I nearly choke on my drink, flashing him a thumbs-up when he winks at me. I smile to myself.
“You are so fucking embarrassing.” Amelia groans.
Adam heads for the door, laughing. Amelia goes to follow him but changes her mind, walking over to me instead, shaking her head.
“You’ll pay for this, Carrie Wolinski.”
She’s actually terrifying.
“Don’t think that’s all it’s going to take to smooth things over—but thank you for what you said to me,” she says, softer now.
“He cares about you, you know.”
“He cares aboutyou, too,” she whispers before leaving.
I glance around the room. The only people left are Lewis and the random girl he met tonight. I watch them slip into his bedroom, and slowly, I turn. Here we are, then. Just me and Don. My stomach is doing somersaults, and I don’t care whether it’s a bad call anymore—all I know is I want him. Right here. Right now.
26DONOVAN
Alone at last. I had to go pretty heavy on the hints to get my friends to leave, and now here we are, just me and her in the living room. Carrie is leaning against the back of the couch, and I’m tempted to try the ironing board move on her again.
“So, word has it there’s a surprise in my room,” I start.Subtle, man.
“Yeah, that was a lie—there is no gift. I just said that so the others would think I’m a nice person.”
“You’re not fooling anyone, you know.”
“Really?” She pulls a sad face. “All that hard work, for nothing. I thought I made a good impression on your sister, though.”
“Well, other than the part where you blackmailed her, I’d say she loves you. It’s a Wolinski thing.”
“I saw you guys talking. How’d it go?”
I shrug. “Pretty well, I think. We still have a lot to talk through, but it’s a good start—that’s all I wanted.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“I know I still need to prove myself, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel now.”
She smiles. “All that’s left to do is get yourself a girlfriend.”
“Easier said than done.”
All you have to do is say the word.
I jerk my head toward the hallway. “Coming?”
“Where?” she asks, cocking an eyebrow.
“To give me the gift you’ve got stashed away in your bag.”
“You went through my stuff?”
I shoot her an affronted look. “It kinda spilled out when I dumped it on my desk. Which reminds me—why do you have, like, fifteen pens in one tiny bag?”
“They make the best self-defense kit. If you aim right, you can do some serious damage with those suckers.”
“This I need to see.” I smile.
