Page 55 of The Bad Girl List

“A friend of ours from high school owns it. She does work for a lot of locals.”

“Is she always open so late?”

“You’d be surprised how much business she does during bar hours.”

She laughs, tilting her head back to take in the glowing windows above us. As she does, our eyes meet.

She’s standing right below me, her elbow lightly resting against mine. She’s close enough to kiss, and from the way she’s looking at me right now, I know she wouldn't mind.

Should I do it? Should I kiss her? Just the idea brings warmth tingling to the surface of my skin, even as a heavier sense of guilt turns over in my stomach.

Her phone dings. Dom looks away, the moment fizzling out. I’m not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

“It’s Annika.” Dom’s nose wrinkles in amusement. “Apparently she’s been on a losing streak at the pool table and needs to go home. She’s had one too many shots of tequila.”

“We’d better go get her,” I say. “I’ll take you guys home.”

As we head back to the car, Dom says, “I’ve had a nice time with you tonight, Trevor. I like talking to you.”

“Yeah, me, too. It’s been fun.”

“And you were right. Getting to know each other a little will make things easier tomorrow at dinner.”

We head back to Platitude. As we walk through the cool evening, our arms bumping as we talk, I realize how hard it is to think about Elle and the accident when I’m with Dom. There’s something about her that makes it all fade to the background, and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

CHAPTER 16

The Lie

DOMINIQUE

“Can I hide behind the couch and film this?” Annika asks.

I ignore the question. “How are you so lively after a night of tequila shots?”

“I told you, I wasn’t that drunk. I just pretended to be drunk so Thomas could make his move on Minnie.” She rolls her eyes. “He still couldn’t close the deal, even after I left. He texted me late last night and said she left not long after we did. Now he wants me to set up another group hang-out so he can try again.”

“Why doesn’t he just ask her out?” I say. “Seems like a lot of work to use a go-between.”

“Beats me. Men can be weird sometimes.” She points a finger at me. “No more trying to distract me with meaningless questions. You have a big, life-changing task in front of you, and I want to hide behind the couch and film it for posterity.”

“No!”

“Pretty please?” She gets on her knees in the space between our twin beds, batting her eyelashes. “I want a historical record of the only lie Damn Perfect Dominique has ever told.”

“That’s not true. I lied about being with Oliver and still having a job.”

“No, you didn’t. No one specifically said, ‘Hey Dom, are you still employed? Are you still dating that self-absorbed douchebag?’”

“Yeah, but I pretended like everything was normal. That’s lying by omission.”

“Will you stop being such a saint?” Annika rolls her eyes and flops back on the bed. “Fine. If you won’t let me film, at least I’ll get a front-row seat to the show. This is all a ploy on Trevor’s part to get you into bed. You realize that, right?”

“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “I already told you, he–”

My phone dings. I pick it up. It’s a text from Trevor.

Tequila says hi.

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