Page 70 of Kiss the Girl
Jump him. Definitely.
“For what it’s worth,” he said as he stepped through it, “I wouldn’t want to fake date anyone else but you.”
“Add ‘fake date and real make out with anyone else’ and I agree.”
He laughed all the way down the stairs and to his car.
Chapter Twenty
Noah
There was no one dumber in Creekville. Or the state of Virginia. Or on Planet Earth.
I thought about Grace’s proposition all the way home, all night while I tossed and turned, and in the morning when I was bleary-eyed and could barely think clearly enough to put on matching sneakers.
I was heading straight back over to her place, but not even to roll around on the sofa again.
“Let’s go, Evie,” I said, helping her off my sofa. Paige had brought her over a few minutes before so she could work the Saturday breakfast shift at the diner. “Time to go.”
She looked at the TV longingly. “Mickey Mouse.”
“We’re going to see Toodles.”
She looked a little more interested. “Building stuff?”
“Not this time.” When her face fell, I crouched in front of her. “We’re going to surprise Toodles and Mr. Winters with some Christmas magic.”
Evie was at the door before I could even click off the TV.
Twenty minutes later, we were at Grace’s house, the whole team pulling up in trucks and cars. It was early and they looked sleepy, but I didn’t hear a grumble from any of them.
The front door opened and Grace walked out as the team continued trickling into the driveway.
“Boys? What are you doing here? I thought you needed to practice for regionals?”
“We do,” Grant said. “But we’ll do that later. We thought maybe Mr. Winters could use some help getting your lights up. We always drive by here during Christmas. It’s one of our favorite holiday houses, and we missed it last year. We figure it’s the least we can do for all the help you and your dad have given us over the years.”
Grace’s eyes swung to mine. “You didn’t have to do this.”
I shook my head. “This was all their idea. They wanted to say thank you.”
She stared at me for a moment, then swept her eyes over the boys again. I’d heard her talk about giving up her job, her dad being really sick, having to run the store in less-than-ideal circumstances, but this was the first time I’d ever seen her tear up.
She nodded, sniffed, and nodded again. “I’ll get him.”
A minute later, her parents appeared, both looking stunned.
“Son, what’s going on here?” Mr. Winters called.
“I’ll let Grant explain,” I said, smiling, so Grant did.
Mr. Winters listened then cleared his throat. Then cleared it again, then one more time before he spoke. “Well, I’ll be much obliged. Wasn’t sure quite how to get it done.”
The Christmas-ifying was in full swing by nine o’clock. Mrs. Winters had brought Evie inside to help her test light strands, which Evie would run out to us when they passed muster. Mr. Winters worked on the lawn display while directing the boys on where to hang lights.
Grace had run out a while before and returned with several boxes of donuts. “I can’t thank you enough for this,” she said, setting them on the hood of my car.
“It’s not a big deal.”
