Read Online At First Sight by Catherine Hapka - Free Book Online

must be hanging out inside,” she said, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the door. “Come on, let’s go see.”
    â€œMaybe he couldn’t come after all,” I said as I allowed myself to be dragged. “His parents might have grounded him or something, or maybe he got the flu… .”
    â€œWait, why are we going in this dump?” Todd complained, trailing along after us. “I thought we were going for pizza after we dropped Lauren off.”
    â€œChillax, Todd,” Britt tossed over her shoulder. “You’ll get your ’za. First we need to get Lauren her man.”
    I winced; Britt doesn’t have the quietest voice in the world. What if Riley walked out just in time to hear her?
    But he didn’t. Instead we pushed our way past a rowdy group of college kids rushing out the door, and we finally found ourselves inside the club.
    The Cave pretty much lives up to itsname; it’s little more than one low-ceilinged room with a small stage at the far end and a few tables scattered across the battered floorboards. The lighting is pretty bad, consisting mostly of bare, flickering overhead bulbs, which made it hard to see much as we wandered farther in.
    The band was dismantling their equipment on the stage, laughing and trading obscenity-laced insults with some fans who were watching. Maybe a couple dozen other people were clustered here and there throughout the place, either finishing their drinks or chatting with one another about the show.
    â€œDo you see him?” Britt hissed into my ear, scanning the room.
    â€œSee who?” Todd asked too loudly from behind us. “Who are we looking for anyway? Just a single guy for Lauren to hook up with?”
    â€œEw, no!” Britt shot him an annoyed look. “Who do you think she is, anyway?”
    I didn’t hear Todd’s response. That was because I’d just turned and spotted Riley. He was sitting at one of the tables off to one side.
    At first my heart did this funny littleseries of somersaults as the pinging started again. He was here—there—right in front of me, just ten yards away. Looking adorable in a Beast T-shirt and jeans, with his hair slightly damp with sweat—it was sweltering in the club.
    Then I saw who was sitting with him, and my heart landed from its latest somersault with a splat. He was surrounded by at least three cute girls. And as I watched, one of them laughed and then bent down to plant a kiss right on the top of his head.

Seven
    â€œLet’s get out of here,” I hissed at Britt, turning away.
    But she’d just spotted Riley, too. “There he is!” she said. “Go for it, babe.”
    â€œNo way. Looks like he has enough female company already.” My hands were shaking, and my stomach churned with disappointment. Coming here had been a mistake. A
huge
mistake. Why had I let Britt talk me into such a crazy plan?
    I sneaked another look over at the table. At that same moment Riley looked up—and his eyes locked onto mine. He blinked, then tilted his head and squinted, clearly trying to get a better look in the dim lighting. I flashed back to the field trip; he’d tilted hishead the same way while trying to get a look at me in the darkened planetarium.
    But this time the lighting wasn’t quite
that
bad. If he recognized me from my Facebook profile pic …
    â€œHurry!” I hissed to Britt. “We have to get out of here!”
    But when I looked behind me, she’d disappeared. I spun around frantically, finally spotting her halfway across the club, dragging Todd behind her.
    I gritted my teeth. Thanks, Britt.
    â€œHey, Lauren!” a voice called.
Riley’s
voice. I would have recognized it anywhere.
    I slowly turned around to face him again, plastering a smile on my face. “Oh! Hey,” I called back to him. “Uh, there you are.”
    It was a pretty lame response. But he waved me over anyway.
    My