I jerk my chin toward the door, glancing at Maddy. “I’ll walk you out.”
As we stop in front of her car, I have to fight a grin, but apparently fail, because she looks at me, her eyebrows lifting slightly. “What?”
“You were nervous in there.”
Her eyes widen immediately. “I was not nervous.”
“Uh-huh.”
She rolls her eyes hard enough I’m surprised they don’t stick. Then I shove my hands into my jacket pockets and tilt my head at her. “You want to do something dumb and public tomorrow?”
She pauses halfway through opening her car door and looks back at me, suspicious already. “Define dumb.”
“A date.”
Her eyebrows lift. “A fake date?”
“Yeah.”
She leans against the car for a second, considering it. “Okay… where are we going?”
“That’s a surprise.”
She gives me a look. “You do realize you don’t have to do the whole surprise thing on a fake date.”
I shake my head. “Just wear something nice.”
“You know,” she says slowly, “that ‘just wear something nice’ is the most confusing thing you could possibly say to a woman.”
I huff a quiet laugh.
“You’re basically giving us no clue,” she continues. “Like, do you meannicenice? Or normal nice? Or fake nice?”
“I’ll pick you up at six.”
She narrows her eyes. “Six-thirty.”
“Nope. Six.”
“Ryan—”
“Six.”
She sighs dramatically. “Ugh. Fine.”
I grin a little. “Goodnight, Mads.”
“Goodnight, Ryan.” She slides into the driver’s seat, the door shutting with a soft thud before the engine turns over. A second later the headlights sweep across the driveway as she backs out and disappears down the street. I head back inside, already turning to head to my room when I notice Bailey sitting halfway up the stairs with her arms crossed.
“I knew it,” she says. “You like her.”
I stop at the bottom of the stairs. “Go to bed, Bailey.”
“You’re so obvious,” she continues, ignoring me completely. “Like, painfully obvious.”
“Bailey.”
She clasps her hands together dramatically. “So when’s the wedding? Do I get to be the flower girl? Actually—no, wait. I want to be maid of honour.”
