Page 27 of My (Not So) Perfect Plan

I will admit, I am more than kind of ticked and humiliated at the way Tina asks that. Like I’m not even a person. My face turns red with heat and I drop my eyes as if that will hide me from the judgment of everyone there. I really want to be anywhere but there. That, or punch her in the face. But I’m not confrontational and just figure it would be better to keep the peace so I don’t say anything and focus on not tearing up.

A second later, Evan takes my hand and threads his fingers through mine. I look at him, confused.

“She’s my girlfriend.” Evan’s gaze holds mine, an unspoken invitation in his eyes as he rubs his thumb across the back of my hand.

I gasp, feeling like I sucked in a balloon. What did he just say? Hadn’t we agreed that we weren’t going to do this? Had Evan Carmichael just announced to his entire group of friends that I was his girlfriend?

A tornado of conflicting emotions whirls up past my belly. Everyone is looking at us with mouths agape, especially the boob wonder who has herself pressed up against his arm. I’m aware that if I shame him by denying, it would make me look stupid. It would also make him look like a fool to his friends, which would be demoralizing (and thus, not good for his recovery). Most importantly though, I can’t bring myself to deny it because there’s something in Evan’s eyes, something besidesdesire, though that’s there too, that has me wondering if he’s actually serious.

I smile at him instead, like it’s something I’m happy to admit.

“What?” Tina shrieks.

“Whoa, Tina, calm down,” Evan says, leaning back. Apparently he’s never learned that telling a woman who has been scorned to calm down is like adding fuel to the fire.

“You can’t be serious,” Tina spits out. “Look at her. She moves in on you the second you’re injured and you think it’s real? I can see hooking up if you need to go slumming, but your girlfriend? Wow, Carmichael, whatever happened to your standards?”

I want to tell her to shut up because Evan is getting angrier and angrier with every word that comes out of her mouth and I don’t want him doing something that will aggravate his injury. If anything, I want to soothe away the tension in his jaw.

He looks over at her, a wicked smile crawling over his features as he gives her a slow once over. The table is silent, waiting for what he’s going to say.

“What happened to my standards?” he repeats. “They went up.”

“Ohhhhh! Burn!” one his friends cackles. I’m worrying that Tina is going to implode.

“Whatever, Carmichael,” Tina finally grinds out. She shoots me a hate-filled glance, slides off his arm, and then snags one of her friends to head to the ladies room. I sag with relief as the attention moves off Evan and I, and then remember what it was that caused all the fuss in the first place. I pinch him in the side, making him yelp.

“What was that about,Carmichael?” I lean over and ask close to his ear because I don’t want everyone to hear me.

He turns his head a bit, just enough to see me out of the corner of his eye, pauses and then shakes his head. His thumb rubs the back of my hand again and I can’t help the quick intake of breath it causes. He turns and places his cheek on mine, speaking quietly into my ear.

“That was me trying to make the best of a bad situation.” His soft breath makes me shiver. “How mad are you?”

I lean back to look at him and raise my eyebrows. “Let’s just say you got some ‘splainin’ to do when you get home, mister.”

“Yes, dear,” he smirks.

Since I decided not to embarrass us both by declaring that we weren’t a couple, I also decide to make the most of it and enjoy the fake date for as long as it lasts. Somehow I end up snuggled up against Evan’s side, his arm around my shoulders, and his nose in my neck as he dies laughing at one of his friends. The sensation of his breath on my neck is unreal.

I am really glad he decided to come to the game, if for no other reason than that smiling is so good for a person. I probably don’t do it enough, but I have noticed myself smiling a lot more since Evan became a staple part of my daily diet.

“You ready to go, babe?” Evan asks loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.

Babe?I almost snort, it is such a farce, but I paste a gooey smile on my face and rub my nose against his instead, deciding it’s time to turn the tables on him and channel my owninner Scarlett O’hara (did I mention that I have a thing for that girl?)

Let him be on the receiving end of the crazy and see how it feels. I load up my voice with all the fake sugar I can manage, slide my hand up to his shoulder to stroke the hair on the back of his head and lay it on him thick as butter, almost speaking against his lips.

“Sure, but only if we’re going to do something better.” His eyes grow huge and darken with what I now know is desire. I pull away and feel immediately guilty for teasing him like that. It’s one of those catty things that other girls might do, but I was raised not to.

I suddenly realize the rest of the table is watching us in shock.

The girls all look like they’ve swallowed a lemon, except Emily and Tina who look like their heads are going to explode. And all of his guy friends are basically salivating. Theonetime I decide to do something light-hearted and it explodes in my face.

My face grows heated and I bury my head in his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Um, yeah,” Evan says. His voice comes out strangled and I can feel him swallow. I pick up my head and look at him, biting back a smile. I’m still in shock that I actually did that. Apparently my saucy wench pretense worked on him, which I was not at all expecting. He looks like he wants to take me home and never let me leave. And it’s weird, because it’s just me. Claire. Not even dressed up fancy or anything.

I play off my consternation and wave goodbye to his friends, trying to ignore their catcalls, wolf whistles, and advice to Evan not to do anything they wouldn’t do as I roll him toward the door. It kind of bothers me that they now think Evan and Iare doing stuff, but at the same time, it’s my own fault for being so careless with where I make innuendos and who I was in front of.

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