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Olivia paused and rested her hand on the table in front of me like I wasn’t even there, while Tasha scrolled through her phone. She probably thought she was too good to even be standing in my presence.
“So, Carson, I heard you don’t have a date for the Snowflake Ball yet.”
My eyes widened and every muscle in my body stiffened at her mention of the dance. Carson must’ve noticed the shift in demeanor because his brow furrowed as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, then back to Olivia.
I pulled my hands under the table and clasped them in prayer.Please don’t let her bring up her conversation with me. Please.If she told him she asked me to mention the dance to him—which I didn’t—he might think it was because I didn’t want him to take her or worse, because I liked him. That couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth. I just forgot. I’ve had a lot on my mind.
“Nope.” He clasped his hands behind his head, reclining in his seat. “I’m waiting, exploring my options,” he said evasively.
I snorted.Must be nice.
“Yeah, I’m not sure who I’m going with yet either,” Olivia purred. “I’ll have to see if anyone else asks.” She pursed her overly glossed lips, and I wanted to groan. Instead, I took a sip of my latte, thinking,could you be more obvious?!
“Aren’t you going with Steve? I’m pretty sure that’s what he told me.”
Olivia’s face fell as coffee entered my windpipe, and I started coughing like an idiot, trying to hack it up.
“Sorry,” I muttered between gasps for air, then bumped Carson’s cup in the process, spilling the rest of his drink.
Crap. I hurried with the napkins, reaching over the table, mopping up the gingerbread coffee. Half-standing, I began to dab at Carson’s lap before I realized what I was doing and froze. The palm of my hand scorched as his eyes caught mine, the blue blazing.
I wrenched my arm back so fast I almost tore it from the socket. Wincing, I noticed Olivia’s glare. Biting my lip, I tentatively glanced up at her, and from what I gleaned in her expression, she was not amused.
“That’s funny,” Olivia said, and the vicious gleam in her eyes made me want to puke.
I knew what was coming next.
“Because I saw Mia on her way to your place just the other night and I specifically told her I didn’t have an official date yet.AndI asked her to see if maybe you were still looking. Because if you are, I’d be interested.” She pouted her lips and turned her flirtatious gaze back to Carson.
Chapter 13
CARSON
Interesting.
Sothat’swhat Olivia said to her outside my house the other night. It had been only seconds before she ran into me, yet she still hadn’t told me about it. That had to mean something.
A thrill shimmied up my spine despite my irritation with Olivia for calling Mia out.
“I didn’t know Mia was your messenger,” I said.
It took everything in me to keep the smile from slipping off my face. Of all the people I wanted to see while I was hanging out with Mia, Olivia was at the bottom of my list.
Olivia giggled and touched my arm, which I quickly yanked away.
“Well, now you know.”
My smile tightened. “I will take it under advisement.”
“Great. You do that.” Olivia clicked her acrylic fingernails on the table, then with a wink, she turned to where Tasha was impatiently waiting off to the side, and they headed to the counter.
As soon as they were out of earshot, my gaze shifted to Mia, who continued to watch them as they placed an order. Why did I get the feeling she was avoiding me?
By the time she turned around, I made no effort to hide the fact that I’d been watching her. “What?” she asked, smoothing a hand down the length of her hair.
“Nothing.” I said, but the lilt to my voice betrayed me.
She frowned and threw a sugar packet at me. “What?”
