Page 36 of Betting on You

“Hi, Charlie,” my mom said, and when I glanced over at him—

Holy crap.

Charlie gave her the world’s most charming smile. It wasn’t the hitched-up-on-one-side, lazy grin that I’d seen so far, but a full-on smile that belonged on an ad for whitening toothpaste. Squinty eyes, pronounced dimples; he lookednice, for God’s sake.

I stared at him, fairly certain my mouth was hanging open as he grinned and said, “Hi—it’s really nice to meet you.”

My mom’s smile stretched all the way up to the top of her head—she was positively glowing as she looked at Charlie. Scott stood and held out a hand. “Hey, Charlie. I’m Scott.”

Charlie’s charming grin melted down into his sarcastic smirk as he shook Scott’s hand. “Nice to meet you. You’re Bay’s dad?”

I bit down on my lip; he was such a shit.

“No,” Scott said, looking mildly uncomfortable. “I’m a friend of her mom’s.”

“Friend, huh?” Charlie said, letting his eyes roam down over Scott’s pajama pants and stockinged feet. “Okay.”

“Let’s get a soda,” I said, practically pulling Charlie into the kitchen. As soon as we rounded the corner and were out of their line of sight, I looked at him with wide eyes.

And then he grinned. He grinned like he was victorious, and I dissolved into giggles that sounded ridiculously high-pitched as I tried to make them quiet.

“You are theworst,” I said, trying to talk and laugh quietly.

“Did you see his face?” Charlie asked, still smiling. “I think he wanted to hit me.”

“Shhhshh—listen.”

My mom was talking quietly, and we both craned our necks to hear.

“Oh, he didn’t mean anything by it,” my mom said in a placating tone, which made Charlie throw an elbow into my ribs.

“Oh yes, I did,” he whispered, sounding crazy-proud of himself.

“Oh yes, he did,” Scott murmured, sounding petulant. “Trust me, I know teenage boys.”

I rolled my eyes and so did Charlie.

“Can you just be nice to Bay’s friend?” my mom asked. “No big deal, just nice.”

My mouth dropped wide open at my mom’s snarky tone, and Charlie raised his hands in the air like he’d just won the match.Oh my God—could his plan actually work?

“I have to go now,” Charlie said, looking down at me with a half smile, “but you’re welcome for the awesomeness.”

“Noooo,” I begged, grabbing his arm and shaking it. “You’re doing the Lord’s work here.”

“Seriously—my mom will freak if I’m late.”

“Fine.” I let go of his arm. “But can we do this more often? Like, will you come hang over here and just be awful?”

“Sounds like a party,” he said, his dark eyes traveling over my face before he stepped around me. “I’ve got to go home and study,” he said, leaning to see into the living room as he called out to my mom, “but it was really nice meeting you.”

“You too, Charlie,” my mom said, but Scott didn’t say a word.

Charlie left, and when I went into the living room, they both looked at me questioningly.

“So Charlie is a coworker, huh?” My mom gave me a funny little smile, like she wanted to pump me for info but knew it was too soon after Zack for her to push romance. She glanced at Scott before saying, “He’s really cute.”

I pictured his face, and yeah—hewasreally cute.

---