Page 57 of The Bad Girl List

Annika snorts into her orange juice. “You guys, she’s proposing a schedule change, not open heart surgery.”

“But there’s a schedule,” Auntie Dee says. “We firmed everything up months ago!”

“I’m not looking to rejig the whole day, just dinner,” I say.

“Your Auntie Helen found a Groupon for Olive Garden,” Mom says. “You love their Never Ending Soup and Salad.”

I decide to take Annika’s advice and dangle the “free” carrot before I give my family heart attacks. “Annika and I got an invitation to a free dinner at a local winery. Totally free.”

“She got the invitation,” Annika says, a little too sweetly.

I ignore her. “Remember those brothers Annika and I met that first night?” We hadn’t told our family we went out with them again to Platitude. I’d been too paranoid it might be misconstrued as something more than it was, especially since everyone still thought I was with Oliver. When the guys arrived to pick us up, we told them it was an Uber.

“Anyway,” I continue, “it turned out to be the same guy who ran into me with his rack of wine glasses at Moretti Winery.” I hold out my arms with all the tiny bandages. They had the details of the unfortunate crash. “When I mentioned I was on vacation with my family, he invited all of us to dinner tonight after Passport.”

Auntie Helen says, “He must have felt guilty for breaking glasses all over you.”

Auntie Dee says, “I bet he’s just trying to avoid a lawsuit.”

Mom says, “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

Annika says, “Guys, it’s a free dinner. What part of free are you missing?”

I say, “Trevor says dinner at his winery usually starts at five thousand dollars.”

All the aunties swivel toward me. “Five thousand dollars?” they say.

“Uh-huh. That’s what it costs to rent the event center for a private event.” I nod like a bobble head, then decide to try one of Tim Moretti’s lines. “There’s supposed to be a fabulous view and delicious wine.”

Mom says, “It should be easy to recalculate the drive time.”

Auntie Dee says, “Make sure you calculate enough time so we can all come home to shower and change. My make-up will look horrible after a day in the sun.”

Auntie Helen says, “I’ll revise the schedule.”

Annika winks at me. I sit back, relieved to have everyone on board.

A strange feeling comes over me as I spear a piece of pancake. That feeling of being a little kid hiding with the stolen Halloween candy creeps into me.

“What are you smiling about, cousin?” Annika asks innocently, taking a bite of her pancake.

The aunties are too busy arguing about how much time we need to allot to get changed for dinner. Auntie Dee wants forty-five minutes, but Mom and Auntie Helen are trying to talk her down to twenty. Neither of them are convinced she needs that long to reapply her makeup. Then they start talking about making dumplings to take to the party, and a new factor gets added to the logistics debate.

I look at Annika, fighting a wild laugh that bubbles up in my chest.

I did it. I convinced my entire family to rearrange a schedule that had been agreed upon three months ago, and straight up lied to them about the circumstances. I’m filled with that same wild feeling I’d had with Trevor in the back of the Tesla. I don’t know exactly what it means, but I do know I want to hang onto it for as long as I can.

CHAPTER 17

Speedo

TREVOR

It’s Sunday evening when I step onto my back porch with Tequila hopping along behind me. Sunday is usually my day off, but because of the position of the moon, I had to work all day spraying the vines with horn silica.

I didn’t really mind. It got me out of another day working the tasting bar during Passport. It also gave me something to do while the clock counted down to tonight’s fake date with Dom.

I try to tell myself I’m not eager to see her, even though I spent more than half the damn day thinking about her. The way the left eye crinkles more than her right when she laughs, the way she looks when inspiration seizes her, and the way she makes me feel when I’m around her.

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