Page 78 of The Wrong Bachelor

She folded her arms over her chest and pouted when she caught my expression. “I would have thought you’d be a bit happier to see your favorite True Love girl,” she said.

“Just because the audience picked you this week doesn’t mean I have.” I needed to be firm with her. Laurie and I were getting on a little better since our date, but I didn’t want her getting the wrong idea about us. Especially not when things were finally starting to go well between Madi and me.

“Don’t be silly,” she replied. “Everyone loves us together, and they can see what amazing chemistry we have. You’ve got to stop denying it.”

I had no idea what the viewers thought they saw because in the episode I watched we had absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. The date between us was awkward at best, though I guess it hadn’t looked quite so bad on the show. Angus had edited the footage together to make us seem far more intimate than we were.

I caught sight of Tanner pressing his lips together in a weak attempt to silence a laugh. I really hated my best friend right now. He was supposed to be saving me, not relishing in my discomfort.

“Was there a reason you came over here?” I asked. There was no way I was going anywhere near her chemistry comment.

“Oh,” she perked up, “I wanted to ask you about Friday’s date. Any idea what we’re doing?”

“No idea,” I replied. “You’ll have to talk to Angus.”

“Are you sure you don’t know? I need to plan my outfit.” She started twisting a long piece of hair around one finger. I wondered if she thought it was appealing. I turned away from her, glancing in Madi’s direction. She wasn’t watching me, and I hoped that Laurie left before she noticed her standing with me. I didn’t want anything upsetting her unnecessarily.

“Cole?” Laurie prompted.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I replied, as I faced her once more.

“There’s Angus now,” Tanner said, pointing across the cafeteria. “Looks like he’s headed out. You better run if you want to catch him.”

Laurie looked dispirited as Tanner finished speaking. I had a feeling the date was just an excuse to talk to me, but she could hardly say that now.

“Oh, yeah, I better run. I’ll see you later, Cole.”

As she walked away, I felt a rush of tension leave my body.

“You owe me one,” Tanner said.

“I do,” I agreed. I felt like I owed him more than just one for saving me from Laurie. Maybe Tanner wasn’t such a bad best friend after all.

I sought Angus out myself when I finished classes for the day. He was walking to his car, so it was lucky I managed to catch him before he left school.

“So, what’s the big and brilliant date you have planned for Friday?” I asked, falling into step beside him.

Angus glanced around the parking lot like he was worried people would be listening in. There wasn’t another student for at least twenty yards, so I wasn’t too sure what he was so paranoid about.

With another concerned glance around him, he leaned in close to my ear. “We’re camping,” he whispered to me.

“We are?”

“Yes, it’s going to be great,” Angus replied. “I’ll send the film club up to the site on Friday afternoon to start setting up, and we’ll get the date going once it’s dark. The fans are going to love it!”

“How about the girls?” I asked with a laugh. I couldn’t picture any of them being particularly excited about a night in the outdoors.

Angus shrugged. “If they hate it, it will make for better television.”

I slapped him on the shoulder. “You need to sort out your priorities,” I said, with a shake of my head.

“What?” He stared back at me with a blank face. He really didn’t get how skewed his thinking had become as the show got more and more popular, but he would never listen to a lecture about it from me.

“Just tell me where I need to be and when,” I said.

“I’m sending an email to everyone,” Angus replied. “The details will all be there.”

“Okay.”

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