Page 40 of Very Unlikely
Summer’s slit eyes return as she mutters, “No, he didn’t. But that isn’t unusual. My invitation is usually the last he hands out.” She fails to mention that’s because she hates going out in public even more than I loathe the way she is eating out of Cody’s hand.
“I was planning to invite you, Summer,” I snarl through gritted teeth. “But then I remembered how much you hate parties.”
“I don’t hate parties.” Now I’m not the only liar in our duo. “I just don’t understand their hype.”
“There’s no hype to understand with this party. It’s just a group of baseball-loving folks in the one place having a couple of drinks.” Cody slants his head like he thinks it will make him cute. Anyone this side of the planet knows it makes him look constipated. “You should come as my plus-one. It’s at my residence by the beach, but unlike almost all my teammates, I haven’t organized a date.” He hooks his thumb to the right like we can see his mega-mansion from here. “I’ll text you my address.”
“You’d need her number to be able to text her.”And she sure as fuck isn’t giving you that,I’m about to add before Summer’s actions steal the words from my mouth.
After accepting the cell phone Cody is holding out for her, she punches her number into his contacts—hercorrectcell phone number. She usually gives the guys she wants to blow off my number, so this can only mean one thing—she is one hundred percent buying Cody’s nice-guy act.
“There you go,” Summer replies before handing him back his phone, her voice more husky than usual. “That’s a much better method than a scrap of paper you could lose at any moment.” As Cody stuffs his phone into the pocket of his two-size-too-small shorts, she murmurs, “Take it easy on the way home. It should hold, but—”
“I have your number if it doesn’t.”
Summer smiles, loving that he trusts her enough to call her if he needs help before she gingerly waves, then she makes her way back to Cubie.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sum.”
I don’t get the chance to warn Cody the hell he will face if he fucks with Summer much less uses her nickname again. I’m too busy launching into the passenger seat of Cubie before Summer takes off without me.
Her foot is so friendly with the gas pedal, anyone would swear we didn’t have an agreement to ride home together after her meeting at the merchandise store with Felix, and the situation worsens when I say, “You’re not going out with Cody Larson.”
“Why not?” She whizzes out of the parking lot so fast, I signal to Elliot, the parking gate attendant, that I’ll pay the deficit in his books first thing tomorrow morning before the opening game. “Because he’s nice, genuine, and—”
“A fucking douche canoe whose head is stuck so far up his ass, every time he smiles, I smell shit.”
It takes everything Summer has not to grin about my reply, but she does it. She maintains her angry stance. “I like his smile. It makes him even more handsome.”
I gag—loudly. “If you think he’s handsome, you should have asked Harmony to leave some of my bum hairs behind. They could have been your perfect match.”
She whacks me in the arm. “One, you’re disturbing. Two, your opinion doesn’t matter because you can’t even sniff out a psychopath.” With her jaw so tight I’m afraid she’ll need emergency dental work before the weekend, she dumps a folded-up piece of paper into my lap. “Evidence submitted. Case closed. I’m going to Cody’s party as his plus-one, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it, Lenigan69.”
I’m set to argue, but not only does Neish’s grossly detailed note about all the things she wants to do to me this weekend place it on the backburner, so does my father’s Lamborghini tailing us from a distance.
15
Summer
“You’re going to the after-game drinks as Cody’s plus-one?” When I nod, Desiree adds, “And Lennox is okay with that?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t he be?” I hate how easy lying is coming to me lately. I lied through my teeth when I told Lennox I was more than happy to have my own room again, and now I’m telling porkies to Desiree, who’s been nothing but genuine with me from day dot. “He’s most likely taking Neish anyway, so why would he be bothered with little ol’ me?”
“Ah…” Desiree stops, swallows, then tries again.
Her second attempt isn’t any better than the first. “Umm…”
“Just say it, Desi. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
I regret my choice of words when she blurts out, “Neish is attending with Lennox’s father. She was bragging about it in the box seats earlier. Everyone is talking about it.”
“Hence, the reason Lennox is playing so well,” I say on a sigh.
When I lift my eyes to one of the many flat-screen televisions mounted on the walls in the merchandise store I’m in the process of restocking sinceeveryRavenshoe Raven shirt was sold-out before the first innings, Desiree follows the direction of my gaze.
“He really does play better when he’s angry, doesn’t he?”
I hum in agreement. “It’s been that way since…” When I realize how close I am to spilling secrets that aren’t mine to share, I clamp my hand over my mouth.
