If Ihada heart, her false bravado might've broken it in two. But I wasn't that guy, and she didn't deserve it.
I made a show of looking down at her shorts. "Is that what you're wearing?"
In return, she made a show of eyeing my jeans. "I don't know. Is that whatyou'rewearing?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because we're going someplace nice." It wasn't what I'd planned to say. I'd planned to say something sharp and sarcastic. But for some messed-up reason, the words had changed on the way from my brain to my mouth.
Weird.
But hell if I'd take them back now.
Anna was right about one thing. Ididhave a script, and tonight was as good a night as any to move forward with it.
Anna gave her clothes a worried look. "How nice?"
"As nice as it gets."
She was still looking at her clothes. "In Sugar Falls?"
"Yeah. Why?"
She looked up. "I'm just saying, compared to where you usually go, I can't think of anyplacethatnice."
"Hey, I grew up here, remember?"
"Yeah, but…" She paused. "That was a long time ago. I'm sure your tastes are totally different now."
She was wrong. All those fancy places on the coast? They weren't my thing. Sure, the food was fantastic, most of the time anyway. But in the end, it was all about being seen – who you talked to, who you snubbed, and who got the best table and where.
I was sick to death of it.
But tonight, I actuallywantedto go out.And with Anna.
What the hell?
If I was smart, I'd get a grip and fast, because so far I'd done a sorry job of sticking to that script of mine.
It was time to get things back on track.
Starting tonight.
