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“Hey, this wasn’t a setup, but it doesn’t seem to have stopped you from trying.”
“Sure, man, whatever helps you sleep at night,” I say, not believing that for a second.
I wander back outside, pretending not to notice how Laura visibly tenses when I sit back down. For both our sakes, I keep pushing the conversation, trying to ease the awkwardness between us. I mean, she eventually has to lighten up, right? I figure the more I try and wear her down, the less of a big deal what happened will seem. Hey, she might even decide she likes me, if she gives me a chance.The rest of dinner goes by in much the same way. I’m inappropriate, and she either ignores me or glares at me. The party eventually breaks up, and as soon as Annie and Matt go to walk the last couple out, Laura jumps up. I watch her with interest as she rushes to clear all the plates from the table. She really wants to avoid being alone with me. Matt walks back out and shakes his head.
“No, you go and sit back down. Enjoy yourself,” he says, gently chastising her. “I didn’t invite you so you could clean up after us.”
“No, you invited me so you could…” She shakes her head. “Never mind.” She sinks back down into her seat and scowls at Matt as he walks away.
“You really can’t wait to get away from me, can you?” I question.
“Do you blame me?” she asks. “It’s nothing personal. I’m just really embarrassed about…” She shakes her head and glares at me. “No wait, it is personal. You’ve been an asshole to me all night.”
I wince because I deserve that.
“I’m sorry. I think I was trying to make it so that the incident wasn’t the worst thing to happen between us,” I finally say. “I thought by making that seem less of a big deal, that this would be easier for you.”
“What? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she says. Then she lowers her head and laughs. I stare at her. Holy shit, has my plan actually worked? “That’s really what you were trying to do?”
“Of course,” I say, with a wounded expression. “I mean, if I really wanted to make you feel uncomfortable, I’d comment on how your voice isn’t hitting the high notes it did last time we met.”
She glares at me, and I laugh. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ve been holding onto that one all night. I promise it’s completely out of my system now,” I call out to her, but she’s already stalking off inside the house.
I groan inwardly and rub my head, then I give her a few minutes head start before I saunter back inside too. Matt glances at me as I walk through the door. He laughs and shakes his head.
“I’m not sure whether to be concerned or impressed with the way my sister just stormed out of here, cursing your name,” he says.
I chuckle and run my hands through my hair, because if only he knew.
“What can I say? It’s a talent. I’m going to call it a night, I think. Thanks again for letting me stay here. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime, man.”
I walk down the hallway to my room with the look on her face when she realized I was at that dinner party stuck in my head. She’ll get over it eventually. Sure, it must have been embarrassing for her, seeing me there, but the memory won’t always be this raw. I mean, it was only a few days ago. I really do hope I see her again, but I’m not sure the feeling is mutual. I could ask Matt to help me. I’m sure he would, and she’d have trouble explaining why she didn’t want to be around me. Of course, there was one major flaw in that plan.
Making sure it never came up in conversation that I’d told Matt about the girl in cubicle nine.
#
“Well, what do you want me to do? Put them up at a hotel?”
I look up as Annie storms into the kitchen, cursing Matt’s name under her breath. Matt follows and stands in the doorway, not helping the situation by laughing at her.
“Well, yeah. If they’d given you the right dates in the first place, then we wouldn’t be standing here, arguing over the fact that your parents are flying in tomorrow and we have no room to put them up.”
“Well, what do you want me to do, put them up at a hotel?”
I wince, because they’ve been like this all morning, and I’ve just about had enough, especially when the solution is so blatantly obvious that it’s staring them in the face. I slam my fist down on the table, causing them both to turn to me in surprise. It’s like they’d forgotten I was even there, which is easy to do when you’re at each other’s throats, I guess.
