Page 36 of Good Vibes Only
“Thereyou are, McKayla!” Sofia sang, and I could justhearher ear-to-ear smile. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”
At last, I pulled myself away from Brett.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked naturally, coolly. As if I hadn’t just been caught making out with a man I’d sworn I hated not even twenty minutes ago.
“We’re getting ready to leave because it’s late and we’re tired,” she said. It was obvious by the sound of her voice that she was loving this. “Do you still want to ride home with us? Or would you rather stick around and ‘party’ longer?” she asked.Wink wink.
Brett squeezed my hand.Stay.
Oh, I had no doubts the hockey player would bethrilledif I stayed for the after-hours. I also knew exactly where that road led: a night of fun, maybe, but an awkward morning after, and feelings of disgust and shame when he inevitably avoided my texts and calls afterward.
“Oh, I’m tired, too,” I said, hoping a nervous chuckle would make me sound sincere. “I’m definitely going with you guys.”
“Awesome party, Showtime! Your beer’s going to kill it.” Sofia stepped forward and gave Brett a hug. “Thanks so much for having us. We had a blast.”
I turned to Brett—now it washimI could barely look in the eye. Oh, how badly I wished there was a convenient hole I could crawl into …
“Welp. Thanks for the invite. It was nice talking to you.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Glad we could patch things up.”
“Bye, Brett,” I said, giving him an awkward wave.
But I wasn’t at all surprised that Brett wouldn’t settle for a wave; he smoothly pulled me in for a hug and whispered into my ear. “I wanna see you again.”
“What for?” I whispered back.
“I like you, remember?”
“Mm. I don’t believe you. You’re just trying to get laid,” I said, and pinched his cheek. “But Itoldyou I don’t mess around with fuckboys. A kiss is all you’ll get from me.”
I meant it. And I was going to stick to my guns, too. But when I tried to slink out of our hug, he didn’t let me go so easily; instead, he pulled me back in.
“Are you working tomorrow?” he asked, undeterred.
“Yeah, why?”
“Because I’m gonna swing by and take you out to lunch. Does noon work?”
I liked his confidence—the fact that we were going to have lunch was a foregone conclusion in his mind. I’ll give him credit; itworked, because if he’d asked me if he could take me out to lunch, I probably would’ve told him no.
Instead?
“Yeah, noon’s fine,” I heard myself say.
He smiled. “Noon it is.”
I held up a finger in warning. “But don’t get any ideas. I have to be back at the store afterward.”
“I think you meant to say, ‘the boutique.’”
“Aw! You’re learning,” I said and slid out of his grasp.
“Bye, McKayla.” This time, he let me go. But he didn’t dare take his gaze off me, his eyes burning with determination, until Sofia turned me around and whisked me out of there.
“WOW!” Sofia fanned herself as we left the party in a hurry. “Whatdid I walk in on there? But you totally hate him, hmmmm?”
“I know, I know,” I murmured. “One minute we were arguing, but then he started being a little more reasonable, and then …thathappened … and now he’s taking me out to lunch, but I still think he just wants to get laid? I dunno, Sof! But I really don’t want this to be Dakota part two.”
