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She grabs Tony’s hand and drags him away, pushing past me. He follows her eagerly. I huff and trail behind her, glaring at their joint hands the entire time. It’s obvious that they’re walking towards the shopping center a few blocks down. Movie theatre it is, then.
Emilia keeps glancing back and obviously knows I’m following her, but she ignores me. Fine by me. I stand behind them in line when we reach the movie theatre and buy myself a ticket for the same movie they’re watching. I watch Emilia’s agitation rise and grin to myself. I’m sure at some point she’s going to snap and cuss me out. Let’s see how Tony likes her then.
I wait for them to enter the theatre and follow them in. Once they’re seated, I take the seat to Emilia’s left while Tony is on her right. She’s stuck right between us. If it were up to me, I’d have gotten between her and Tony, but I’m sure she’d throw a fit if I tried.
Emilia tenses and glares at me, but I keep my eyes on the screen as I munch on my popcorn. I have no idea what movie we’re even watching. I just asked the girl at the ticket office for one ticket for whatever Emilia was watching, but it’ll probably be a chick flick.
Eventually Emilia acknowledges me and elbows me, hard. “Get lost,” she murmurs. I turn towards her and take in her face. She’s fucking wearing mascara or some shit. She dressed up for this fucker, huh? Like she needs it.
“Nope,” I say, popping the p just to piss her off. She turns away from me and grabs Tony’s hand. It’s clear that they want to move seats, but the room is packed. I watch them whisper to each other, and eventually they settle down in their seats, obviously having realized that they have no other choice.
Tony keeps her hand in his and I lean over her to glare at him, getting right in his puny little face. “You better keep your hands to yourself if you want to keep them,” I tell him, my voice soft and low. I smile at him and he shudders. He looks at me with wide eyes and lets go of Emilia’s hand. She glares at me and I hate that she actually looks distraught. Surely she doesn’t really care about this weasel?
Emilia leans into me and grabs my bicep, her grip tight. “Don’t do this to me, Carter. Please. I’ve never been on a date before, not even once. I’ve never even walked around holding hands with a boy. I’ll be sixteen soon and I still haven’t even been kissed. All because you scare everyone away.”
I look into her eyes and smile. “Good,” I whisper, intensely pleased with her words.
She shakes her head and looks up at me pleadingly. “Please don’t do this to me, Carter. It’s so unfair,” she says, her voice breaking. My heart fucking shatters. She wraps her arms around herself and stares up at the screen, looking lost as hell. I hate that I did this to her. Am I being too harsh? Realistically, I shouldn’t be so strict with her. I know Kate has managed to sneak a couple of dates in that she thinks I don’t know about, and I let that go. So why can’t I let it go when it’s Emilia?
Emilia looks crestfallen as we walk out of the movie theatre. Tony looks at her awkwardly and then comes up with an excuse to leave. She nods at him in understanding and sighs, a small insincere smile on her lips.
She stares at him as he walks off and I hate it. She looks like she’s freaking pining after him. Tony, of all guys. Eventually she inhales deeply and starts walking back to school. I follow her silently. She doesn’t look up at me until she reaches my car. I unlock the doors and she gets in. When I sit down, she turns towards me, her eyes blazing.
“You went too far, Carter. It’s one thing to pull pranks on me, but this was downright unacceptable. I never interfere with your private life that way. I don’t cock block you when you’re flirting with girls. Don’t think I didn’t notice how you were all over Gabby the other day. Did I act the way you just did? No. I just let you be. Why can’t you do the same?”
I stare at her wide eyed. “When the fuck was I all over Gabby?” I ask her, outraged. Hell will freeze over before I’m ever all over that viper.
Emilia rolls her eyes. “That’s not the point, asshole. I’ve never interfered with your flirting and whatever, but you’ve done it twice now. Once with Zach and now with Tony. It’s not okay.”
I lean back in my seat and start the car. I’m not even sure what to say to that. She seems genuinely hurt. I wasn’t really thinking today at all. All I knew was that I didn’t want her going out with Tony. Was I being too mean to her?
“I’m going to make you pay for this,” she says when I fail to respond.
“Yeah, I know, Minx,” I murmur. I’m relieved she’s speaking to me at all. When Emilia gets really mad, she gives me the silent treatment. I can’t stand it when she does that. I’d rather she fight with me and cuss me out than treat me like I’m thin air.
She stares at her phone the entire way home, and it isn’t until much later that I find out why. My little Minx texted everyone we know saying I have fucking chlamydia.
Chapter 15
Emilia
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us, John?” Carter and Kate’s dad asks, like he does every year. And like every year, my dad shakes his head resolutely. “No, but thank you for offering, William. And thank you for taking Emilia with you.”
He nods at William and smiles at me. “Have fun, sweetie,” he says. Things have been awkward between Dad and me lately. He hasn’t apologized for the way he snapped at me a few months ago, but he’s been coming home earlier and he’s been having dinner with me when he can. If he can’t make it home, he’ll call me to have a chat instead. I guess that’s better than an apology, but I would’ve liked to have both. I smile back at him and make my way to the car. As I approach, Carter and Kate both shout, “shotgun not middle seat!”
I groan and squeeze in between them. The journey to their summer cabin is a couple of hours and I’m going to be so uncomfortable between Kate and Carter. Besides, I’ve done my best to ignore Carter since he pulled that stunt on my first date. I haven’t forgiven him yet, and I don’t plan on being nice to him any time soon.
Carter’s thigh is pushed against mine and much to my surprise, he shifts away from me, edging closer to the door. I frown and lean back in my seat. I cross my arms over my chest, intent on giving him the silent treatment.
“I’m so excited!” Kate squeals. “I can’t wait to go swimming and kayaking at the lake. I wanna tan as well,” she tells me. Usually I’d be just as excited as her. Towards the end of the school year we usually go to the cabin one weekend a month, and if William can get some time off, we usually go for a week during summer break too. Our weekends at the cabin are normally the highlight of our summer, but this time I’m too annoyed with Carter to enjoy it.
I can’t believe he ruined my date like that. He might pretend like he’s never seeing anyone, but I know he’s lying. The other day I heard Gemma gossiping about how he took her to our local coffee shop to hang out. He’s such a hypocrite. I hate that he goes on dates all the time while I can’t even go on one. Just the idea of Carter with other girls pisses me off. If he gets to do it, then I do too. If Carter gets things his way, I’ll die a virgin. I don’t want that. I want to date just like other girls my age, the way Carter seems to.
“Aren’t you excited?” Kate asks. She pushes against my arms, inadvertently pushing me closer to Carter.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m excited,” I say eventually, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
Kate frowns at me, her smile dropping. She leans forward and glares at Carter and me. “You two better not ruin this for me. I don’t know what the deal is with you this time, but you’re both being weird. You don’t usually fight for this long.”
