"Come here," he said, holding out his arms. I went to him and he pulled me close, beginning to dance.

"Slow dancing in the living room?" I said, looking up at him as he slowly swayed me around the room. "Who's dorky now?"

"Shut up, Annie," he said, kissing me softly. "Just shut up and dance with me."

Chapter Twenty.

"Ginny," I said into my phone. "Are you guys here yet?"

"What's wrong?" she asked immediately.

"I think I'm having a panic attack," I told her. "Where are you guys?"

"I just walked into the lobby," she said. "Doesn't look like Jen's here yet."

"Will you come back?" I asked her. "Please, Gin. I really need to see you."

"Just tell me where to go."

I gave her instructions then sat at my dressing table, nervously twisting my hands and trying not to burst into tears. After four weeks of rushed rehearsals, opening night was finally upon me. I had been fine all day, excited even, but as soon as my dressing room partner Mary had finished getting ready and left the room, I felt like I might die.

There was a knock on my door and I looked up to see Ginny standing there. "Oh, Ann," she said. "You look gorgeous."

My costume was simple. As I was playing a college aged girl in modern times, I was dressed in wide- legged black pants and a white, baggy sweater. My hair had been straightened then re-curled in soft waves around my face.

"Seriously," Ginny said, approaching my table. "You look lovely."

"I think I'm going to throw up," I told her seriously.

"You're not," Ginny soothed, patting my shoulder. "Just relax."

"Is it full out there?" I asked her. "I mean, does it look like a lot of people?"

"It's pretty full," she told me. I whimpered a little.

"Come on," she said firmly. "This is silly. You're Annie Duncan, for G.o.d's sake. You don't get worked up over a couple people in a theater. Remember that show you did at Wayne, the Shakespeare? That crowd was much bigger than this one. And I didn't hear you freaking out before that."

"Yeah, but this is real," I said. "That was a student production. This is Jenner Collins' show. There are investors out there."

"I understand that," Ginny said patiently. "But that shouldn't matter to your performance."

I took a deep breath. "You're right," I said. "You're right. This is going to be fine."

"So, where's Nate sitting?" she asked, changing the subject. "Did you put him by us?"

"Uh, no, actually," I said, feeling my stomach clench for an entirely different reason. "Nate isn't coming tonight."

Ginny raised her eyebrow at me. "Why?"

"I told him not to. I want a couple shows under our belt before he sees it."

She didn't say anything and I knew she didn't really believe me. The truth was, Nate and I had had a bit of a fight over the subject of my opening night. He had wanted to be here and wasn't too happy when I told him I'd rather he wait.

"It will be a better show if you give it a week," I told him.

"I don't care about that," he said impatiently. "Opening night is a big deal. And I want to be there for you."

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm worried about. When I didn't say anything, he sighed. "Are we back here again, Annie? More games?"

"No," I said, feeling exasperated. "Jesus, Nate. I just would rather you see it after we're a bit more comfortable. Besides, the girls are all coming on opening night. I'll have support then. If you come to a different show it'll be like spreading the support out, you know?"

He didn't say anything for a minute. I had a feeling he was trying to keep himself from flipping out on me. "Fine," he said at last. "Whatever you want, Annie."

Now that opening night was upon me, I was really regretting that decision. Why hadn't I just asked him to come? I hated to admit it, but it would make me feel a lot better to know that he was in the audience.

"I should probably get out there," Ginny said, looking down at her watch. "Jen should be here by now."

I felt another rush of nerves, but pushed it down so I could give her a hug. "Thanks for coming back and talking me down," I told her.

"No problem, Ann," she said, squeezing me tight. "Break a leg."

She looked me square in the face and I was surprised to see her eyes had grown wet. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered.

"You haven't even seen it yet," I laughed. "You might hate it."

"Won't matter," she said. "I'll still be proud of you."

After she left I stared at myself in the mirror for a few minutes. Curtain opened in fifteen minutes. I wasn't in the first scene, so I still had a little time. I touched up my lipstick and fiddled with my hair a little. Not much to do now but wait.

"Annie?" said a voice from the doorway. I turned and saw the a.s.sistant house manager holding a huge bouquet of red roses. "These just came for you," she said. "And Jenner wants everyone gathered in the greenroom in five."

"Thanks, Jane," I told her, taking the flowers from her hands.

I was expecting the girls, so I got a little shock when I saw Nate's distinctive handwriting on the card.

*I know you wanted me to wait, but I came anyways. Hope you're not too mad. Just wanted to be here. Break a leg.'

I felt my throat well up a little. Nate. He was here. For some reason the thought made me exceedingly happy. I went over and set the flowers on my dressing table, then headed out to meet the cast in the greenroom. My nerves had faded to a low background hum. I felt better than I'd felt all night.

The show went about as well as I could have hoped for. There were a few slipups, mostly with cues, but the girls a.s.sured me that they hadn't even noticed.

"You were fantastic," Jen said, wiping her eyes. "Seriously, Ann. I loved it."

"She cried the whole time," Matt muttered, and Jen elbowed him in the ribs.

"I was a bit weepy myself," Ginny admitted, pulling me in for a hug. "Didn't I tell you it would be amazing?"

I smiled at her, but I couldn't help peering surrept.i.tiously over her shoulder. I hadn't seen Nate yet.

"He's behind you," Josh said drily.

I spun around, and sure enough, Nate was striding across the lobby toward me. I couldn't have held the grin off my face if I tried. Instead, I threw my arms around his neck and he pulled me close. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Ginny and Jen give each other a knowing smile, but I was too happy to care.

"You were amazing," he said in my ear. "I'm so proud of you."

"I'm glad you came," I said. "Thank you for the flowers."

I pulled back and smiled goofily at him. Josh's smirking face finally snapped me out of it, and I pulled myself together. "So, what does everyone feel like doing?"

"Don't you want to go out with the cast?" Ginny asked.

"Nope. I've been with them all week and I haven't seen you guys in ages. I'm sure there'll be plenty of cast parties before this thing is over. Tonight I want to see you."

It was true. Though we'd talked on the phone a few times, I hadn't seen Nate since the night we had danced in his living room. Tech week had simply taken up all of my time. And it was a rare occasion for Ginny and Josh to have a sitter for Danny that wasn't me or Jen. I figured we'd better take advantage of it.

We decided on a brewery down the street from the theater. It was close enough to walk, and I was secretly happy to stroll down the street with Nate's arm wrapped around me.

"It's really getting cold," he muttered. "How did fall go by so fast?"

"I feel like I missed it," I told him.

"Well you were holed up in a theater for most of the past month," he agreed. "We'll have to make the most of winter. Do you like to ski?"

"I've never tried it," I told him. "But I'm not really into sporty things like that."

Nate only sighed. "Time to open your horizons a little."

As we all sat down in the restaurant, I had a feeling that I already had. It was very rare for the girls and I to all have a guy in our life at the same time. I couldn't remember many times where the three of us had been on a triple date like this. It felt kind of nice.

We ordered beer and burgers. Nerves had kept me from being able to eat much throughout the day, so I was pretty hungry. Nate was nice enough to let me finish his fries.

"You're such a brat," Ginny said, watching me eat. "You eat like that all the time and you never put on any weight."

Jen and I immediately burst out laughing. Ginny was drop-dead gorgeous. Like, seriously, she could have been a model if she wasn't so short.

"I'm serious!" she said. "Ever since Danny I put on weight if I even look at this kind of food."

"Oh my G.o.d," I said. "I was there when you picked out your wedding dress, remember? I know what size it was. And I sure as h.e.l.l wouldn't fit into it."

"Are we really talking about weight and clothes?" Matt asked. "I mean, it's fine if we are. Just let me know so I can zone out."

"Oh, shut up," Jen said. "We're allowed to be girly every once in a while."

However, she did change the subject. "So tell me about the cast," she said. "Now that I know faces to match the names to."

"That brunette, who played Mia? She's a total b.i.t.c.h," I said, and they all laughed. "Seriously. Her name is Jasmine and she glares at me every time we're in the same room together. She also throws herself at Jenner every chance she gets. It's totally disgusting."

"Who was your boyfriend?" Jen asked. "That guy was pretty cute. I'm surprised you never mentioned him."

A slight blush came to my cheeks, and I felt Nate's eyes on my face. Tyler had continued to be very flirty with me, but I had never taken him up on his offer to get beer. I had never told the girls about him though, because I knew they would think he was just the kind of guy that I usually went for.

"That was Tyler," I said. "He's kind of a-"

"Better watch what you say, Miss Duncan," a voice from behind me said. I turned in my chair and found myself looking up at Tyler himself.

"Hey," I said, laughing to cover my awkwardness. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good," he said. "I'm meeting a few friends here."

He looked around at my group and I realized I should probably introduce him. "Tyler, these are my friends. Guys, this is Tyler."

"Her boyfriend," he added. "In the show, I mean." He did that smirking thing again and I felt myself grow annoyed. Then I felt Nate's hand come to rest lightly on the back of my neck. Tyler's smirk grew.

"Well, nice to meet you all," he said. "See you tomorrow, Annie."

As soon as he was gone, Nate dropped his hand. "What the h.e.l.l was that?" I asked him quietly, so the others wouldn't hear.

"What?"

"That whole possessive bulls.h.i.t."

"I wasn't being possessive," he said, but he didn't meet my eyes.

"Right. You just happened to put your hand on me at the precise moment that guy was being flirty. There was no message in that at all."

"Sorry," he said, looking up at me. "I just didn't like him, okay? I don't like how he looks at you."

I rolled my eyes. "Tyler is an a.s.s," I told him. "But I don't need that kind of s.h.i.t from you, okay?"

"Fine," he said, sounding p.i.s.sed. "I didn't even realize I was doing it. Sorry."

The rest of our meal felt a little strained after that. Stupid Tyler, having to ruin everything.

And Nate, I thought to myself. Acting like a jealous, possessive guy. Isn't that exactly why I never wanted a boyfriend? Didn't they all turn out this way?

Chapter Twenty-one.