“Wait, don’t you want him to fall in love with you to win the bet?”
“Yes.”
“And you want to do that by torturing him?”
“Uh-huh.”
Raine raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “I don’t think you understand how love works.”
Maybe she was right. Maybe I didn’t know how love worked, but I did know Landon had entered my world, my space, and was making himself far too comfortable in it. The theater was supposed to be my safe haven, and he was currently leaving his grimy fingerprints all over it with that annoyingly handsome grin of his. Plus, he knew I was a lover girl, so he was playing up the sweet factor a lot to get to me. I knew that same technique wouldn’t work on him. Therefore, my goal was to annoy him so much that he’d drop out of the bet.
I was going to drive him bonkers by making him not want to deal with me anymore. Then I would win.
“Please, Raine?” I asked.
She released a weighted sigh and groaned. “He’s terrified of reptiles.”
“Reptiles?”
“Yes, reptiles. All kinds. Snakes, lizards, turtles—oh! And bugs! He hates bugs. Once I saw him physically run into a building trying to get away from a fly. Like,bam! Straight into a brick wall. And don’t even get me started on spiders.”
I smirked.
This was perfect.
“Thanks,” I said, patting her on the back. “You’ve done your country good.”
“From here on out, I’m moving to Switzerland. Oh, and just for future warning, if your grandmother asks you for help buying a vibrator from a 1-800 number, don’t do it. It makes holiday dinner conversation very uncomfortable.”
Duly noted.
11Landon
“Let’s go on a date this Saturday.”
I had to rub the tiredness out of my eyes to make sure it was Shay who was talking to me after theater rehearsal. I was walking out of the school building when she came jogging up to me. She seemed to go well out of her way to avoid interacting with me during the school day and now during our rehearsals. Truly, the only time she’d given me the time of day was when I was Romeo and she was Juliet. She was a hard book to crack open, that was for sure. That didn’t mean I was going to stop trying. Every second I got to give her a little flirty attention, I slid it in. But still, I was so thrown off by the date topic.
I stood stunned by her words. “A date?”
“Yes, a date. You and me. Let’s do this. Say... this Saturday?” She wiggled her eyebrows in anticipation.
I gave her a stern glare. “You really want to go out this Saturday?”
“Yes.”
“With me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She laughed. “To make you fall in love with me. Duh.”
She was up to something because she had the goofiest grin known to mankind on her lips. She looked like a damn five-year-old holding the secret that she didn’t brush her teeth before going to bed or something.
“What’s up your sleeve, Gable?” I asked.
She widened her eyes in surprise, then rolled up the sleeves on her coat jacket, revealing her arms. “Just skin.”