Stepping away from all three of them, I pick up the pace and practically jog out of the gym. In the parking lot, I hear footsteps behind me. Assuming it’s Deena, I slow down and turn back. I’m about to ask her to unlock her car when I see who’s actually behind me.
Stopping suddenly, I look around the parking lot. For an escape route? Maybe.
Why can’t I remember where we parked?Sometimes, I’m the biggest idiot.
“Becklyn.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I don’t want your pity. Just leave me alone, Lucky.”
The man never listens. Not to me, anyway, because by the time I find Deena’s car, he’s right beside me, repeating, “Becklyn.”
I turn to face him and snap, “What, Lucky?”
“Your brother didn’t mean that.”
A glare is the best I can muster. The good thing about it is, I’m angry now so the tears have abated. “Yeah, he did.”
Lucky shakes his head. “No. He didn’t. Joe thinks you’re—”
I hold up my hand for the second time in five minutes; it does its job. Lucky stops talking. “Don’t explain my brother to me. He means it.”
Lucky moves closer. One of his hands moves up. I watch as he gently touches my face. “Baby girl. No.”
Baby girl?What the ever-loving heck?
“He didn’t mean it.”
My mouth opens, then closes without emitting a sound, because I’m still trying to figure out the “baby girl” thing. Also, the hand on my face thing. I clear my throat and try again. “Please don’t apologize for him.”
“Then, I’ll apologize for me.”
This is getting interesting.
“I’m sorry about Friday.”
Suddenly, my mouth feels as dry as the Sahara. Swallowing is impossible. I try anyway.
“As I was leaving the house, Joe asked me where I was going.” Lucky’s eyes look sort of sad. “I had to tell him.”
Why is he explaining this to me? It wasn’t a date.
“When he heard we were gonna eat, he asked if he could go. Then, at your dorm, he jumped out of the car to run up to your room before I could stop him.”
Sounds like Joe.
Lucky’s stopped talking now. I guess I’m supposed to say something. “It’s okay. I understand.” Those two tiny sentences are both lies. I’m not okay, and I don’t really understand because I’m an idiot. Lucky isn’t to blame for anything to do with Friday night. It was all on me. I believed something that was just not possible. My fantasy world took over and left me with… nothing, I guess. I need to stop living in that world, pull my head out of the clouds, and face the fact that Joe is actually right. Nobody wants to date me. Deena made up the double date story to make Lucky jealous. It’s obvious that didn’t work.
Lucky’s still got his hand there. His thumb is doing this weird thing running back and forth over my cheek. His fingers are resting on the back of my neck. It’s forcing my attention up. “Who’s the guy?”
Huh? “What guy?”
“Your date. Who’s the guy?”
The frown on my face has to be obvious. “He’s… nobody…”
“You ready, Becks?” Deena says, stepping up beside me. “We need to get going if we’re ever going to be ready in time.”
Shaking my head causes Lucky’s hand to drop to his side. I miss it. “Deena, I—”
