Page 38 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“Oh, sorry about that. But we’re just friends. Nick’s like a brother to me.”

“Yeah, I guess it would be strange going to prom with your brother, but you know what would be even more weird?”

“What?”

“Not going with your best friend whom you’ve secretly loved for years. If he didn’t ask you, why didn’t you ask him? There’s nothing wrong with a girl asking a guy out.”

Carter was the second person tonight to mention love to me, and I frowned. My conversation with Carter before prom wasn’t going as I had planned. I was supposed to be selling Daisy to him so that we could hook the two of them up, not talking about Nick and me. Maybe there was a way of turning this around?

“I know, but I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl.”

Carter parked the car near the barn and turned my way. Yup, that’s how long it took to drive to our prom. Add another five minutes and we could have gone to the other end of town at the base of the mountains. He reached for a water bottle behind his seat, opened the hood, unscrewed a cap, and poured it in one of the containers.

“The car runs on water?” I asked.

“No, but the radiator is leaking, and it overheats. I’ll fix it over the summer.”

He closed the cap and shut the hood. “Now, you say you’re an old-fashioned girl, but as I recall, you asked me to prom.”

Shit. I did, didn’t I?

“Jo, we’ve been friends for a long time. Heck, I’ve tried to make a move on you for years without success, kissing you at our camping trip, running into youaccidentallyin gym, and it wasn’t until I figured out that no one would ever be good enough for you, with the exception of Nick, that I realized you two were meant for each other. He’s the one you’ve always had eyes for, and it won’t change no matter how much you deny it. So to say that I was surprised when you mentioned prom and maybe the two of us going together is an understatement.”

“Well, everyone else had a date already,” I blurted out. That didn’t sound right either.

“Wait. Did you ask me out of pity?” His brows rose.

“Not out of pity, but you were the only guy available.”

No, no, no!Why was my mouth running away from me today?

Carter laughed instead of getting upset. “I was ready to beat Nick up when he asked Daisy. He was supposed to ask you, and I was supposed to ask Daisy. But he beat me to the punch.”

“Wait… you like Daisy?”

“Yes. I mean… I like you too, but I always thought you and Nick would finally hook up. It doesn’t change our friendship in any way, and I hope we’ll always remain close.”

Yup, I was getting dealt the friend card. I started laughing so hard that I couldn’t stop. Here we were, trying to figure out how to get Carter and Daisy together, and all we should have done was leave them alone and let nature take its course.

“I’m so sorry, Carter. We thought you guys needed help. We wanted to fix you two up at prom.”

“Wait – are you saying you were trying to hook me and Daisy up by going out with us to prom?”

“Yes.”

“That’s twisted, Jo.”

“I know. We didn’t want to hurt you or Daisy. I’ve been trying to convince Nick to tell you guys the truth for years.”

“You’ve kept this a secret foryears?” His eyes grew wide as he shook his head.

“Remember when we got lost at the camping trip?”

“Holy shit! I mean, I knew you liked each other, but I didn’t realize it’s been this long.”

I looked at Carter from the side, sighing. “I can’t believe it’s almost over. I mean school and all. I’ll miss you when I go to college, Carter. You’re a good friend.”

“Well, I’ll be here when you come back.”

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