“So none of you knew what she was doing?” Jake glances around the group.
“Mia and I had a suspicion since she encouraged all the girls to—”
Mia jabs Kerri in the ribs to stop her from telling on me.
Jake narrows his eyes and glances back and forth between them and me. “Since she told the girls what?”
“Just girl talk. Nothing you need to know about.” Mia waves it away with a straight face even though Kerri is grinning in the background.
“I do if it was about me. You didn’t think you should tell me? I’ve been in agony all week!” He puts his hand on his chest like he’s been punched in the belly.
“I talked to her like you asked me to, and I could tell she wanted to believe me, so I figured she’d come around eventually if you didn’t do anything too stupid in the meantime.” Kerri pokes Jake in the arm.
“Well, what were the odds of that?” Jake throws up his hands and pouts teasingly, and they laugh at him. “Some friends you are. Come on, KC, let’s go dance.”
He takes my hand and leads me out onto the dance floor. I know his pretend anger was just an excuse to get a moment alone with me, but I don’t mind. I wrap my hands around his neck, running my fingers through his hair. Slow music is playing, so we sway in each other’s arm for a few minutes as we travel around the ballroom.
“So what were Kerri and Mia talking about over there? What did you encourage the girls to do?” He eventually asks me. I knew he wouldn’t be able to let that drop.
I blush and bite my lip, dipping my chin. “It’s pretty bad.”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Worse than betting Dylan I could kiss you?”
I scrunch my nose. “Yeah, worse than that.”
I look around at the ballroom filled with happy teenagers, dancing and talking, having a great time. I’m really glad I didn’t ruin this for everyone. Maybe I should fess up, at least to Jake. He deserves to know what kind of a girl he’s dating.
I bury my nose in his neck and make my confession. “You’re not the only guy who got catfished. I kinda encouraged all the girls to make fake profiles to trick the guys.”
He gasps and pulls away from me far enough so he can see my face, his hands still gripping my waist.
“You did what? After all that grief you gave me about the dogfight, you went and did that?” Thankfully, his voice is more playful than angry.
I grin and nod my head. “I guess I’m as bad as you are.”
“Maybe worse,” he deadpans.
“Can you forgive me, Jake?”
“I think I can, as long as you promise never to prank me again. I don’t think my heart would survive.”
“You can dish it out, but you can’t take it, huh?”
He sticks out his bottom lip and shakes his head.
Lord Huron’s “Fool for Love” starts playing, and we both crack up, but then Jake’s face gets serious.
“I love you, KC, and I promise I would never joke about that.”
To be continued…
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Kellie McAllen is a USA Today bestselling author who loves fun, flirty, YA contemporary and paranormal romance stories with quirky, relatable characters and happily ever after endings. Probably because she’d like a do-over on her own, awkward teen experience.
She also likes to guest judge on DWTS (from her living room), watch cat videos with her two kitties, and eat chocolate after every meal.
She lives in North Carolina with her hubby and a teenage kiddo.
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April Fools' Joke (Holiday High Series Book 3) Page 17