Page 82 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

“—and I know he would do it in a heartbeat if I asked him.”

I knew no such thing.

“And we moved so well together.”

Colton cleared his throat. “You know, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Oh?” I asked. “Why not?”

“Like you said, this is about your list, part of the bet. It’s a me and you thing, Sadie.” My heart thrilled at his words—the fact that Colton and I even had a thing—but I tamped down the emotion. “And that Ash guy? The way he danced with you right in front of his girl? I don’t trust him.” Colton shook his head, not realizing it had all been Snow’s idea in the first place. But I played along, seeing as he was starting to come around. “Plus, what kind of coach would I be if I abandoned you with only a few more items to go?”

I didn’t want to come off too eager, pretended to study my nails. “Well, I wouldn’t want to put you out. I mean, like I said, Ash would be happy to—”

“No,” Colton said. “I’m in.”

“You’re in?”

“Yeah.”

“As in, you’ll dance with me?”

“God, what do you need it in blood or something?” He threw his head back. “I said yes, I’m in. No need to call anybody else. Dammit Sadie, I’ll dance with you. I’m your guy.”

Again, my foolish heart skipped a beat, hearing a hidden meaning behind his words that wasn’t there. I shoved the emotion aside, smiling so big it hurt.

“That’s all I wanted to hear.”

Later that night, I’d reserved the studio, which wasn’t hard, of course, since my parents owned it. Kyle was staring at me in amazement while I checked my watch for what felt like the hundredth time. It was supposed to be our first practice—and Colton was already 10 minutes late.

“But how did you convince him?” Kyle asked. “Colton never dances. Ever. He hates it with a passion. Kind of like I hate Physics, man buns, and how Sherlock never ended up with John.”

“It should’ve been Molly Hooper, and you know it. Sholly forever.” I shrugged. “And I just asked, and he said okay.”

“That’s it?”

“I might’ve annoyed him into it. You know I can be really stubborn.”

Kyle shook his head. “I know my brother, Sadie. He’s twice as stubborn as you. Colt never does anything without a reason, and I still don’t understand why he’d do something he hates so much. Unless…”

“Unless what?” I said, biting my lip. What if Colton didn’t show? What would I do then? I had no backup plan, and I was already so committed to this idea. The choreography wouldn’t work without Colton. It was him or no one.

“Unless he had a stronger reason to do it,” Kyle said.

I nodded. “Yeah, winning the bet. Beating you and two-hundred dollars seem like pretty nice incentives.”

“I wasn’t talking about—” My best friend took my hand, his eyes meeting mine so like Colton’s, but Kyle’s touch, as always, was warm and completely friendly. “No bet would make my brother do this. He’d just drop out before it was set in stone. Or as is the case here, he would insist on getting someone else to do the dance. Hell, anyone else.”

“I used my powers of persuasion.”

“I didn’t know you had those,” he said, looking impressed.

“Me neither.” I grinned. “But it felt kind of good, being bad.”

Kyle shook his head in wonder. “Who are you, and where has my clueless best friend Sadie gone?”

I laughed, pushing his shoulder. “I’m still me, Kyle.”

“Yeah,” he said, “you are. And I’m honestly a little worried. Sadie…tell the truth. Are you falling for my brother?”

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