“Hey.” I resisted the urge to push her away as Carly threw her arms around me, forcing my chin down so she could kiss me on the lips. She tasted like wine and bubblegum lip-gloss, and I was already getting hard, but it was certainly not because of her. As Carly showered kisses over my face, I looked over her shoulder, pinned on Renee. She was leaning against the kitchen counter next to Jami, who didn’t seem to care one way or the other who was in the house, as long as she didn’t have to deal with them.
What surprised me most as Carly kissed me was that Renee was already looking at me by the time I focused my gaze on hers, and it was a full ten seconds or so before she finally tore her gaze away. Jason, who seems oblivious to everything in life, was now standing on the other side of Jami, chatting about something I didn’t give a flying fuck about. Jami was nodding patiently, smiling when appropriate, and I wondered why in the fuck Jason hadn’t decided to get intoherpants.
“Oooh, what’s this? Has someone come out to play?” Carly said, her fingers sliding down my abdomen and towards my hard-on.
“Holy shit,” Jami said, averting her attention from Jason and over to Carly and me. The cuss word sounded ridiculous coming from between her lips. Unnatural. She just wasn’t that person. “Get a room, guys.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, Renee cleared her throat, and her eyes fell to the floor. “Jason,” she said. “Are you ready to go?”
He nodded and started to say something, but before he could find the words, Carly spoke up again, cutting him off.
“Oh my God, you guys, we should go on a double date.”
Silence settled over the kitchen. Even Jami looked appropriately horrified.
“Um, Carly,” Renee said softly, but she was cut off once more as Carly jumped and clapped her hands excitedly, as though this random idea was the cleverest thing she had ever thought of. I saw Jason glance quickly at Renee, whose eyes were now on me. When I shrugged, Jason forced the weakest smile I’d ever seen and nodded.
“That sounds fun,” he said, unconvinced, and then looked to Renee for validation. For a second, I thought she would turn Carly down flat. Not that I would have blamed her, but instead, she smiled again, fake this time, and nodded.
“The more, the merrier.”
Yeah, right.
“I was going to take Renee to the Mexican restaurant a few blocks down,” Jason explained. “Their margaritas and chicken tacos are to die for.”
“Oh good,” Carly moaned, stepping around me to find her shoes by the front door. “I was starvingandthirsty.”
I opened my mouth to say something - anything, but nothing came out. I felt utterly speechless for one of the first times in my life. How could I go on this double date with Carly and pretend to be interested in anyone other than Renee?
“Wow, guys, have fun,” Jami said, following us into the living room, where I had to steady Carly as she tried to pull on her boots drunkenly. When I glanced over at her, she had an amused smirk playing on her lips. “What a blast.”
“Wanna come?” Jason asked her, and I silently hoped she said yes, even if it was just to ease the tension, but Jami shook her head so quickly I was afraid it might fling off her shoulders and soar across the room.
“Raincheck? You guys have fun, okay?”
I looked at Renee, who was scowling at Jami’s back as her friend retreated to her bedroom, probably thrilled to be as far away as possible from this shit show of awkwardness.
“Ready?” Jason asked Renee, and she took the arm he offered her. Another twinge of jealousy fluttered through my chest, but I averted my gaze to Carly, who was humming something under her breath, hardly coherent, it seemed. I sighed. My true feelings might be for the stunning redhead standing next to me, but that wasn’t an excuse not to be halfway decent to Carly. Aaron kept telling me I had to stop being such a douchebag because, apparently, it was a turnoff for some girls.
“You look great,” I said, kissing Carly’s ear. She giggled, raising her shoulders like I’d tickled her neck, and took my hand. I sneaked a glance at Renee. She pretended not to notice, but somewhere under that fake, plastic smile was something like ... resentment?
Good. Now we’re getting somewhere.
“We could take my car,” said Jason as we all followed him outside. “Does that work?”
Like I had a choice. Plastering on my best bullshit smile, I opened the back door to Jason’s tacky sport’s car, and Carly slid in, nearly ripping her pants on the sharp edge of the door. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and winked at her, jogging to the other side to slide next to her. Renee was still silent, fuming, probably, and she was making it a point not to make eye contact with me.
The drive to the restaurant was short but awkward. Jason talked a lot, which was both obnoxious and relieving at the same time. If he didn’t speak, nobody would, and then this fuck up of a date would be screwed before it even started. Even Carly, who was sipping off a small flask of what smelled like tequila, couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
The best part? Jason couldn’t stop talking about himself.
The first thing Carly ordered when we sat down at a booth in the corner was an enormous margarita with an extra shot of tequila poured in there. Renee ordered a glass of wine—classy, I know—and Jason ordered a sweet tea because apparently, he was a bigger Douche Boy than I thought. I ordered a beer and finished it within five seconds of delivery, then ordered another to help me get through this date.
“So,” Carly said, supporting herself by her elbows on the table. Her gaze was bloodshot, eyes glassy, and I knew I wasn’t the only one who could smell the booze seeping from her pores. That smell took me back for a moment, and I suddenly saw my dad’s face in front of me. I focused on his drunk eyes, the smell of booze on his breath as he screamed at me, yelling, shouting, punching the walls, and breaking the dishes ...
“Carly, maybe you should slow down on the liquor?” Renee said softly, dropping her tone. “I really don’t want you to be sick.”
“Do I look like I’m about to be sick?” Carly snarled, her cheerful, buzzed demeanor replaced with one of fury. It was like the tequila had kicked in; it used to happen to my dad, too.
