Page 74 of Celebrities Don't Date Bookworms

“What do you think I should say?” he asked. I felt bad for thinking his accent was even cuter whenhe was worried.

“Is there any chance that if you don’t answer, they’ll let it go?”

“Almost definitely not.”

“Then we either need to tell the truth or come up with a convincing lie,” I said. “And I’m blanking on those.”

“You want me to tell them we went on a date?” Hudson asked incredulously.

“Not necessarily thatwewent on a date,” I said. “But you could say you went out. Maybe don’t say date, that’ll just make them ask more questions. Say you… went out to do something with some girls from school.”

“Went out to do something with girls from school?” he asked. He clearly didn’t think that sounded like it was a very good idea, but I appreciated that he didn’t actually say it out loud. “I still think that might raise a few questions.”

“Do you have a better idea?” I asked. “You know, come to think of it, I don’t know any of your friends outside of the guys. Do you ever hang out with anyone else?”

“Not really,” he said. “I mean, I have other friends, but they all live in other cities, and I would have told them if any of my friends were in town.” He sighed. “I might have to go with the kids from school excuse.”

“Well, you don’t need to sound so upset about it,” I said.

“Sorry,” he said. “It’s a good idea. I really appreciate it. I just know they’re going to be confused. And what should I say we were doing?”

“Singing karaoke,” I said automatically. I almost face-palmed at the stupidity of the suggestion immediately after saying it. Why on earth would a pop star sing karaoke with a bunch of fans from school on a random Saturday night?

“I…”

“Don’t,” I said. I closed my eyes and shook my head, wishing that I could rewind time to five seconds ago. “Just don’t.”

“It’s actually not a terrible idea,” Hudson said. I rubbed a hand over my face. At least I picked a nice boy that spared my feelings whenever I said something stupid. “Not even just not-terrible. I think it’s pretty good.”

“You don’t need to pacify me,” I muttered.

“No, I’m gonna use it.”

“Hudson!” I laughed. “You can’t tell them you went out singing karaoke with a bunch of fans.”

“Why not?”

“Well, first of all, because they’re going to ask for videos.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because the videos would be hilarious,” I said bluntly. “And you can’t even get away with saying that you didn’t take any videos, because everyone knows your fans would not give up an opportunity to take a video when hanging out with their favorite celebrity.”

“You’re right.” He groaned. “Maybe I should just take my chances not answering.”

“But if you do that, do you think Jude will do a full interrogation on you?” I asked. I couplelegitimately picture him handcuffing Hudson to a table and bringing a lamp over to shine right over him while demanding answers. And who knew whether Hudson would be able to withstand that and not say anything?

“What else can I say, though? Oh yeah, I went out on a date, but I can’t date tell you anything about it or the girl I was with?”

“I got it,” I said, snapping my fingers. “You should tell them you went on a bad date.”

“A bad date?” he asked, confusion lacing his voice.

“Yeah,” I said. “Tell them you went with a girl, but… you hated it, and you couldn’t possibly talk to them about it any time soon because you were that upset about it.”

“Are you trying to tell me something?”

I laughed. “No. I promise I had a great time.”

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