I close my eyes and take a breath.
“She obviously can’t choose, so why not have both?”Bridget chimes in.
“Ignore them,” Collin soothes in a tone meant to calm me, the one he uses with Jonathan when tension arises.
“I’m fine,” I tell him because I am.I’m over trying to understand Laurel and why she’s so upset with me.She’s not my problem.“They’re not wrong.You are my stand-in date.”I laugh.
“Gee, thanks,” Collin quips.“I should be your first choice.I make you laugh more than he does.”
“Are you seriously comparing you and Jonathan right now?”I ask in amusement.
Collin catches himself.“Uh, no.No idea why I said that.Because I’m definitely not kissing you tonight.Actually, I’m making you pay for dinner.”
“Of course I’m paying,” I say, taking out my wallet.“Wanna go?I’ve lost my appetite.”
“Uh, I haven’t.”Collin stuffs his face with his cheeseburger.
“You can take it with you,” I tell him with a sigh.“That way, you can actually chew it.”
“Right,” he says with his mouth full.He takes a few napkins and wraps his burger in it as I stand to pay at the register.
“Hope you’re not leaving because of us,” Laurel calls out.“We were just saying how cute you two are together.”
“We are cute together,” Collin retorts.“And we’re also leaving because of you.You’ve ruined the mood.”He holds out his hand.“C’mon, Sadie.Let’s go somewhere we can be alone.”He winks at me.
I raise my brows, looking down at his hand.He silently urges me to take it.I roll my eyes and set my hand in his, letting him lead me out of the restaurant.
“That didn’t help,” I say when we reach the parking lot.
“Who cares?It was fun.”
Across the street is a colorfully painted Victorian house that’s been converted into a preschool.Lining the stone wall that wraps around the front yard are tiny pumpkins and gourds painted with faces.
“Collin!”I lift the smiley-faced pumpkin.“How could you?”
“You needed it more than they do,” he defends weakly.“Look how many they have!They’re not going to miss one.”
I shake my head at him in disapproval.“You stole from preschoolers!That’s a new low.”After letting a car pass, I cross the street and replace the stolen pumpkin.
“Now what should we do?”Collin asks when I return.
I’m tempted to say I want to go home to finish carving my pumpkin.But that will make me think of Jonathan and how we never got to finish our first date.
“I know,” Collin declares.“Let’s go back to my house.”
Might as well.
I drive Collin to the home where we pretty much spent most of our childhood.It’s small but quaint.It’s a single-story house, painted light blue with white trim.It could almost be called a cottage, except it has a finished basement.It’s the perfect size for Collin and his mom with the added space for us to hang out without waking her.
Collin doesn’t go into the house.Instead, he jogs into the small garage that has never seen a car.A moment later, he emerges, holding up a skateboard.
“No way,” I proclaim.“I’m wearing a dress.”
“You can sit.Nothing to worry about.”
“You can’t ditch me,” I say in warning.“I can’t perform tomorrow night with bloody knees.”
“Promise,” he declares, setting a hand on his heart.He wheels out his bike with a length of rope tied under the seat.
