A Promise kept

CHAPTER THREE

At The Grove...

The Grove was chaos. Graduation week chaos.

"Massage first," Lena declared, dragging me into Spa Montage. "We survived Bio. We survived four years. We deserve this."

"Valedictorian deserves this," I corrected her, flopping onto the table. She snorted. "Don’t get cocky, Romano."

Two hours later my shoulders were butter and my nails were Beverly Hills pink. The exact shade. We did mani and pedi at Nail Bar LA right next door, then hit Round1 Arcade like we were 12 again. I beat her at air hockey. Obviously. I also lost $20 to her in Dance Revolution, but we don’t talk about that. Lunch was at The Cheesecake Factory. Burgers, milkshakes, and way too much gossip.

"So," Lena said, stirring her strawberry shake. "UC Davis. I got in."

I screamed. Like, actual screamed. "Lena! That’s amazing!"

She grinned, but it was tight. "Yeah. Now we just wait on you. UCLA, USC, NYU... you’ll get in somewhere, Rory. You’re literally valedictorian. "I shrugged. My applications were in, but the silence was killing me.

"I’m trying not to think about it. Let’s talk about something else. Like how prom was with me and not your boyfriend."

"Best decision ever," she said. "You and me in matching champagne dresses, zero drama. 10/10 would do again."

We talked about college, about Cory’s date tomorrow, about graduation rehearsal on Wednesday. About everything except him.

Outside The Grove, we hugged by the cabs.

"You’re staying over, right?" I asked.

"Nah. Mom wants me home tonight. I only live two streets over anyway," Lena said. Beverly Hills flats. Her mom’s a lawyer downtown. "Text me when you get home, Rory. And good luck tomorrow with loverboy."

She got in her cab. I got in mine. 10 minutes later I was pulling up

to my house on Maple Drive. Luca’s car was in the driveway. My heart did this stupid little jump. He was home from Stanford early. I didn’t even drop my bags. I kicked off my heels in the foyer, ran up the stairs, straight to his room.

"Luca! You’re back—" I pushed the door open without knocking. And his scent hit me first. Warm. Cedar. Something expensive I couldn’t name. The kind of smell that made my stomach flip because I knew it.

His smell.

I didn’t even realize I’d stopped breathing. Then my eyes met green eyes.

Not Luca’s.

His.