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Nope. Not gonna do it.
No girl wants to hear that not only are they a stand-in for someone else, but that you regret you wasted every first you always hoped would be with another on them. I might be disgusted by the chicks who throw themselves at me, but it doesn’t mean I have to be an asshole to them.
It's not until I’m opening the driver-side door that I realize Evie isn’t climbing in across from me. I scan the parking lot until I find her frantically gesturing to her friend, Jess. She’s not even twenty yards away from me, but it might as well be twenty miles. It’s clear from watching their interaction that Jess is going to give her a ride to the diner.
Sure enough, Evie shrugs her shoulders in a lame apology.
Our gazes lock for only a few seconds, but in that small amount of time, an eternity of things seems to pass between us. Through the hardened shell she wears like armor around herself, I still see the beautiful, intelligent girl I want with every fiber of my being. And, when she looks at me, I just know she sees through my mask of a typical jock, too. We’ve both been acting for so long. Too long.
She blinks then climbs into the passenger side of Jess’s little coupe. It seems we’ll be acting for a bit longer than I hoped.
Damn. Foiled again.
A deep laugh behind my back scares the shit out of me. I turn around to see Alex loping toward me. Sabrina must have given up her chase for today.
“What the hell was that all about?” He winks, probably having watched the entire crash and burn with Evie unfold.
“Ah, you know. Just the usual for me. What are you so happy about? And why are you still here?”
“Oh, no reason. Hey, I need a favor though.”
Of course, he does.
“Would you be interested in going to the diner later? I got Kelly to agree to a date tonight, but only if she can bring her friend.” Alex plasters on his patented puppy-dog pleading look.
“You know, I’m not sure if you do this to yourself because you’re running out of girls who don’t already hate you, or if you’re trying to help me in a really roundabout kind of way.”
He shrugs as he leans against the hood of my car. “Does it matter? You get to spend the evening eating good food and drooling over Eva.”
“Yeah, but it kind of defeats the purpose for Evie to see me out with another chick even if I’m not interested.”
“Hey.” He punches me in the chest. “You owe me for all the times you make me sit in that damn diner without girls.”
He’s got me there.
“All right, fine. What time?”
“Eight.”
“That’s a little early for you, isn’t it?”
A sly smile spreads across his face. “Yeah, but she has an early curfew.”
“Alex, just how old are these girls?”
He pushes off the car, digging for his keys in his pocket. “Freshmen.”
“Aww, man! Are you fucking kidding me?” There is no way I’m taking a freshman on even a fake double date.
“It’ll be less weird if you have an actual reason to be there instead of just blatantly stalking Eva, you know. You could be a little more grateful.” He walks away to his own car.
I roll my eyes and climb in to start the engine. Alex makes a valid point.
Evie’s been in a rut ever since she and Eddie broke up five months ago. The rumors that have ramped up about her ever since have put her in some kind of funk she just can’t seem to shake.
It’s obvious to me they’re not true, but she’s so damn gorgeous everyone else seems to be buying into it.
It’s not really fair of me to make a move until she gets her head on straight. I figured a few months would be enough, but the school year is almost over, and she shows no signs of making peace with everything. It’s seriously unfair how much our lives have changed. No way am I gonna let her out of my sight and wait for some other asshole to mess with her head ever again. For now, I’m just biding my time until the stars align.
