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“Promise me.”
She huffed a breath. “Fine. But don’t sign up Auden for babysitting duty. He doesn’t even know I’m doing this.”
A line appeared between his eyebrows. “It’s not babysitting, it’s being a friend, but why haven’t you told him?”
She gave him a disbelieving look. “Um, maybe because he hasn’t talked to me beyond a basic text in two weeks?”
“He hasn’t—” Irritation moved across his features, the eyeliner somehow making him look like an avenging angel. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, I figured you knew.”
He took a shoulder-lifting breath and then let it out slowly. “That dumbass. He told me you’ve been slammed busy, and that’s why you hadn’t come over.” His jaw flexed, and he glanced at his phone, checking the time. “Come on. We’re fixing this.”
A dart of panic went through her. “What? No. You don’t have to—”
He stood and put his hand out. “Yes, I do. You’re coming to movie night tonight.”
She shook her head and put her palms up. “No way. I’m fine. It’s fine. I don’t want to make this even more awkward. He obviously doesn’t want me there.”
“Iwant you there,” he said, still holding his hand out. “And Aud doesn’t know it, but I bet he wants you there too. My guess is he’s having some crisis of conscience. In his own fucked up way, he probably thinks he’s doing you a favor. Saving you from him or whatever.”
Saving her?“That’s ridiculous.”
“Agreed, but he’s got a hard head. And I’ve got an idea.” He wiggled his fingers at her, asking her to take his hand. “I know I call you Sweets, but do you have any evil hiding under all that sugar? The playful kind of evil?”
She took his hand and stood, intrigued despite herself. “There’s a playful kind of evil?”
“Absolutely. Come on. Get your stuff, and let’s get outside so we can talk without whispering.”
She shoved everything into her backpack and then laced her fingers with his again, letting him lead her out and marveling at how natural it felt to just take Len’s hand and trust him. Some deep intuitive part of her felt safe with him.
When they were in the sunshine, the rays warming her library-chilled skin, he guided her to the side of the building under the shade of a sprawling oak and released her hand. He met her gaze. “Come to movie night. Asmydate.”
“What?”
He smiled. “Then Auden can’t protest. You’re not there for him. You’re there with me. He can stay and watch the movie or go. Twenty bucks says he chooses to stay.”
“But what’s the point?” she asked, crossing her arms. “It’s not going to make him jealous. He said y’all don’t do the jealousy thing. And it’s not like he and I were dating in the first place.”
“The point isn’t jealousy,” he said, loosening his tie. “The point is that he thinks he coerced you into something because you’re too young and innocent to know better. But if he sees that since he couldn’t give you what you wanted, you came to me instead, it’s going to show him that you’re making your own decisions. You didn’t fall under some spell of his. You weren’t a victim.”
“I’mnota victim,” she said, frustrated at the thought. “Does he really think I’m that unaware of my own mind? I’m the one who kissed him first last year. I’m inexperienced, but I’m not gullible.”
“Iknow that,” he said. “But that’s because I don’t have history with you. He’s got childhood stuff all twisted up with you. He’s got memories of you with skinned knees and pigtails or whatever. It’s probably a big transition from seeing you as his baby sister’s friend to seeing you as someone he wants in his bed. This could show him that you’re not that kid anymore.”
She sniffed haughtily and lifted a finger. “First of all, I never wore pigtails. Second of all, I slept with him. If that doesn’t alleviate him of that notion, I don’t know what will.”
Lennox smiled a Cheshire Cat smile. “I do. But it means we’re going to have to get real honest and real clear right now.”
A shimmer of trepidation moved through her. “What do you mean?”
He lifted his palms like he was trying to calm a horse. “Knowing you won’t hurt my feelings either way, on a scale of one to ten—one being,not at all,ten being,back off, you weirdo—how opposed are you to the idea of kissing me again?”
The question sent her mind spinning, and sweat prickled her skin. “Wh-what?”
“If I bring you to movie night and Auden doesn’t immediately see the error of his ways and apologize to you, we’re going to have to go through with the bluff that you’re there with me. That means making it convincing. Like cuddling on the couch, maybe a little kissing. But I’m not going to go there if you aren’t into that.” He said it as casually as if they were discussing the weather.
“You’re asking if I want to make out with you?” she asked, still trying to process the situation. “I—wait, where areyouat on that scale?”
