Page 33 of Chasing After You
I’m highly aware I’m being a bitch, but Henry will survive.
Obvious.
His jaw tightens and he tilts his head. “Do you?” he asks, and I can read his body language like it’s another foreign language I’m fluent in. Oh, itsobothers him that Quinn might be interested in me, but not enough for him to tell me it doesn’t.
I smile playfully at Henry, enjoying the rise I’m getting out of him. I miss fighting with Bailey, believe it or not. It’s hard to fight when he doesn’t answer any of my texts or calls, and I haven’t gone home because I feel like I’m a huge disappointment to my parents right now. Everything isawesomeat the moment.
“No, but I could have since you don’t care if I see him. Next time you want to plan a date, you might want to ask me first to make sure I can go.”
“You’re right, I should have,” he admits, at least having the decency to look guilty. “I’m sorry. Will you please go out with me tonight?”
I purse my lips, half tempted to say no to prove that I can. Alas, that wouldn’t mean following the agreement to fake date him, and the other part of me that is hopelessly in love with Henry—despite whatever dumb thing comes out of his mouth—is desperate to say yes. “Yes, I’ll go out with you.”
I wish he was actually asking me out.
“We’ll have fun, I promise,” Henry says, smiling as if he’s relieved, but all I hear is him saying earlier that he’s okay with me dating Quinn. It might bother him, but not enough to the point he’ll tell me not to do it. Whereas if the roles were flipped, it might actually break my heart to see him with someone else.
But . . . if I can show him how great it would be to date me, then maybe Henry will realize he cares enough to tell me not to date Quinn.
“We definitely will,” I muse, eager to dart up to my room with renewed energy that I could wow the socks—or the pants, I wouldn’t complain—off Henry.
“Thanks Mirabelle, I appreciate it.”
Oh, you shouldn’t be thanking me yet.
~
“So I asked Dad if they were going to the season opener, and he wouldn’t give me a definitive answer. I think you should talk to him,” JJ suggests through the iPad screen as I straighten my hair, trying to be careful of my finger.
“Yeah, not sure if that’s the best way to get an answer. That’s assuming he picks up the phone in the first place,” I reply, feeling my stomach twist at the thought of Dad declining a call from me. I’ve been too much of a chicken to call out of fear that they won’t answer and of what they might say if they do.
“Mira, you should call. I know it was awful, but Hunter said it’s weird at the house,” he says, munching on some potato chips. I can tell from the background noise that he’s in his dorm room.
I put the straightener down, the pit of anxiety growing in my stomach. “You weren’t there, JJ. You didn’t see how upset they were with us.”
“You know how they are, they probably need some time to cool off,” he tries to defend them, but I shake my head. I don’t want to talk about this right now. I miss them so much it hurts, but I’m not making the first move this time. I took what Uncle Owen said into consideration, but I’m not the one that owes them an apology. I need to save all my energy right now for my date with Henry.
“How’s football going?” I ask, changing the subject entirely.
JJ looks disappointed, but thankfully, he doesn’t push the topic any further. I pick up my straightener again to finish the front section of my long hair.
“Good. I’m learning a lot, but I sure am glad Uncle Owen is the one who put my training schedule together this summer. His drills were a fuck ton harder than the ones we do here. Everyone else is suffering after practices, but I feel fine.”
“You could stay after practice with some of your teammates to run those drills and help strengthen your team? It could get you some playing time if your coaches notice?” I suggest, running my brush through my hair, satisfied to see the bright blonde strands looking extra smooth and silky. All my time in the sun this summer helped brighten my natural color.
I grab my mascara wand, touching up my lashes to get all the clumps out.
“Actually, that might be a good idea. Who knew you had them,” JJ teases, and I flip him off with a smile.
“Screw you. I have plenty of good ideas.”
“Oh yeah? How is fake dating the love of your life going for you?” he muses, and I feel my cheeks flush. It’s not going how I imagined it would.
“Shut up, JJ. He’s not the love of my life.”Unless he is.“It’s going fine. We’re arguing a bit more than I thought we would, but other than that it’s going well.” I step out of the camera frame to get dressed. I smooth my dress down, looking in the mirror. It’s a black satin halter top dress that makes me look like I’m definitely not twenty. The open back is dramatic and is one of the reasons I bought it during my shopping spree after the fire. I thought Henry’s head was going to explode when the packages started arriving, but I don’t think he’ll complain after he sees what I’m wearing tonight.
“Goddamn, Mira, you’re pulling out the big guns tonight. What have you been arguing about?”
“Hair up or down?” I ask, my nerves finally starting to hit me. What if I look like I’m playing dress up? If Henry laughs at me, I might simply never recover.
