Page 12 of About That Pact

Her words sounded like she didn’t want to deal with him, but her cheeks flushed.

“The past can be such a nuisance, right?” he batted back. His back was still against the wall, and she had yet to move from the doorway.

She rolled her eyes. “You have no idea.”

He raised an eyebrow. “How could I have no idea about your past when I was there for it?”

Charlotte stepped away from the safety of the doorframe, closing the distance. Getting on her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, “You weren’t there for all my bad decisions, Rafe. Don’t give yourself that much credit. Meet me at my car in five minutes.”

She sauntered off, leaving him speechless again.

Speechless and jealous.

Who else had she made bad decisions with?

SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, IT had been easy to sneak off from her family home. She’d walked right out the front door and gotten to her car without a single person asking a question. Granted, her parents and brother had been in the backyard, so they didn’t see her leave, but still, she congratulated herself on a job well done.

Not only had she managed to leave without anyone aware of her antics, she had been able to stun Rafe into silence—and that was worth celebrating. Obviously nothing would happen between them, but giving Rafe pause was worth the cost of that expensive mascara. She got a wave of pleasure at making him squirm. It was already a triumphant night.

Pulling her phone out, she had a text from Rachel to hurry up.

Her friends had no idea she was bringing Rafe. If she gave them the warning now, they would ask way too many questions. It was easier to just show up with him and deal with the aftermath. They would adore the man candy enough not to pester her about him.

It was eight o’clock. What the hell was he doing in there? Putting on some sort of song and dance?

She texted him. You’ve had twenty minutes to say goodbye. Let’s go!

He didn’t respond, which irritated her. She switched the music to her girl power mix for a reminder she was badass. Finishing Beyoncé’s Run the World, her passenger side door opened. Rafe, who appeared way too carefree, got into the car like he wasn’t making her late.

“Queen Bey fan, huh? I like her music. Shocked you listen to something with an actual beat, but today has been full of surprises.” Rafe buckled in with a grin.

She didn’t respond to his dig on her music. They had more pressing issues. “What took you”—she checked the clock on her dashboard—“twenty-three minutes to get out here?”

He adjusted the seat back to be more comfortable. “I let everyone know I was leaving and with who, so there were some obvious questions. Took longer than expected to answer them all.”

“What do you mean you told everyone where you were going? I said I was sneaking out, why didn’t you catch on to that being expected of you too?”

Spice Girls came on next, and he sang off-tune to Wannabe. “Spice Girls too? Charlie, you are a complex woman.”

Her phone dinged with another text, this time from Jada, asking if she was okay. No, she was not okay. Rafe had yet to grow up and was still playing his old tricks.

She started driving to the bar. “Yes, this is my mix of how amazing women are. Back to my original question, why didn’t you just sneak out like me?”

“Because I’m a thirty-three-year-old man who refuses to sneak out of anywhere. Our families asked where I was going, and I told them the truth. You and I are meeting your friends for drinks.”

She was at a red light, so it was the perfect time to scowl at him. “I’m going to tell them you invited yourself.”

“Sure,” he said with a wicked gleam. “But one of the neighbors saw you leave and commented on how you probably got all dressed up for me. It goes without saying more questions stemmed from there. I think that’s what held me up the most.”

The upbeat music was too much for her, so she turned the volume all the way down. Now, they had no background noise.

“What kinds of questions?”

“Kelly asked how long we’ve had this outing planned. I told her you sprung it on me today. My mom asked if this was the first time we were spending time together—clearly, that was a no, but I didn’t give her much detail on it. Figured you’d want any intimate moment between us to stay private. You’re welcome for that.”

She groaned. This was such a fiasco. She didn’t know why she was surprised, though. Everything with Rafe turned bad.

“Then, Natalie asked if I was dating anyone, the answer there was another no. Then, Lacy asked if you were single—your mom answered this one with a boisterous yes. They were quite nosey. They started asking what you were wearing, and I told them how hot you looked. If your mom reaches out to you about why you love wearing my favorite color, do me a solid and tell her you did it on purpose.”