Best Dating Rules: A Romantic Comedy (The Best Girls Book 2) (12 page)

“I know, and I feel bad. But not too bad, since Becca told me today they’d had a relationship. He evidently lied to me about her.”

“I don’t think I’d trust everything Becca says if I were you. I’d trust Spencer over Becca any day. And you haven’t told me about this art teacher yet.”

“He’s... He was really impressed with my work. And he said we should have coffee and talk. He gives private lessons. And… Well, he’s really good-looking.”

“Better looking than Spencer?”

“No, just different. Older. More sophisticated. More mature. I don’t know. Maybe I need someone older who wouldn’t do immature things, like lying about a relationship with another girl.”

“Sweetie, I can tell you from experience age doesn’t equal maturity. And it seems odd you’re criticizing him for a possible lie, when you’ve told one yourself. But you’re a smart girl—I trust your judgment. On the other hand, let me give you one little guideline.”

“What is it? I really don’t want a lecture, you know.”

“If you find yourself changing or doing things you wouldn’t normally do to please a guy, take a step back and analyze the situation. Ask yourself this… Is he helping you grow and be a better person, or are you changing in a bad way?”

“I can’t blame Asher for my decision to tell a lie. I did that on my own.”

“I trust you, Sweetie. I’m honored you talked to me instead of Charlie. I assume you haven’t told her about this.”

“No. I don’t think she’d understand.”

“You don’t think she’d understand? Or you don’t think she’d agree?”

“Same difference.” Emily’s voice was pouty. “Mom, he’s got an English accent.”

“Ah! Now I understand. We Best girls have a weakness for men with accents, I think.” Steven’s eyebrows knit dangerously, but she waved him off with a grin. “Be careful, Sweetie. I know you’ll do the right thing. Are you coming up for dinner?”

“Do you promise we won’t talk about this?”

“Hmmm? Talk about what? I don’t even remember what we were discussing.”

Emily chuckled. “Okay, I’ll come.”

“What was that about?” Steven asked as she disconnected.

“I can’t tell you. I promised not to.”

“But I overheard your side of the conversation.”

“Yes, I didn’t promise you weren’t listening, and she didn’t ask.”

“You are getting more devious by the day.”

“I’m learning from you, I think.”

“I gather she cancelled with Spencer to go out with her art teacher who has an accent. And she lied about it to Spencer. And she believes something Becca told her about Spencer. Does that about cover it?”

“I couldn’t really say.”

“I have to admit, I don’t much care for Becca after spending several hours with her. Her chatter was pretty inane. And I agree with what you told Emily about trusting Spencer. I have a lot of respect for him.”

“Well, Emily’s coming up for dinner, and you’ve got to pretend not to know anything.”

“Got it,” Steven agreed. “Now where were we?” He bent over to snatch her hands, pinning them together again, and reaching out to tickle her side as she squealed. “And this is for that remark you made about liking men with accents.”

“Steven! You’re making me scream. The neighbors will hear and think you’re murdering me.”

A wicked grin slid onto his face. “Penthouse, remember? No neighbors up here...”

“Hi, Becca.” Spencer finally surrendered and answered Becca’s call while walking toward his parent’s home.

“What’s wrong? Why haven’t you answered my calls? Are you mad at me?”

“No, Becca, I’m busy. I work—I don’t have time to chat during the day. What did you need?”

“I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me about the picture thing. You believe me don’t you? About not giving the picture to NYC Word?”

“Sure, I guess I believe you, but I haven’t talked to Candace yet. She won’t return my phone calls. Have you talked to her?”

She hesitated. “Uhmm, no.”

“Okay, Becca. If that’s all, I’ve got a lot to do tonight.”

“Well there’s one other thing. There’s a bunch of us going to the Green Scene Thursday night at eight thirty to listen to jazz. I thought you might want to come. Maybe Candace will be there, and you could ask her about the picture.”

Spencer considered her offer. He really didn’t want to spend any more time with Becca, especially if it might make her think they had a real relationship. On the other hand, he didn’t want to sit at home and think about getting ditched by Emily.

“A bunch of people? Who’s going?”

“I’m not sure. People from the hiking club.”

“Landon usually texts me when the group is doing something.”

“Well... it’s not official, I think... Maybe Landon isn’t going. We could go together if you want.”

“No, I’d rather just meet everyone there.”

“So, you’ll come for sure?”

“I’m not positive. But, I’ll probably come. I’d really like to talk to Candace.”

“Do you want me to meet you outside?”

“No. Look, Becca... This is not a date. Okay? I don’t want you to think I’m sending you any signals. I’m not interested in a relationship.”

“I know. I don’t expect anything from you, but I like spending time together. You know, with the whole group.”

“Right. Okay. See ya later.”

“See you tomorrow night. Eight thirty. Don’t forget.”

Spencer paused on the steps outside his family’s home. He was helping his dad with a tiling project. He actually looked forward to some hard labor to work out his frustrations. When he opened the front door, he was immediately assaulted with the familiar noises of his sisters’ gaiety. Laughter and squeals emanated from the kitchen, along with a cloud of something white. Smoke? Was the kitchen on fire? He ran into the kitchen, flinching as something hit his head.

“Oops! Sorry, Spencer! That was meant for Claire,” yelled Olivia. Flour. They were fighting with flour.

“Are you crazy?” Spencer roared out. “Momma’s going to flip when she sees this mess.”

Claire giggled. “We’ll clean it up before she comes home from hot yoga.”

“Momma’s doing hot yoga?”

“Yeah. She’s decided she’s fat, and she’s planning to melt away her excess weight,” explained Hannah as she ducked behind the table.

“She’s not fat. And stop making any more mess—this flour will be impossible to clean up.” He went to the sink to wet a towel and wipe his head.

“You’re getting crabby,” said Grace as she entered the kitchen. “I think you need a woman.”

He pressed his lips together, refusing to take Grace’s bait.

“Really, Spencer. What’s wrong with you lately? Girl troubles?”

Ignoring her, he concentrated on wiping his shirt.

“Are you having problems with Becca?”

“Becca?” He was startled out of his silence. “Who said anything about Becca? Did Emily say something last night?”

“Ah ha! I knew it! I saw Becca’s been calling you. Does Emily know something about Becca?”

He frowned. “No. She doesn’t know... I mean, there isn’t anything to know about Becca except she’s a pain in the butt. But I don’t want you talking to Emily about me.”

“Hmmm… Maybe we could work out some sort of deal.” Grace crossed her arms, drumming her fingers on her elbow.

“No way. I’m not working a deal with you. It couldn’t possibly be fair.”

“Fine. That’s fine. If you don’t want to know what Emily and I talked about...”

“Why did God give me sisters? If I had brothers, I could just beat you up until you gave in. Four chances to get a brother, and what did I get? Four sisters. Four sneaky, conniving, manipulative sisters.”

“Come on, Spencer. You know you love me. I’m just asking for a little something in return for my knowledge.”

“Fine. What type of a deal?”

Grace’s face split in a triumphant grin.

“I don’t even think I need to make a deal now. Knowing you’re willing to consider this deal tells me what I need to know.”

“No, it doesn’t tell you anything.” He stepped forward to glower down at his petite sister, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him. “Whatever you think you know, you’re wrong.”

“I know you care what I talk about to Emily.”

“What did you say to her? Are you the reason she— Never mind. Forget it.” He spun his back to her, using a rag to make angry swipes at the messy kitchen. It was suddenly quiet behind him. When he turned around, he found himself alone with a contrite-looking Grace sitting at the table.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?” he asked, still frowning.

“I didn’t know Emily was different. I didn’t know you really liked her.”

“I don’t—”

“Good grief! Don’t try to deny it. I’m your sister—I can tell. But maybe you’re lying to yourself.”

“I... I’m not... She doesn’t like me. Not like that.” He slumped in a chair across from Grace.

“Spencer, I didn’t know.” She put her hand on his. “I... I may have said something I shouldn’t have.”

“What? What did you say?”

“I told her about you getting all those phone calls from Becca.”

He groaned. “Becca! I’m beginning to wish I’d never met her. Why would you tell Emily about that? How did you even know?”

“She called about eleven hundred times when you left your phone here Monday night. She’s got a serious crush on you, for sure. Did you break up with her or something?”

“No! We’ve never even been on a date.” He let his face fall into his hands. “I can’t believe you told Emily about her calling. She probably thinks I’ve been lying to her.”

“Well... I think she thinks you’re a player.”

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s kind of what she said.”

“So did you tell her it isn’t true? Did you tell her I’m not a player?”

“Well, no… I mean, I thought you were a player, too. Why are you getting mad? It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve never denied it before. You’re always with a different girl. You never seem to stay with one girl long enough for us to even meet her. It seems like you go from one girl to another or even more than one at the same time.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “Really? That’s what my own sister thinks about me? That’s what you told Emily?” His face dropped back into his hands. “Great. That’s just great.”

“So what are you saying? All these girls are okay with it? Or they’re all doing the same thing?”

His frustration reached a boiling point. “All these girls! What girls? Can you name one? Huh? Can you? No! You can’t, can you? Because I’ve never actually even dated one. Not! One! Single! Girl! There—are you happy? Now you know.”

Grace sat dumbfounded for a moment. “But... I’ve seen you with lots of girls. All the time. They were hanging all over you. They were practically drooling on you.”

“So? Did you ever see me with one girl? Did I ever tell you I had a girlfriend?”

“Are you saying you were only with all those girls physically? That none of them meant anything?”

“My god, Grace! Don’t you have any respect for me? I’d never do that. I wasn’t with any girl physically—I’ve never even kissed a girl before.”

“Oh,” she said. “Oh!” she repeated, grinning. “Now there’s something I never would have guessed. Why didn’t you deny it before now? We’ve teased you about it for years?”

“Oh yeah. That’s a great idea. I could go from being teased about having too many girlfriends to being tormented about not having any. And now I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Grace was quiet. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not mean, you know. I care about you—you’re my brother. I’m actually on your side. We... We won’t tease you.”

“I don’t care. Go ahead. It doesn’t matter any more.”

“So, uhmm... Do you like girls? I mean, it’s okay. I love you no matter what. If you—”

“No. I don’t like girls. Not girls, plural. I like Emily. Okay? Only Emily. But I guess it doesn’t matter now.” He buried his head in his arms on the table.

“It can’t be too late. I’ll tell her you’re not a player.”

“And tell her what?” He spoke into his arms. “That you were mistaken? That I’ve actually never had a girlfriend?”

“Uhmm. No. Maybe not that.” She screwed up her face. “But I’ll think of something.”

He pushed back from the table and attacked the floury mess with a vengeance.

“No, I think you’ve done enough damage. I’m telling you, it’s too late. Today, she acted really strange, and she blew me off for a date we’d planned tomorrow night. Not that she would do anything with me that qualified as an actual date, anyway.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

“Sure. Whatever. Look, I need to go upstairs and help Papa with the tiling. Can you get them to clean up this kitchen before Momma sees it?”

“Don’t worry about the kitchen. We’ll take care of it.” Grace followed him as he headed to the kitchen door and caught his arm. “Wait. I’m really sorry, Spencer. I never meant to hurt you.”