Page 95 of Anyone But Her

"Why don't we all go?" Taylor asks.

"I can't," Lou says. "Your mother and I have plans tonight. But you kids go. It'll be fun." He gets his phone out. "I need to make a call. I'll be right back."

After he leaves, Cal says, "I can't go tonight. I have a date."

Birdie looks at him. "With who?"

"This girl I went out with last spring. I met her at school. She called the other day saying she wanted to get together."

"Bring her along," Birdie says. "It'd be interesting to see what type of girl would actually go out with you."

"Birdie!" Taylor scolds.

"What? I was being nice. I invited him to dinner."

"You should come," I tell him. "If we're celebrating I'd like you to be there."

"Okay. I'll call her and let her know. But that'll leave Taylor the only one without a date."

"That's fine," she says. "I don't mind."

"Hey, I'll set you up with Noah," Cal says. "He's on the golf team at school. He's been begging me to introduce you to him. He's got a huge crush on you."

"He does?" Taylor says, surprised. "Why haven't you ever told me about him?"

"Because I didn't want him dating my sister."

"And now you do?"

"It's just dinner. It's not like it'll go anywhere."

"What if it did?" I ask, glancing at Taylor.

Cal shrugs. "It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Noah's a good guy."

"You're actually okay with Taylor dating?" Birdie asks. "So you're finally going to stop being a controlling jerk and let Taylor date whoever she wants?"

"She still can't date assholes but Noah's not an asshole."

"He could be," I say, then realize I probably shouldn't be commenting on this.

"He's not, but if he turns out to be I'll kick his ass. At least I don't have to worry about him trying anything with her. He's a virgin and saving himself for marriage."

Birdie rolls her eyes. "He sounds great."

I laugh, suddenly feeling much better about this date. "Then I guess we're all set for tonight. It's a triple date."

Garret walks up to me. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks!"

"Going out to celebrate?"

"Later tonight."

"Hey, if you have a minute, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure."

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