Page 43 of Tutoring the Bad Boy
Ronnie brushes the side of her mouth with a napkin. “I would guess an eternity.”
The protective part of me bristles. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You told the truth.”
“Well, she didn’t like my truth, but…” Ginny smiles and then narrows her eyes. “I have a plan.”
My gaze darts from Ginny to Ronnie.
Ginny shrugs. “Ronnie knows. I had to tell her because of what I’m planning.”
“Uh, okay?” I cross my arms over my chest. “What exactly is your plan.”
She places her hands flat on the tabletop and leans forward. “My mom wants my heart broken?” I can feel the tension in the words. Like she’s going into battle, which is kind of true. “Well, I’m thinking there’s no better way to sell it than doing everything I can,” she says, pushing off the table and bringing her hands to her heart as she cocks her hip and bats her lashes, “to be with the man I love.”
She’s being completely cheesy, but I like this side of her. In an instant, I’ve got visions of holding hands, kissing, and all the things that come with finding the right person. Then something hits me so hard I nearly choke.
I’m falling for her, and the thoughts freeze me in my tracks. I’m eighteen with college on my horizon. Until this year, I was doing everything I could to ruin my own life. A relationship, a real one with her, isn’t something I can or need to be thinking about.
“Right,” I say and laugh off the comment. “Something we’d do if we were really dating.”
I almost don’t catch the little flinch she makes, but I see it. And I ignore it.
She shakes off the comment. “Exactly.” Her eyes narrow as the twinkle in her eyes turns mischievous. “What better way to prove my undying affection than to get caught sneaking out at night…to see you.”
She’s back to being cheesy, which I take to mean that she’s had a second to think through the idea of a real relationship and she’s come to the same conclusion I have. We’re both not in the market for anything serious and especially nothing permanent. Even if we did, it’s not the right time. We’ve got our futures ahead of us, and they don’t include us being together. Our paths are diverging at the end of senior year.
My head is quickly back on solid ground, and I smile. “What did you have in mind?” Yeah, I’m keeping my nose clean, but Principal Gray is the one who set this whole thing in motion.
Isn’t love supposed to make you stupid? In my mind, there’s nothing dumber than taking on your principal who has a daughter willing to sneak out to see you. A tiny voice in the back of my mind pushes back, saying I need to be careful. Just because it’s all pretend doesn’t mean the lines can’t blur—and that’s the last thing either of us needs.
I have no intention of breaking Ginny’s heart…or my own.
Chapter Nineteen
Ginny
Kaleb is definitely playingit cool. Did he even catch when I said I was going to pretend to be in love with him? Typical Kaleb Quinn, just when I think I’ve figured him out, I’m thrown for a loop. Or maybe like me, it took all of three seconds to realize that a relationship is out of the question right now.
There’s part of me that wishes he’d seemed a little excited. I mean, pretending he’s my Romeo, getting caught by Mom while sitting under the stars, holding his hand, feeling his intense gaze one me, leaning in for a kiss…I just wonder if maybe he considered for a microsecond and liked the idea of kissing me as much as I like kissing him.
A tiny shiver runs the length of my body as the image in my head plays. It needs to stop because it’s obvious Kaleb doesn’t feel the same way. I need to breathe, sit up tall, and collect myself. I keep getting bogus ideas about Kaleb’s intentions, and Irefuseto let my heart go down like the Titanic.
Ronnie’s seemed nonplused this entire time, but I know her well enough that a hash-it-out session is coming while she’s parked in the beanbag chair. Sometimes I think of it as a therapist’s couch. One day, I’ll write Ronnie a big check for all she’s had to hear.
Ronnie sighs and grabs her paper plate before getting up. “I need another slice. Mom tells me I have to watch my figure so I can go to Hollywood one day. Every time she says that, I just eat more.”
Kaleb laughs. “Seems the three of us have the same problem. Parents living vicariously through us and us working to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Nodding, I say, “Yep.”
Ronnie waves. “Later.”
“Wait!” I reach out to grab her arm. “You can’t leave us here. This was part of our plan.”
“You want to pretend you’re in looooooove?” Ronnie’s voice is sing-songy and quickly returns to deadpan. “You might as well start now.”
As Ronnie walks away to the pizza stand, I realize she has a point. If we’re going to start this game, then I guess we have to start it right this moment. I’m going full-throttle. No holding back. Man, this is going to be fun. And potentially self-destructive…
“Hey, I was talking to my dad this morning.” Kaleb leans forward, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands.
