Operation Prom Date (Tactics in Flirting #1)(11)
“Because you’re not like every other girl.” I put my hands on her shoulders. She was wearing a tank top, and her skin was smooth and soft, and whatever perfume or soap she’d used smelled girly and awesome, and…delicious. That was the best way to describe it. So good I wanted to take a lick.
Clearly it’s been too long since any girl threw herself at me.
I quickly dropped my hands. “But before he can see that, we have to get him to see you. That involves talking to him. Making him think about you.” Man, this conversation was weird, and one I hoped I’d never have to have. Or, I guess more like I’d never known I would need to hope for that, but I definitely did now. “And I do have a plan for that.”
She nodded over and over and some of the tension leaked out of her posture. “It’s just that prom is only getting closer.”
“I know.”
“Which means we’re on a tight deadline.”
“I understand.”
Her lips pressed together, the shimmery lip stuff on them drawing my attention for a moment before I snapped out of it. My focus was crap today. I blamed the bomb Dad dropped and the fact that it’d been a while since I’d kissed anyone. As soon as I got Pecker to notice Kate, I really needed to find a girl for myself. Hell, maybe I’d even go to prom.
I thought about the hoopla, from the tux with the matching vest or cumber-whatever-the-hell-it-was to the expectation of a fancy dinner and limo rides, and ruled it out. No thanks.
“But do you? Do you really?” Kate asked. “I don’t think you understand how important this is to me. I feel like you think prom is just a silly dance.”
She wasn’t far off. “I get it, it’s a rite of passage or whatever, but to me, it’s more like…” A big waste of time. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so I softened it to, “A lot of time and effort for one little night you’ll barely remember in a few years.”
Dealing with things like the big dance and other high school drama would only cut into time on the lake, and now I had even less of it. I’d fulfill my end of the bargain, but I wasn’t going to let anything else get in the way.
Since Kate still looked concerned, I added, “But I understand that it’s important to you, and I won’t let you down, okay?”
“Okay,” she said with a nod. She gestured over her shoulder. “Want a Dr Pepper? I was about to grab one.”
“That’d be great, thanks.” I followed her as she walked into a cozy kitchen that was vastly different from the large, ultra-modern one in my house—it was stainless steel and hanging pots over a massive granite island, all function. The decorations in this room had no rhyme or reason. A clock with colorful owls but no numbers sat over the stove, teacup-covered curtains hung over the window at the sink, and a wooden shelf held an assortment of ceramic figurines. Things like colorful roosters, cats, and a split in half Scooby Doo van. A closer glance revealed them to be salt and pepper shakers.
Every inch of the white fridge was covered in pictures, some newer ones of Kate and her mom, and some older of them with her dad. He wore Air Force fatigues in most, and several had him in his uniform. I knew he’d passed away a couple of years ago, right before Kate started at AA, but I didn’t know enough to broach the topic.
The cool can Kate handed me felt nice against my palm, and the crack of the tab and hiss of the bubbles were all that filled the air for a moment.
When Kate pulled the tab on hers, she groaned. “Thanks to the horrid training schedule you’re forcing on me, even opening a soda hurts.”
I grinned at her. “You love it.”
“I love the lake. The rowing—especially the kind required to go fast—I could toss right in the water. I’d just watch it sink, happy as could be.”
I put a hand over my heart like an arrow had hit me. “You wound me and my sport with your words.”
Her laughter echoed through the colorful room. “You’re too much.” She took a swig of her soda and gestured toward the hallway. “My notebook’s in my room. Let’s go put together a full game plan for Operation Prom Date. I always feel better when I get my strategies down on paper.”
I wondered if her dad used to speak in all military code, and if that was why she talked in terms like that and insisted on naming our operation. But again, it was above my clearance level. Great. Now I’m doing it.
The uniquely decorated kitchen had nothing on Kate’s room. Bright blue paint on the walls, colorful paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and the black fan had white polka dots. A beaded curtain hung over her window, sending flashes of colored light around the room and across her dresser, where several framed pictures sat. The bursting-at-the seams bookshelf on the opposite side also had bigheaded figures lining the shelves. Oh, and a giant lizard wearing a tiny, yellow knitted scarf sat in the middle of her bed. It cocked its head at me, making the spiky parts on its neck stick out.
“That’s Klaus,” Kate said. “Don’t worry, he’s got a much better temperament than his namesake.”
“Oh? And who is he named after?”
“An original vampire. From the show The Originals? Technically he was on The Vampire Diaries first, but they did a spin off, and anyway…” She scooped up the creature as she sat on her bed. “Klaus kills for fun—the vampire. This Klaus is too lazy to do much of anything.”