The Distance Between Us

makes me self-conscious, hugging me in all the right places. And the fact that I bought it at a thrift store isn’t helping. The dresses tonight are going to be twice as fancy and a hundred times more expensive. “I feel like a fraud.”
    “Why? Haven’t you been to a lifetime’s worth of these?”
    “Oh yeah, tons.” I hit his arm.
    “Well, you’re lucky. My mom forces me to go.”
    “She’s right to force you. It would be a crime to deprive the world of seeing you in a suit.”
    He tugs on the bottom of his jacket. “You like?”
    “Yes. A lot.”
    He wraps one arm around my waist and pulls me close, showering me with an array of scents, from toothpaste to aftershave. My heels make me stumble a bit, but I lean into him and catch my balance. I hug him and for a second worry that my mom is watching through the window, but his scent and his arms remind me what I’m fighting for. This. Him. It feels good to have him hug me. All the things my mom said about him and me seem to disappear in his arms.
    He kisses my cheek. “You smell good.”
    “You, too.”
    He glances over my shoulder to the shop. “Are we going in?”
    “No . . . no.” I hug him tighter. I wish I could take him inside. I wish my mom would get to know him, accept him like she did Mason.
    “Okay.” He walks me to the other side of the car and opens the passenger-side door, helping me in.
    After he climbs in as well, he starts the engine and then gives me a long look. “What’s wrong, babe?” Xander grabs my hand and puts it on his knee.
    “Is that the pet name we’re going with? Babe?”
    He backs out of the parking stall and starts driving. “You don’t like it?”
    “It’s okay. It makes me think of the pig, though.”
    “Are you putting in a request, then?”
    “I’ve always been partial to sweetie, mostly because I’m not sweet so it makes me laugh.”
    “How about dollface?”
    “Ha! Only if you want me to cringe.”
    “Okay, how about Subject Changer. That fits you well.” He squeezes my hand. “Nice try, but what’s wrong . . . dollface?”
    I sigh. “My mom and I had a huge fight.”
    “About me?”
    “So arrogant. Do you think everything is always about you?”
    “What was it about?”
    “You.”
    He smiles. I love his smile. I don’t want to talk about my mom. I want to talk about his smile or kissing. I could talk about kissing.
    “What is it about me your mom doesn’t like?”
    “Mainly that you’re rich. If you could just change that one thing, it would make my life a whole lot easier.”
    “I’ll work on that.”
    “Thanks. You’re so accommodating.”
    “So she wants something different for you?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Different than her past?”
    “Right. Basically she doesn’t want me to meet a rich guy, get pregnant, and have the rich guy run.”
    “She attributes that to his money?”
    “I know, it’s ridiculous.”
    “So is that what started the whole living-above-a-doll-store thing?”
    I think about how my father’s parents gave her the money to start the doll store. “Yes, actually.”
    “So wait, have you lived there your whole life, then?”
    “Yes.”
    “Wow, she’s extreme.”
    What does “extreme” have to do with living above a doll store? “In some ways, I guess.”
    “I thought my mom was, but your mom wins the prize.”
     
    The ballroom at the hotel is the most beautiful room I have ever seen in real life: big chandeliers, patterned tile floors, thick ceiling-high curtains. Xander steers me toward a table at the front and I take a deep breath. What was that lame advice Henry gave me before I met Mason? Oh yeah, be myself. I wasn’t sure that was going to work here. Maybe I could pick someone else to be for the night.
    Then I see Mrs. Dalton, and I want to run and hide. Any other time in any other situation and her presence would’ve put me at ease, but after what my mom said, my hand feels hot in Xander’s, like a spotlight is being shone on our clasped fingers.
    I stare at her too long because our eyes meet. Sweat beads along my forehead and I wipe at it. She smiles and waves.
    “I think we’re being beckoned.” He winks at me with his word choice. I want to be playful back but I’m too nervous.
    “Caymen,” Mrs. Dalton says. “I didn’t know you were coming. It’s so good to see you. I’m glad to see that Alex has worked his charm on you.”
    “It was hard, Grammy. This girl wasn’t easy to sway.” He kisses my hand.
    “Most