Page 36 of The Wrong Prom Date

I huffed out a breath and rubbed my eyes tiredly. Between doing homework, attending school every day, and keeping up with my normal exercise regime, I was exhausted. My trainer had tortured me for hours this afternoon, and I wanted nothing more than to head to bed early tonight.

“I’m not interested in dating someone who only wants to be seen with me because I’m famous,” I replied.

Zeke laughed again. “I’m not sure girls like that exist. You’re looking for a unicorn.”

“There must be girls out there who aren’t interested in who I am,” I grumbled.

But Zeke was shaking his head at me as he patted me on the shoulder. “Yeah, maybe, one or two of those rare creatures exist. But, in the meanwhile, perhaps you should relax and remember there are plenty of perfectly normal and very gorgeous girls here tonight. I don’t want you to end up old and all alone.”

My gaze drifted from Zeke as I noticed Teagan entering the kitchen. She was laughing with a girl I recognized from drama, Hayley, I think, but the moment she laid eyes on me, Teagan’s smile turned to a frown. The last time we’d spoken had been in drama, and she’d reiterated yet again just how little she thought of me. She had a way of getting under my skin, and I’d probably let her words get the better of me at the time. It was frustrating though because I never seemed be able to say the right thing to her.

Zeke turned to see what I was l looking at and started to grin. “Oh, look, aunicorn.” He chuckled. “Hey, unicorn, over here.” He waved Teagan over, and I felt like I might die of embarrassment. I was going to kill Zeke for this later.

Teagan’s bright green eyes clouded with confusion as she looked at my assistant. He kept grinning and beckoning her toward us though. Her eyes darted to me as she hesitated. It was quite clear I was the reason she didn’t want to come over, and I was guessing she was still pissed after our argument the other day. I wasn’t sure why she felt so hard done by. She hadn’t exactly been pulling her verbal punches.

She was so reactive when it came to me, and I wished she would just give me a chance. Our performance had been electric when we’d acted out the scene together onstage right after butting heads in the wings. I’d never felt chemistry like it before. If Teagan could only see that I wasn’t the villain she thought I was, then I felt like maybe we could get along.

For a moment it looked like Teagan might turn and leave the room, but her friend grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward us.

Teagan hung back slightly as Hayley came to stand with us. She had her arms crossed over her chest and seemed determined to look anywhere but in my direction. If she hadn’t already made her thoughts about me clear enough with words, her body language sure left no doubt about how much she despised me.

“Hey, Liam and Liam’s friend,” Hayley said, a wide smile on her face. “What was that about a unicorn?”

“Well…” Zeke began, but I interrupted before he could completely throw me under the bus.

“It’s nothing,” I quickly said. “Just Zeke messing around. Weren’t you just saying you needed to get some more ice, Zeke?”

“Oh, yeah,” Zeke agreed. “How could I forget? I’ll leave you guys to it.” He turned to me and winked before excusing himself from the group.

I watched him leave with mixed feelings. He was great at shielding me from unwanted attention, but he also enjoyed embarrassing me far too much. I didn’t even want to guess at how he’d been going to explain the unicorn comment.

I tucked my hands into my pockets, feeling slightly awkward as I stood with the two girls. Hayley was the only one of us who didn’t seem uncomfortable, and she pulled Teagan forward so she wasn’t hiding behind her anymore.

“Teags, don’t be shy,” Hayley murmured to her.

“Yeah,Teags, no need to be shy,” I agreed.

Teagan’s eyes finally lifted to meet mine, defiance shining brilliantly out of them. I knew perfectly well she wasn’t standing back because she was nervous around me. It sure was fun messing with her though.

“I’m not shy,” she replied. “I was just looking for drinks. We heard there were drinks in here.” The words came out in a rush, like she needed to explain her presence to me. It was quite cute to watch and I had to smother a laugh.

“So, you’re only in here for drinks? You didn’t want to come say hello to me?”

She gave me a brilliant smile in response, completely transforming her face. If I didn’t know how she felt about me, or if I hadn’t seen this exact smile before, I might have been half-convinced it was real. “Hello, Liam. Thank you so much for having us here. This is an amazing party.”

I chuckled under my breath. The girl really was a good actor, I had to give her that. I gave her an equally brilliant smile in return. “I’m so glad you could make it. I heard you were thirsty. Can I offer you both a drink?”

She rolled her eyes at my playacting, but something about her smile changed like it amused her.

“What have you got?” Hayley asked.

“Beer, wine, champagne, some crazy concoction Tanner brought over that he called jungle juice…”

“Just water would be great,” Teagan interrupted.

Apparently, her friend wasn’t impressed though. “Teags,” she hissed.

“Hayley,” Teagan replied through her teeth.

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