Page 39 of Date with a Devil
Her reply came quickly.“As if you care.”
“Got me there,” he replied.
“Why are you such an asshole?”
He didn’t reply. She thought he was an asshole? Fine. He wasn’t exactly dying to hear about her problems over text, anyway. Not after the other night.
He figured his silence would say plenty, but a few minutes later, another message made his phone chime.
“I think you got me in trouble with my boss. He started watching the interview footage without me. Next thing I know, I’m booted from the project, and he’s got me doing basic intern shit.”
Her next reply chimed in.“Why am I even blabbing to you about this? You just told me you don’t care.”
“Forget it,”she added a second later.
Reavo, sitting at Dane’s left, nudged his shoulder. “Who’s blowing up your phone, D?”
“It’s that Austen chick fromDate with a Devil.As it turns out, she’s kinda crazy.”
“Don’t tell me you boned her, man,” Reavo said.
“She says I ruined her life.”
“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” Reavo said with a laugh. “Matchbox will be devastated. I think he fell in love with her when they made pizzas together.”
“Nah. I didn’t sleep with her. I’ll admit it, Itried, but she played me in the end.”
“Sheplayedyou.Huh. I guess there’s a first for everything.”
“Yup.”
“How far did you get?”
“Far enough that it hurt, bud,” Dane said. “That’s what had me so off my game the other night.”
“Hell, you should turn it around on her, then. Tell her thatsheruined your life. Tell her your balls were so goddamn blue, you could barely skate!”
The two laughed.
“Y’know, that’s almost a good idea,” Dane said as he whipped out his cell phone.
His message to Austen read, “I guess that makes us even.”
“Excuse me?”was her reply, and even with two-thousand miles between them, he could practically hearher stunned gasp.
“Did you catch our game against Colorado?” he texted back. “I played like shit. Couldn’t stay out of the box. Coach screamed at me for like an hour. If you didn’t notice, your buddies in the media tore me to shreds today. And hey, it’s all because you left me aching when you pulled that stunt the other night. So like I said, we’re even.”
“What stunt?”
“Acting like you wanted me, when all you really wanted was to dig around in my pockets for that note.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Oh? So you’re denying anything ever happened,” Dane replied back. “That’s cool. Typical. Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Cool it, turbo. I’m saying that I wasn’t kissing you because I hatched some nefarious plot to sneak into your pockets.”
Then, as if she suddenly realized what she’d admitted to, a flurry of texts rushed in.
