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“It is, but Coach doesn’t trust a whole football team to stay home and behave on a Friday night.”
Considering what she’d heard going on at Drew’s house the night before, Nicole couldn’t blame him. “Probably smart.”
“Yeah. You’re coming to the game tomorrow, right?”
“I can’t. I have a hair appointment.” She left out the part about getting her hair done before her date with Cedric.
From the silence on the other end, she guessed he’d put it together.
“Cool.” One word, and she could feel him pulling back.
“It’s just dinner. I can’t back out now.”
“You can do whatever you want, Nicole.”
“I know. But we talked about this.”
“I can’t stop you from going on your date with Craig.”
“You mean Cedric.”
“Whoever the fuck. But it’s only fair that you let me take you out too.”
Nicole bit back a smile. “So we’re going on a date?”
“No. A non-date. You said you don’t date athletes, so this wouldn’t be a date. It would be two people who like each other in the exact same place at the exact same time, doing the exact same thing. Completely different.”
“That sounds a lot like a date, Drew.”
“I’d never disrespect your very strict no-athletes policy.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she said, laughing.
“So is that a yes?”
This was where she should’ve said no, or at least told him she’d think about it. But she wanted to say yes so badly that she was afraid he’d hear exactly how eager she was the second she opened her mouth.
“Let’s figure it out next week.”
“Which is a yes.”
“Good night, Drew.”
“Good night, beautiful.”
For a while after she hung up, Nicole lay with the phone resting on her chest, her heart still going too fast. It felt like she’d just stepped off a roller coaster at Kings Dominion and already wanted to get back in line.
Tomorrow she had a date with Cedric, and that was where her mind should’ve been. Instead, she kept going back over every second of it, especially the part where Drew called her beautiful. Before long, she was imagining what it would be like to go out with him on a real date, whatever he wanted to call it.
Eventually, she peeled herself off the bed and headed out to the living room, where Bailey hadn’t moved an inch.
“So?” Bailey asked.
“What?”
The look Bailey gave her was the same one she’d been getting since freshman year: You’re a terrible liar, so don’t even start.
“He asked me out,” Nicole admitted.
