Reese assured me as he leaned over my vanity to check the styling of his hair. I placed my last gold earring in my ear, giving him a smile. “My mother never misses the Annual Mayor’s Arts Awards. She would never forgive me if I didn’t go.” “She just wants to shuffle you off to the most available bachelor,” he quipped with a dry smile. “It’s a good thing I’m not available.” Grinning, I switched my position in the chair to face him. A misbehaving curl flopped down on his forehead. I reached up to touch his face and fix it only to be met with air. He recoiled from me, his smile tempering. Our relationship was undemonstrative in the most extreme sense of the word. His little sister, Phoebe, tagged along on our date nights and every moment we were alone. In the rare occasion she was late or nowhere to be found, forcing us to deal with one another without a buffer between us, Reese was always visibly nervous. We never kissed. We never hugged. We never touched or held hands.
