He turns his attention back to the couple studying the menu at the counter, and I exhale slowly. He’s still watching Laina out of the corner of his eye, but it’s not quite so obvious now.
Laina digs her fingernails into my arm and drags me into the ladies’ room. “Did you know Shane was working tonight?”
Crap! I knew he was going to blow it.
I pull a tube of lip gloss out of my purse. “Paranoid much?” I turn toward the mirror and concentrate on touching up my lips before I turn back to look at her. “I’m not the one that’s obsessed with that Shane guy. Maybe I should have called him to coordinate our schedules?”
She glares and taps her foot. “Did you plan it?”
“Right. I definitely planned this. Because I’m totally devious.” I push my lower lip out in a classic pout. “You think I wanted to spend the rest of my night hiding in the bathroom? Hello? I’m your sister. I know how crazy-paranoid you are. Would I torture you on purpose?”
She shakes her head.
I pass her the tube of lip gloss. “Come on. I think he saw us when we came in. Let’s show him what he’s missing.”
“What? No! I can’t go out there. We have to leave.”
“Not a chance. We’re not supposed to care about what guys think of us, right?”
Laina snorts. “For a ‘boy free’ night, it’s been pretty high on testosterone.”
“I’m not the one who invited Dave to follow us around town.” I reach for the door. “And I’m hungry. Let’s get some food.”
Laina leans against the door, so I can’t pull it open. “We can hit the drive-thru on our way home, and I’ll buy you anything you want. But I’m super tired. Let’s leave.”
“So you’re gonna let him get away with it? You’re not even going to torture him a little, tiny bit to make him pay?”
She hesitates. “How would you feel if the boy you’ve been secretly in love with for years finally kissed you, and it didn’t even mean anything to him? It’s humiliating.”
I grab her shoulders and shake her a little too hard. “He wanted you to pretend that the kiss never even happened, right?”
She nods.
“So start pretending. Let’s go out there and act like he doesn’t even matter. He needs to know that the kiss meant less than nothing to you. You’re strong. You don’t need him. You have lots of other options, and if Jar—if Shane wants you, he’ll have to prove he’s worthy.”
I swipe a fresh coat of gloss across her lips and arrange her long, blonde curls for the maximum wow effect. Then I push her out of the bathroom, and we saunter up to the counter.
Well, I saunter.
Laina kind of shuffles along behind me in an I-wish-this-floor-would-open-up-and-swallow-me-right-now kind of way. But at least she doesn’t run to the car.
The restaurant is completely empty now, so we have Shane’s undivided attention.
Perfect.
“We’ll take two large cups of ice water. To go, please.” Laina’s voice cracks and breaks, but at least she looks him in the eye when she says it.
“Actually,” I say, “make that two cheeseburgers and a large order of fries. And we’ll eat it here.”
Laina looks at me, her eyes wide. “What are you doing?” she mouths. I smile and raise one eyebrow. I didn’t go through all this hassle tonight to let her ruin it now.
She takes a step backward, and I can tell she’s thinking about running away. But there’s no way I’m going to let her leave until we get what we came for.
And I’m not talking about the cheeseburgers.
I giggle. “We’re kind of hungry. Breaking the law works up an appetite, you know.”
Laina laughs when Shane’s eyes widen, and I can tell she’s remembering Dave’s reaction when she accidentally convinced him that she was drunk. “Oh yeah, we’re nothing but trouble,” she says, grinning at me. “You know, come to think of it, I am hungry. A cheeseburger sounds good.” She looks at Shane and her smile falters. “But we’ll take that to go.”
“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Shane waves his hand at the empty restaurant. “I think I could probably get you a seat at our very finest table.” He reaches across the counter to take Laina’s hand, but pulls back when she flinches. “I’ll do anything you need.”
She cocks her head to one side, eyeing him curiously, and he blushes.
“I mean, well, that’s the Burger Barn promise. We guarantee that your Burger Barn dining experience will be … I’m supposed to make your night special.”
“Thanks, but we’re kind of in a hurry. We still have crimes to commit. Right, Andi? Phase three? So we’ll take that food to go.”
“Actually,” I say, “this is our last stop. After this, we’re going home to bed.” I pull the gibberish version of our plan from my purse and pass it to her. We’re here to “harass the employees of local businesses,” which means she has to stay. And she has to talk to Shane.
“Next stop is your bed, huh?” Shane asks. “Need any help with that?”
All the color drains from Laina’s face. Her eyes widen and she takes a step back. In her panic-stricken eyes, I see a reflection of the same terror she described in her diary.
I want to reach over the counter and slap Shane. Hard. He was supposed to be apologizing for hurting Laina, not driving her away. Why does he think I gave him time to plan his approach?
I grab Laina’s hand to keep her from bolting, and then I shoot a glare at Shane, hoping he’s not too dense to realize that he’s about to crash and burn. “We’ll just take our food please.”
“Oh, of course.” Shane’s finger hovers for a moment over the cash register, but then he drops his hand to his side. “I forgot. What did you want?”
I’ll give him some credit, at least. He’s doing a pretty good job of delaying our order. Not that it will do him much good, if he doesn’t stop with the creeptastic remarks, but at least he got part of my instructions right.
“Two large ice waters, please,” Laina squeaks.
I nudge her with my elbow.
“Oh yeah, and two cheeseburgers. To go.”
“We’ll eat here,” I say. “And don’t forget my fries. I’m hungry.”
Shane pushes a few buttons, and then he looks up again. “Do you want fries with that?”
I roll my eyes.
“Oh yeah.” He blushes. “You already said that.” He pushes another button, and then he smiles at Laina. “So what have you been up to tonight?”
I wait for Laina to answer, but she’s still looking around wildly, as if she’s trying to plan an escape route. And I kind of don’t blame her, but she’s never going to get over this thing with Shane if she doesn’t talk to him.
Pushing her forward, I start in on a detailed explanation of our crime spree in my most carefree, bubbly voice. I choose my words carefully to make it all sound much more wild and exciting than it actually was, hoping to bring back the Laina who didn’t care about what people were thinking, and had no problem with announcing to the world, or at least to Dave, that she was drunk.
By the time I finish the story, Laina’s lost that scared little bunny rabbit look, and she’s laughing. “Yeah, we’re a couple of dangerous criminals.”
Shane snickers. “How would you like to add grand theft auto to your list of felonies?”
“Ooh, does this mean you’re gonna let us take your car?” Laina asks. Her eyes light up and I resist the urge to make a sarcastic remark about his beat-up old clunker. It’s even older than Laina’s heap. He could probably leave it unlocked and running, keys in the ignition, and still no one would try to take it. But for some reason, Laina loves it. Maybe it’s because it’s a convertible. Or maybe it reminds her of those cheesy old movies from the fifties that she likes to watch so much.
Or maybe because it belongs to Shane.
He laughs and shakes his head. “Sorry. You know I don’t let anybody drive my baby. But I’ll give you a ride in her.” He hesitates, and then he takes a deep breath and re
aches across the counter to brush a stray curl out of Laina’s eyes. He tucks it behind her ear and rests his palm against her cheek for a moment before pulling away again. “Anywhere you want to go.”
I feel like I’m intruding on a private moment, but she’s still freaking out. If I tried to give them some privacy now, he’d lose her for sure.
Laina closes her eyes and sighs dreamily, and I relax a little bit.
I wonder if Shane is going to try to kiss her right here and now. I wonder if she’ll let him. But then she shudders and opens her eyes. I can tell she’s still struggling with the urge to flee, and I tense up, ready to grab her arm and drag her back if I have to, but she plasters on a smile and forces a small, tight laugh.
“Anywhere I want?” She hesitates. “What about Disneyland? I’ve always wanted to go there, and they say it’s the happiest place on earth.”
I snort. Disneyland? My sister might be good at practically everything, but she sucks at improvisation.
Shane grins. “Sure. Want to go tonight? My shift here ends in about an hour, and then I’m all yours. I might even be able to find a deserted dirt road where we could run out of gas along the way, and then I can really take you to the happiest place on earth.”
He winks at her and I gasp. The guy’s a freaking moron! Did he not see her reaction earlier?
The color drains from Laina’s face, but she doesn’t try to escape. She stands there, speechless, while Shane grins at her. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I can see the disaster coming, but I can’t do anything to stop it.
Laina takes a slow, deep breath. “Well, if I can’t steal your car, then how does grand theft auto fit into our plan? You do realize that I’m not up to committing any real felonies, right?”
“Yeah, I got that.” Shane flashes a smile so sexy that even my heart skips a beat, and then he reaches across the counter to take her hand. “Don’t worry. Leading you down the path to a life of crime is not exactly the way I’d like to corrupt you.”
And just like that, he’s blown it again.
Laina turns a brilliant shade of fire engine red, and she backs away from the counter, pulling out of my grasp. She looks like she wants to run, but I think she’s afraid he might pounce if she takes her eyes off of him for even a moment.
I’ve gotta give the boy credit. He certainly isn’t shy.
Incredibly stupid, but not shy.
I know I should probably step up and save them from this hole they’re digging themselves into, but the train-wreck is too ridiculous. My giggles turn into full-on laughter, and before I know it, I’m laughing too hard to even stand up straight. I slide to the floor and lean back against the counter.
“That’s not what I meant,” Laina mumbles.
“Oh, I know,” he says. “You’re not like that. That’s what I love about you. Don’t mind me, I’m … I don’t know why I said that.”
Even from my position on the floor, I can see the panic growing in Laina’s eyes. She’s half a heartbeat away from running straight to Jarod’s overprotective arms. Which is exactly the opposite of what should be happening.
“So how much do we owe you?” I ask, jumping to my feet, my laughter dissolving as I fight down a mini panic attack of my own.
Shane blinks rapidly, as if he’s waking up from a dream. “What?”
I point to the cash register. “Our cheeseburgers and fries. How much?”
“Oh, right.” He pushes a few buttons and then looks up again. “No charge. How can it be grand theft, if you pay for it?” He reaches behind the counter and grabs a little, plastic toy car, one of the Burger Barn kids’ meal toys, and holds it up proudly. “And here. This makes it ‘grand theft auto,’ right?” He holds the car out toward Laina, but his cocky grin fades when she refuses to take it.
“We’re gonna go sit down,” I say, grabbing the car and pulling Laina toward an empty booth. “You’ll bring that out to us when it’s ready?”
“You wait for the food,” Laina says. “I’ll be right back.” She twists her arm out of my grasp and bolts for the bathroom. I consider following her, but at this point, I think I’d only make it worse. Operation crime spree has been a complete and total bust from start to finish.
When did I lose control?
I slump into the booth and bury my face in my hands.
“I screwed up, didn’t I?”
I look up to see Shane, standing next to me, staring across the room at the closed bathroom door.
“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you to practice what you were going to say? What on earth possessed you to channel a drunken frat boy?”
He shoves his hands in his pockets and stares at the floor. “I know. I’m stupid. It’s just … I don’t know. I can’t think straight when I’m around her. I practiced. Honest.” He glances back toward the bathroom. “But as soon as I saw you guys walk in, my mind went blank.”
He drops to his knees, hands clasped in supplication. “You can fix it, right? Let her know I’m not really a creep?”
“I don’t know, lover boy. From what I’ve seen, I’m not too impressed. And Laina deserves to be with one of the good guys.”
“Yeah.” He stands slowly and backs away. “I know. I don’t deserve her. Tell her I’m sorry, okay? I’d take it all back if I could. I didn’t mean to … I’m sorry.” He shuffles back to his place behind the counter and busies himself refilling straw dispensers and napkin holders, watching for Laina the entire time.
At least he has enough good sense to realize that he’s blown it.
“Okay, I totally get why you like this Shane guy,” I whisper, when Laina finally comes out of the bathroom. “I would definitely fall for a guy who looked at me the way he looks at you.”
Laina shakes her head. “He’s not interested in the real me.”
I glance over my shoulder to where Shane is putting together our order. “That guy is completely in love with you.”
“I cannot face him again. Maybe I could transfer to a different chemistry class. But the only other section is second period. That conflicts with band. Maybe there’s an online option?”
“You’re not gonna change your schedule,” I say. “Don’t be such a drama queen.”
Shane brings over a tray with our cheeseburgers, and a mountain of fries. “Here’s your ‘grand theft’ order. Let me know if you need anything else.” He stares into Laina’s eyes as he sets the tray down in front of her. “Whatever it takes to make you happy.”
I don’t think he’s talking about the Burger Barn promise.
Laina nods, but she doesn’t say anything. She looks at the table and starts rearranging the fries into random patterns on the tray. Finally, Shane clears his throat and smiles. “Well, if you want me, you know where to find me.” He reaches out, as if to take Laina’s hand again, but then he shakes his head, smiles at us, and returns to his station behind the cash register.
“See? He totally wants you.”
Laina rolls her eyes. “Physical attraction isn’t the same thing as love. Shane’s a big flirt, but that’s all it is. He has a girlfriend remember? What guy in his right mind would break up with the beautiful, perfect, head cheerleader for a band geek like me?”
“What guy in his right mind wouldn’t?”
“But he’s with Rachel.”
“The way he’s looking at you, I bet they’re not even together anymore.” At least, I hope they’re not. I forgot to make sure they actually broke up. “Want me to go ask?”
I start to get up, but Laina grabs my arm and pulls me back to my seat. “Don’t say a word,” she hisses.
I polish off the fries and both burgers because Laina refuses to eat, and I was so not kidding when I said I was hungry. Laina fidgets nervously in her seat as I scarf down the food, staring at Shane the entire time. But she refuses to go talk to him, and he doesn’t come back.
Finally, I can’t think of any more reason to hang around, so I grab my purse and stand up. “You ready to go, then?”
> Laina nods and jumps up, grabbing the empty tray and dumping it into the trash can next to our table.
“You sure you don’t want me to talk to him? I’ll find out everything you need to know.”
“No!” Her protest obviously comes out louder than she’d intended, and she blushes when Shane looks up from the spot on the counter that he’s been washing for the past five minutes. “I’ll talk to him later, I promise.” And she pulls me outside before I can object.
She won’t, of course, but I will.
I know I technically promised Jarod I’d help him get Laina, but that was before he kissed me. He can’t expect me to keep the promise now. And watching Shane and Laina last night convinced me that they’re kind of awkwardly perfect for each other.
At least, this is what I tell myself as I dial Shane’s number.
Again, he answers on the first ring, all out of breath and excited. “Alaina? Hi. I wanted to call you, but I—”
“Wrong again.”
“Oh. What do you want? I already know I was an idiot last night, so you can save your breath.” He inhales sharply. “Wait. Did Alaina ask you to call? What did she say?”
“No, actually, she asked me not to call, but I need to make sure you’re not going to break my sister’s heart again. If you’re still with Rachel …”
“What? No, of course not. That’s over. I told you I was going to break up with her.” He pauses and takes a slow, deep breath. “But it turns out, I didn’t even have to. Rachel sent me a text yesterday morning. She met someone else. So it’s over and no one had to get hurt.”
I can hear the smile behind his words, and I know he’s proud of himself. “Lover boy, you’re an idiot. You were supposed to break up with Rachel, not the other way around.”
“What’s the difference? As long as it’s over, who cares who ended it? The point is that we’re not together anymore, right?”
Why are boys so stupid about relationships?
“If you broke up with Rachel for Laina, then everyone would know you made your choice. But since you waited until Rachel dumped you for another guy, everyone will wonder if Laina’s a rebound girl to get back at Rachel.” I pause to let my words sink in. “And by ‘everyone,’ I mean Laina,” I say, in case he’s too dense to figure it out on his own.
Twleve Steps Page 8
