Ethan shook his head at me. “You know you make absolutely no sense sometimes, right?”
I shrugged and tapped a finger to my temple. “It all makes sense up here.”
He shook his head once more and entered his room. I slowly followed him in. My bedroom looked directly into Ethan’s, so I’d seen glimpses of it before. I didn’t realize how strange it would feel to enter though. I’d never been in a boy’s bedroom before, and I had no idea how to act.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. I’d always imagined a boy’s bedroom would smell like sweat and week-old gym socks, but Ethan’s was nothing like that. It smelled a little like freshly laundered sheets with a hint of cologne. It was also ridiculously tidy. Even his bed was made, and he’d only just left it a few minutes ago.
“You had time to make your bed?” I asked as I hovered by the end of it.
“Yes, well, not all of us treat our rooms like pigsties.” He gave me a knowing look.
“My room’s not a pigsty.”
“You forget that I can see it from here. You have a pile of clothes that almost reaches the ceiling sitting on your desk.”
I didn’t need to follow his gaze out the window to know he was right. I folded my arms over my chest as I glared at him. “That’s where they belong. They’re clothes that are too clean to need washing but have been worn just enough they don’t belong in my wardrobe anymore.”
He shook his head at me like I was missing the point.
“Anyway…” I drew the word out, keen to move past my somewhat untidy ways. Ethan clearly didn’t get that my mess had purpose.
“Do you want to talk about the plan?” he prompted.
“Yes, the plan.” I jumped on the question, all too happy to talk about anything other than my room. I glanced over my shoulder toward the open doorway.
“Owen didn’t come home from his date last night, so you don’t need to worry about him overhearing,” Ethan said, guessing at my thoughts.
My heart sunk. “He was on a date?”
“Yeah, but don’t let it upset you. I doubt it was anything serious.” Ethan’s gaze had softened, but it didn’t manage to ease the blow. Owen going on a date with someone else hit me hard. I already felt like I had slim hopes of capturing his attention. What chance did I have when he was dating other girls?
“Do you know who the date was with?”
Ethan frowned as he took in my expression. “Do you really want to know?”
I thought the answer to that was obvious, but as I considered the question, I wasn’t so sure. I was curious about who Owen had gone out with, but as I thought about it, I realized I also didn’t want to picture him with anyone else. I had my own plan for Owen, and if I was thinking of him with some other girl, I might lose my nerve to go through with it. I let out a sigh and shook my head. “Actually, I probably don’t.” I needed to remain focused on the end goal and not get jealous and distracted. Sometimes, ignorance really was a more pleasant existence.
“Anyway, we should really get down to business,” I said, trying to push thoughts of Owen’s date to the back of my mind.
“We should,” Ethan agreed. “Do you want to sit down? You know you don’t have to hover in the corner like that.”
“Oh, ah, thanks.” I hesitated for several moments longer though, unsure where to go. The only seating options were on the bed beside him or his desk chair. There was an expensive-looking guitar on the chair that I was scared to touch, but something about sitting next to Ethan on his bed made me nervous too. Ethan cleared his throat, and I realized I’d been staring into his eyes again. I swallowed and quickly looked away. Definitely the desk chair.
I handled the guitar gently as I lifted it from the seat and placed it on my lap. I brushed my fingers over a few strings and tried not to laugh as Ethan winced at the sound.
“Please be careful.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt your baby. Besides, how do you know I’m not a secret musical prodigy?”
“Because I’ve been in music classes with you before,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “You were so bad the teacher took your recorder away from you in fifth grade and you made Mrs. Lowell cry when you attempted to play the flute in grade six.”
“They were tears of joy,” I replied.
“I was there, Hayley. There was nothing joyful about your rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb. In fact, I’d say you pretty much slaughtered that poor lamb.”
“Okay, maybe woodwind instruments aren’t my thing.” I tilted my head as I looked at him. “How can you even remember that?” I could barely recall either of the incidents.
Ethan’s cheeks warmed slightly as he glanced away and shrugged. “Guess I have a good memory.”
“Well, it’s better than mine.”
He nodded though he still refused to meet my eyes. “So, are you going to enlighten me about your plan?” he continued.
I sucked my lower lip between my teeth as I nodded. “I mean, I haven’t exactly got it all mapped out or anything, but I figured we could go on a fake date next weekend and make sure Owen sees us together. And maybe, you could talk me up around him?”
Ethan lifted an eyebrow. “That’s the plan?”
“Well, yeah…”
“It’s not particularly good.”
I huffed out an irritated breath. “You said Owen just had to think we were dating and he’d get jealous. Do you have a better idea?”
“Well, for starters, one date isn’t going to be enough.”
My shoulders deflated. “It’s not?”
“No. He needs to be totally convinced we like each other, and that’s going to take a whole lot more than just one date.”
“So, we go on two dates?”
He shook his head. “This isn’t the kind of thing where we can only pretend to be together when he’s around. Owen is back at school tomorrow. He’s going to know something’s up if we ignore each other at school but act differently when he’s around.”
I started to frown. “So, you’re saying we’re going to have to pretend to date all the time?”
“Pretty much.”
Ethan knew his brother best, so I trusted he knew what he was talking about. I was surprised he was so willing to commit to such an intense plan though. If anything, I was expecting to hear the opposite from Ethan.
“And you’re okay with this?” I asked.
His brow furrowed as a flicker of uncertainty flittered through his eyes. “I wouldn’t say I’m okay with it…”
“Then why are you helping me?” It was a question that had troubled me since Madi brought it up yesterday.
His skin seemed to pale, but he held my gaze as he responded. “I messed up your promposal, and I want to help fix that.” His voice was flat, and I got the distinct impression he was just telling me what I wanted to hear.
“Is that really it? You said yesterday that messing up my promposal was helping me…”
He visibly swallowed and his eyes darted away. There was definitely a reason as to why he was helping me that he wasn’t sharing.
“Ethan, is there something you’re not telling me?” I asked. “Because as much as I appreciate your help, I’m not sure I want to go through with this when I don’t know your motive.”
His eyes darted back to me, and for a moment, I thought I could see panic in them. His expression changed so quickly though it was impossible to know. He slowly blew out a breath as he nodded. “Okay, you got me, there’s something I left out,” he admitted. “But it was only because I’m embarrassed.”
“What are you embarrassed about?”
“There’s a girl I like.” His cheeks warmed a little in response. “But she doesn’t really know I exist. I figured that maybe if we date, she’ll finally notice me. I guess that’s why I agreed to the plan.”
“Oh.” I suddenly felt guilty for pressing him for an answer. “Sorry, Ethan, I had no idea.”
“Well, now, you do.”
“Now, I
do,” I murmured in agreement. I was intrigued as to who the girl could be, but it didn’t feel right to ask him about her when he was already so embarrassed. Knowing he’d agreed to our fake relationship for a similar reason was enough to make me feel better. “Well, here’s hoping the plan works for you too then.”
“Here’s hoping,” he agreed with a small, almost hesitant, smile. I’d never noticed before, but his smile was kind of cute. There was an open friendliness to it that gave you a glimpse of the genuine guy hiding behind the quietness. It made me feel like I could trust him.
“So, what’s our cover story if people ask?” Ethan said. “How did we get together?”
I quickly looked away from his lips and focused on his eyes. “We should probably tell people something close to the truth so we don’t mess it up.”
“So, we just tell them we started dating yesterday?”
“I’m sure they’ll want more details than that…”
“Okay,” he replied, frowning slightly as he thought it through. “So, what do you suggest?”
“How about we tell them that you’ve secretly been into me for a while and finally saw a chance to talk to me yesterday and ask me out.”
He laughed awkwardly and looked away from me, his eyes dropping to the floor. “Do you think people would believe that?”
“I mean, it’s not that far-fetched. Why wouldn’t they believe it?”
“Well, because we’ve lived next to each other for years and never talked.” He stumbled over the words slightly and coughed to clear his throat. “If I was secretly into you, surely, I would have spoken to you before now…”
He still seemed to be avoiding eye contact with me, but perhaps, he just found the idea embarrassing. He did have a point though. If he’d really had a crush on me, he’d have at least tried to strike up a conversation at some point.
“Sure, but no one else knows that we never talk.”
“I guess not,” he agreed. “Perhaps, if we add that you’ve been secretly crushing on me too, then it might pique Owen’s interest even more. We can tell people our relationship was like fate.”
“Fate, huh?” This made me smile. I could work with fate. After all, it was pretty lucky that Ethan had been there when I asked Owen to prom, or I would have simply been rejected. “Okay, I think this story will work, but we’re going to need to ground rules for our relationship.”
“Ground rules sound like a good idea,” he agreed with a nod.
“Any suggestions?”
“Well, the first and most obvious rule should be that I get to pick the dates.”
I scrunched up my nose. “You’ll probably take us to some dive bar to listen to a band no one’s ever heard of.”
“Maybe.” He grinned.
I hated the sound of the first rule, but since Ethan had agreed to help me, the least I could do was try not to be difficult about it. “Fine, you can pick the dates. Next rule: no getting handsy with me.”
Ethan burst out laughing. “You think I’m going to get handsy with you?”
I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed as he kept laughing. “No kissing either.” That seemed to shut him up.
“You seriously think my brother is going to believe you’re my girlfriend if he doesn’t see us kissing?”
I let out a breath. “Okay, you might have a point there. No kissing unless it’s in front of Owen.”
He nodded though his eyes betrayed his displeasure with the idea. He was probably just repulsed by the thought of kissing me at all. I thought I’d be disgusted by it too, but the idea wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as I would have expected. It was especially easy to imagine this morning, because his disheveled hair and sleepy eyes almost made him look sexy.
I immediately screwed up my face at the thought. Ethan Beck was not sexy. I blamed the fact that I was in his room for my temporary moment of insanity. Being in this small space and surrounded by his surprisingly tempting scent, it was like my brain had glitched.
“Any other rules?” I quickly asked.
He nodded, but he hesitated before speaking. When he finally started to talk, his voice was quiet. “If this doesn’t work, you still go to prom with me.”
“You want to go to prom together?”
He shrugged. “Because of the plan, I might not have a chance to ask anyone else. At least this way, we’d both still have a date.”
“But what about your mystery girl? Don’t you want to take her?”
“I’d love to take her, obviously. But, if our plan works, we won’t know until the day of prom if Owen is taking you. It would be too late to ask the girl I like to prom then, and she deserves better than being my backup.
“So, you can’t go to prom with her if you help me,” I murmured as a swirl of guilt pooled in my gut.
Ethan quickly shook his head though. “I wouldn’t have a shot at all with her if I didn’t help you,” he replied. “Prom is just one night, and it’s one night I’m happy to miss if it means I have a chance at forever with her.”
It was such a sweet response, and I almost felt a little jealous of the girl he liked. Who knew guys could be so thoughtful? It sounded like the mystery girl must be pretty amazing if he was willing to wait for her.
“Okay, well, if you’re sure…”
“I’m sure.”
“Then, I guess we have a deal.” I stood and reached a hand out toward him to shake on our agreement.
The corner of his mouth lifted as he stood and stepped toward me. I was surprised by how much taller than me Ethan was, and the soft scent of his cologne only became stronger as I got closer to him. He wrapped his large hand around mine, and I swallowed as he gave it a firm squeeze.
“Deal,” he agreed.
7
Hayley
“Are you sure there hasn’t been any news from the mechanic?” I asked Mom as I entered the kitchen on Monday morning. It was almost a week since my car had gone in for repairs, and I was beginning to worry I might never see it again.
“Good morning to you too,” she said as she glanced up at me from her cup of coffee. Just like always, Mom’s brunette hair fell in glossy waves, and even though she wasn’t wearing makeup, her skin had a dewy glow. I had no idea how she managed to look so perfect in the mornings while I always seemed to look like some kind of swamp rat that just had crawled its way out of the sewer.
“Morning, Mom. So, any news?”
She let out a sigh and shook her head. “Not since you asked me last night, and please don’t ask me to call him again. Mike said the part would take a while and we’d hear from him later this week.”
I groaned and collapsed onto one of the kitchen stools. “This is torture.”
“It’s really not the end of the world.” Mom reached out a hand and patted my arm. “At least, we get to spend a little more time together on the drive to school.” She smiled widely at me and seemed genuinely happy at the thought. No one could ever say my mom’s heart wasn’t in the right place.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t spending time with Mom that was the torturous part. It was the ten-minute ride to school with my bratty sister that I couldn’t stomach. The thought of being stuck in the confines of Mom’s car with Kitty for another week was enough to make me consider calling in sick to school.
“Ugh, is she really riding with us again all week?”
And, my peaceful morning came grinding to a halt. I turned to find Kitty standing in the kitchen doorway, her face screwed up with disgust as she eyed me. Funny, how we both shared the same sentiment. I didn’t want to be anywhere near her either.
“I’ll be driving myself as soon as I can, Kitty, trust me.”
Kitty turned her gaze toward our mother. “Mom, this is so unfair. Our schedules are totally different, and I’m either at school too early or hanging around too late. Can’t I just get a ride with Carly’s mom?”
“No. I won’t have her driving out of her way just so you can avoid a car trip with you sister. A little extra tim
e at school won’t kill you for a week,” Mom replied. “You’ll be coming with us, and that’s final.”
“But Hayley’s so annoying.”
I scoffed. “That’s rich coming from you.”
“Girls!” Mom warned.
I flashed her a guilty look, but Kitty simply folded her arms over her chest. “Hayley started it!” she complained.
“Mom knows who started it. She was here the whole time,” I shot right back.
Mom groaned and rubbed the ridge of her nose. “I’m too old for this,” she grumbled.
I took that as my cue to leave before the bickering got worse. “I’m going to jump in the shower.” I raced from the room before Kitty could get another word in. Why couldn’t I have had a brother?
I dragged my feet as I got ready. I struggled to handle my sister at the best of times, but she was always extra snarky in the mornings, and I wasn’t mentally prepared to head right back in for round two with her.
She’d always been such a sweet kid, but she’d changed so much once she’d grown close to her latest group of friends. They were all cheerleaders and not the awesome kind like me. I cheered because I loved it, but the girls Kitty was friends with all did it for status and popularity. They weren’t getting any nicer the older they got either.
Once I was dressed, I blew out a long breath and braced myself to go downstairs and get in the car. The kitchen altercation with Kitty had been relatively tame this morning, and it was easy for me to leave. I couldn’t exactly jump out of a moving car if she set off on me again—though I couldn’t deny that I’d considered it on many occasions.
I made my way to the front door and was surprised when I opened it to find Kitty standing on the front step talking to Ethan. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder, and his hands were tucked into his jeans. His glasses were back on this morning, and he pushed them up his nose as he turned his attention from my sister to me. A small smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he noticed my confusion.
I stepped outside to greet him. “Ethan, what are you doing here?”
The Wrong Prom Date Page 7