The Kane Cross (Cross 1)

45 - Romcom

When Ivy walked into class, Tyler said, "If it isn't the belle of the ball."

She shrugged. "So I attended a charity event."

He had his phone out. "Baxter's sweetheart, Baxvy, stupid word."

"I didn't make it up. I'd be just as happy to have some privacy."

He shook his head. "Not a chance. Not when you hang around with the cool kids."

She laughed. "The cool kids. You sound so high school."

"And you're so sophisticated dating a Kane. You know he'll dump you."

"You sound jealous because you didn't get invited to the gala."

"Who would want to go? My father did and your tough guy told him I outed you."

"Tough guy?"

"Sinclair."

"I don't control Jimmy and you did out me. Is daddy unhappy?"

He turned away abruptly. A few more weeks and she would never see him again.

When she left her second class, she had text messages from Tate. She was angry about the lack of privacy. Ivy hoped it wasn't about Duncan. She tapped on the link to see her face. One was from Saturday and the other was from her class which explained Tate's remark about contacting the school. She looked awful again. Why would she dress up for class? There was a girl in front of her in flannel pajama pants. The comments were nasty. Why were people so mean?

She called Tate, but she didn't answer. Eleanor answered her phone. "Ivy, are you okay?"

"Tell Tate to ignore it. Don't bother the university."

"I think she's on the phone now."

She looked at the picture, and it looked worse because he goaded her into a scowl. She looked like the ugly stepsister caption.

As she walked across campus, students yelled out comments, but she blocked them. Out of nowhere like a stalker, Baxter and Macintyre appeared. Ivy stopped walking when she saw him.

He smiled. "Hey, beautiful."

"What are you doing here? You should be working."

"Some things are more important. Are you going to stand there or would you like to kiss me?"

She smiled, and he took three large strides to match her shorter ones. He put his hands on her cheeks and kissed her. It was much too short, but probably best since they had an audience. When he pulled back, he put his forehead against hers. "You look beautiful dressed in rags. In fact, you look beautiful without being dressed at all."

She laughed and swatted him. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground. She put her lips on his.

Two hours later, a video of them kissing had gone viral. After Ivy watched it for the fifth time, she looked up at Elena. "It looks like a scene from a romcom."

"If anyone doubts he loves you, they're blind."

"I wonder what his mother thinks."

"We rarely stay this long, but we'll be here until the new year because of Sarah. The holidays will be hard this year. I plan to see Amelia at various events. Maybe I can talk sense into her."

"Don't make her angry."

"Mother to mother."

Elena was a strong woman who lost a child. The two mothers were very different. "You came from wealth and have a happy marriage."