“Uh huh. Yeah, that definitely shouldn’t have happened.” I nodded along.
I was going to kill Jordy. He’d been begging me for a double date—with him and Cass, and me and some new friend of his—for weeks. At first I said no, but after Michael’s behavior and his audacity in ordering me not to date, I called Jordy up and told him to set it up.
Jordy had sung the praises of Jack, insisting we had a lot in common. Considering I’d known Jordy since he was in pull-ups, yet he couldn’t remember my name, I highly doubted he had the credentials to make that judgment call.
Jack was nice, sure. But when he asked me whether I likedStar Warsand I had replied with “sure,” he took that bit of information and ran with it. I had to sit there while he wentthrough a rundown of the franchise and a ten-minute spiel about whyThe Rise of Skywalkerwas the worst movie in the franchise.
I kept giving Jordy the death glare, but he was either being purposely obtuse or he was desperately trying to salvage his own date. My money was on the latter.
I had to bribe Cass to come. I owed her Doc Martens, although I wasn’t sure why I agreed to it. Jordy should be payingmeto sit through this.
The only thing that made me feel slightly smug, if not evil, was the fact that Jordy wasn’t having much luck with his date. That did make me feel better. He was sitting in frustrated silence after the umpteenth time Cass had dismissed him. Served him right. I'dtoldhim he wasn’t her type, but he was too arrogant to listen.
I tuned out Jack’s droll voice and allowed my mind to wander. Unfortunately, the only topic it was interested in was Michael. He’d texted me multiple times since my video call with Lucy, saying he was coming for me and that he’d turn me over his knee if I dared go out with another boy. I ignored them; not quite believing that he would actually drive all the way back home just for me. Yet, I couldn’t stop that anxious knot in my gut, like a delicious type of anticipation that I couldn’t quite quell.
“So what do you think?”
I snapped out of my daydream. “What?”
Jack blinked at me. “On having aStar Warsmarathon next Friday. We’re skippingThe Clone Wars.”
“Uh, well–”
“Oh, hey, Mr Thomas. What are you doing here?”
Mr. Thomas? Why was Jordy saying hi to…
Oh, my god.
My jaw dropped at the figure looming over our table. Mr Thomas. Michael Thomas, dad to my best friend and the star of my dirty dreams, was glaring at Jack. He was here. He was really here.
“Hey, Jordy.” He’d dropped his murderous stare to give Jordy an easy grin, even reaching out to shake his hand. “How’s the new school?”
“Uh, great, Mr Thomas. Everyone is just so friendly.” He turned to beam at Cass, who was busy typing away on her phone. His smile dropped.
“Great. Dina.”
I swallowed hard, reluctantly looking up at him. “Um, yes, Mi–uh, Mr Thomas?”
He stared at me for a beat before clearing his throat. “Your mom had an emergency and asked me to collect you.”
“Uh, what? My mom’s–”
“Yep, she’s in quite the quandary and needs you. Come on. Sorry to interrupt your little…studysession.”
“No apologies needed, sir,” Cass piped in. She stood, making a move to slide out of the booth. But Jordy wasn’t budging.
“I’m not ready to go,” Jordy gritted out, his knuckles turning white on the table. “Jack, since your date’s a bust, maybe you should head home, too. Don’t wanna be a third wheel, man.”
Jack frowned as Jordy gave him a wide-eyed stare, communicating silently to him through mime. “Uh, sure…but Dina hasn’t let me know if she’ll make my movie night on Friday.”
“Uh, well–”
“Dina will be busy.”
Jordy frowned as he looked from me to Michael.
“Because I’m visiting Lucy in the city,” I quickly explained. “Lucy is Mic–Mr Thomas’s daughter. My best friend,” I quickly explained to Cass and Jack, who looked less than interested.
