"So he'll be his usual annoying self. Big deal. I'm used to it. And I'm willing to put up with that to help you see Luke."
"You're an awesome friend."
She smiles. "I am, aren't I?"
"So how long is this going to last? How long are you going to fake-date Luke?"
"As long as you want me to. But I'll still be dating other guys, ones I'm actually interested in. If Cal sees me with one of them, that would be a problem."
"We'll deal with that if it happens. For now, we'll try your plan and see if it works." I hold my phone out to her. "Here's Luke's number."
She squints as she reads it. "Does that say Katy?"
"Yeah, that's the fake name I assigned to his number in case my parents happen to see my phone when he calls or texts."
"Clever." She winks at me. "You're pretty good at this secret romance stuff."
"It's not a secret romance. Okay, maybe it is but...never mind. Just hurry up and call him."
She punches his number in her phone and waits for him to pick up. When he does, she says, "Hey, Luke, it's Birdie. I'm calling for Taylor." She grins at me as she talks. "She really wants to see you tonight and we're not letting her idiot brother get in the way so we came up with a plan."
She tells him the plan then waits for him to respond. She gives me the thumbs up, letting me know he's on board.
Cal would kill us if he knew we were all tricking him but I don't care. I need to see Luke.