Page 107 of The Charade

But yeah, that was never going to happen. While Mack and I might have an interesting relationship—one that involved him sleeping on the trundle bed in my room a few times during the first week of school while his parents visited a hospital in New York—it was purely platonic.

Mack had only shown up at my balcony doors after I’d heard him sleepwalking past my open window the previous two nights and told him to just hang out in my room so I could stop chasing him through the woods.

And even though my brothers would freak out if they knew their friend had stayed with me those few nights instead of telling them about his nighttime wanderings, they really had nothing to worry about.

Mack had always been obvious about who he wanted to date, and it had never been the little sister of his best friends. Not in a serious way, at least.

I stepped up behind the couch where Ava and Carter were sitting to take a closer look at the image Carter must have suggested. Sure enough, there was a photo of a college-aged guy and girl wearing inflatable sumo wrestler suits on Carter's iPad.

"What's wrong with those costumes?" I asked Ava after taking a small sip from my tea. "I think they're actually pretty great."

It was, of course, a huge lie. I would never be caught dead in such a horrendous-looking thing. But I couldn't resist teasing her a little.

Carter lifted his arm from Ava's shoulders to give me a fist bump of solidarity before Ava turned around to face me with her mouth hanging open. "You can't be serious, Cambrielle," she said. "I-I've seen your closet and know that there's no way you'd be caught dead wearing an outfit like this."

It was like she was a psychic.

But since I was committed to the act, I stirred my tea and said, "I don't know. I think the peachy-tan skin tone of the suits would really complement your eyes and cheekbones." Yeah, not sure how it would complement cheekbones, but I was making things up as I went. "Plus, it might be a good way to test out how shallow Carter is. I mean, what better way to find out if your love is true than to see if you'll stick with each other when you put on a few hundred pounds?"

"Yeah, no." Ava swiped her finger across the screen to move the sumo-wrestler image out of view. "Half of the reason why I'm dating Carter is because his hotness makes me look hotter. I'd much rather have him show it off than hide it."

Carter chuckled. "Are you saying that if I got fat, you wouldn't like me anymore?"

"Maybe." Ava shot him a sideways glance, her eyebrows wiggling in a challenge.

Carter's jaw dropped, and I wondered if I might need to leave them alone to rethink their relationship.

But then Ava laughed and said, "I'm totally kidding. Yes, your muscles and pretty face are a nice bonus. A very nice bonus." She eyed him flirtatiously. "But if you suddenly got a dad bod and looked like Quasimodo, IthinkI'd still like you."

"You think?" Carter arched his eyebrow. "You think?" He leaned closer and started tickling her. "How can you say that after all we've been through?"

Ava giggled and squealed as she tried to get away from him. And even though it was kind of annoying how much they liked each other, they were also super cute together and I was totally jealous of their happiness.

"What's going on in here?" Mack's voice sounded behind us, startling me enough that my tea sloshed a few drops over the brim of my mug.

I quickly licked off the droplets before they could drip onto the rug. Then I looked up at Mack who was a full foot taller than me and said, "Carter and Ava are testing how shallow each of them are."

"And who's winning so far?" Mack asked.

"It's hard to tell," I said.

Ava was now lying on the couch with Carter pinning her in place with his legs as he continued to tickle the sides of her ribs.

As we watched them, Mack lifted my mug from my hands and took a sip. "Mmmm," he said, smacking his lips together. "That's really good. What is it?"

It took me a moment to respond because I hadn't expected him to do that. But once I regained my wits, I took my mug back from him and said, "It's blueberry green tea with a splash of chocolate creamer."

"Nice," he said.

I took another sip from my mug, trying not to think about the fact that Mack’s lips had just been on it. "Have you decided what you're wearing to the Halloween dance?”

"Not yet." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Haven't really thought that far ahead."

“Yeah, probably not your top priority right now, huh?”

For a brief second, I considered suggesting that we wear the sumo wrestler costumes if Ava and Carter decided not to use them, but since it would be weird to suggest we dress alike, I stopped myself.

Plus, I had already been working on a special costume for the occasion—something that I was hoping would help me finally get on Ben Barnett’s radar.

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