” She coughed, looking at me in fascination. “Nothing’s wrong. I was just surprised. ’Cause I, uh, fell. Off a branch. Er… pretend I was never here.”