“Yeah, what you mean is,why would Sean go for me? And I’m going to stop you right there, sister, because the better question is why wouldn’t he go for you? You’re a boss babe and killer baker, the kindest human being alive and not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.”
I laugh. “You’re like a little mood booster.”
“Don’t pretend that’s not why you called me thirty minutes before your first official date with the man you’ve been hung up on since high school.”
She’s right, I needed her confidence but— “I am not hung up on Sean. I got over him in high school and haven’t thought of him since.” Well, until two weeks ago, and now my thoughts are on little else than the mystery that is Sean Bentley.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did you want me to claim ignorance? I thought we were best friends who didn’t lie to one another.”
I accidentally peg my eyebrow with my eyeliner. “I am not lying to you.”
“Then you’re lying to yourself. You claimed you were over him after the dance debacle, but you never stopped pining after him.”
“Psh. I did notpine. I don’t even know how to pine.”
“You’ve never been this nervous for a date before,” she continues like she didn’t even hear me. “And I know because you’ve called me before each one.”
“Maybe I call you too much.”
“No that’s not the problem. I think seeing him again has opened up a well of unresolved conflict within you and though you claim to hate him, he’s already weaseled his way into your heart again. Why else do you let him come to your bakery every day?” she asks.
“I don’tlethim. It’s Sean. He does what he wants.”
“True. But Sean’s never been stupid. If he knew he didn’t have a chance with you, he would have stopped coming. So what excuse do you have for agreeing to go on a date with him?”
I didn’t tell her that I had been the one to initiate yet another bet with Sean. It won’t help my case.
“I’m only trying to prevent further catastrophe by heading things off now before he can wreck them.” Like my heart.
“And how’s that working for you?”
“I’m afraid it all ends in catastrophe.” I hold the end of the mascara tube in my mouth and start on my lashes.
“It doesn’t have to,” she says. “You know… he pined after you, too.”
I exhale and the mascara tube flies out of my mouth and straight into the mirror.
“What are you talking about?”
“I didn’t think much of it at the time, adolescence and all that. But I had a study break with him. At least once a week he asked about you. Especially after the dance.”
What? Why had she never told me that before? She keeps talking before I can ask.
“I thought he felt bad for the whole thing and wanted to make sure you were doing okay. But thinking about it now, what teenage boy consistently checks in on a girl he’s not pining after?”
Her words confuse everything I thought I knew about Sean, and I’m not sure I like it. But I also don’t hate it. “He was just being nice.“ He always had a girlfriend, or two. A specific incident comes to mind when both Shanna Taylor and Brittany Hunte from the volleyball team thought they were dating him. Those two caused the uproar of the year. But then they turned their revenge on Sean, who good-naturedly played it all off like it was a joke when his basketball shorts were dyed pink.
Good grief. Am I really going on a date with the man who left a trail of broken hearts behind him in high school?
As much as I want to believe he’s still that same kid, last night-the last week really-have proved how wrong I’ve been.
I cared for him once before, but there’s more to him than meets the eye. Which is the problem. Because I’m bound to fall for him all over again if he keeps this up.
“Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine,” Monica says.
I’m not so sure.
Chapter 16
