Page 44 of I Hate You More

“That doesn’t seem like much of a plan.”

Tessa let out an irritated breath and crossed her arms over her body. “I can’t exactly write you a script. But if you two don’t start talking like two people who can actually stand each other, this will never work.”

I was doomed. I had no idea what to say to Chase, as we had absolutely nothing in common. Even if I could come up with something to say, chances were high that the conversation would end pretty quickly. He had no interest in speaking to me, and it was a little hard to have a conversation when only one person was doing the talking. It probably didn’t help that I’d very recently accused him of something he didn’t do.

“I was actually thinking you could agree to the truce he offered,” Tessa continued.

My eyebrows lifted at that. “What?”

“Well, it would only be pretend on your end, but if you agree to the truce, then we have a better chance of him lowering his defenses around you. I think Operation Pest Control is more likely to succeed if he believes you want to get along with him.”

I bit down on my lip as I considered her idea. I had a feeling she was right. Chase was never going to believe I wanted a relationship with him if I didn’t start playing nice. Agreeing to the truce might be a necessary evil.

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay?” Tessa replied. “So, you’re going to give it a try?”

“Yes, but I can’t see it working. Especially not after what’s happened the last couple of days.”

“Have a little faith in yourself,” Mia said. “But, just in case, we have something that will probably help…” She walked over to my drawers and rifled through them before she pulled out a red bikini. It was from last season, and I’d only worn it once over the summer as I’d grown a lot since the year before. I’d been pretty quick to buy myself a new bikini when I’d seen how little of my butt and boobs it covered.

“How does that help?” I asked.

Mia lowered the bikini as she frowned at me. “Well, you’ll wear it, of course.”

“You want me to wear those scraps of material in front of Chase and my brother?” I scoffed. “I may as well be naked.”

“Exactly.” Mia grinned.

I slowly took the bikini she held out to me. This was definitely not how I imagined today going. “I still don’t understand how this will make it any easier for me strike up a conversation with Chase.”

“It will probably stun him into silence,” Mia admitted. “At least he won’t be able to argue with you

“Look, Ally, you were the one who was worried he wasn’t attracted to you,” Tessa reminded me. “In that bikini, he won’t be able to take his eyes off you, and he’ll be hanging off your every word. Trust me. This is step two with a hint of step one.”

“I don’t remember asking you to parade me around like a piece of meat,” I grumbled. Chase hadn’t been impressed when I’d been wearing a short skirt at the club last weekend. I hardly thought that less clothing was going to help the situation. But, apparently, my best friend had lost her mind.

“My brother is going to ridicule me for the rest of eternity,” I said, as I eyed the bikini again.

“I’m sure he won’t,” Mia said.

She clearly didn’t know Shane well enough because I could see from Tessa’s sly smile that she knew ridicule was exactly what would happen.

“Look, if you think Chase is already attracted enough to you, I’m happy for you to put on your regular swimsuit,” Tessa said.

I shot her a glare. From the knowing glint in her eyes, she was well aware she had me backed into a corner. I had to actually admit that Chase was already attracted to me if I wanted to get out of wearing the bikini, and since there was no way that was happening, I was left with no choice.

“This is so not going to work,” I muttered to myself. “But at this point, what have I got to lose?” Aside from my dignity, of course.

Mia jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “Yes, I knew you’d be game.”

“I guess I owe you ten bucks,” Miles told her.

My eyes flicked between my two friends. “You guys were betting on me?”

“Yeah, and I can’t believe you made me lose,” Miles said with a laugh. “There was no way in hell I thought you’d agree to this.”

“You guys suck,” I said.

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