Claiming Callie: Part two (23 page)

“
Wait. Hold up.
” Emmett holds a hand up. “Dude, you have
n
’
t even kissed her yet? Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I tried, but—”

“No. Not in front of hundreds of people, on a basketball court, when you
’
re all nasty and sweaty. Dude, you
’
ve gotta have game, and you
’
ve proven you have some in that stupid head of
yours. You did the whole rose thing. Asshole move, by the way. You
’
ve raised the bar for every guy because all the girls at the game that night want sappy shit like that now. But that
’
s beside the point. This is your time, and you
’
re wasting it. You two ar
e supposed to be pretending to be together and you haven
’
t even kissed yet?”

Dean plops down in his desk chair, feeling his face flush in full force
. Nothing like being called out by your best friend.
“It
’
s complicated.”

“No. It
’
s black and white, and you
’
re being a pussy. I don
’
t care how you do it, but it
’
s time. You did this whole thing to get the girl, man. So stop pissin
’
around and go get her. You need to kiss the shit out of her. Kiss her like you
’
re the last two people on Earth, like you
’
re from
The
Blue Lagoon
movie, except without the creepy incestuous part. You
’
ve gotta bring the moves and kiss her like you might never get another chance to lock lips with another chick again. Like every second away from her lips is killing you. Like you
’
ll die if
you don
’
t get her
—”

“That
is
how I feel,” Dean says, exasperated. His heart throbs in his chest at Emmett
’
s words because it
’
s as if they came straight from his own heart. “And I said I needed to kiss her, didn
’
t I?”

“Yeah. You did. I
’
m just making sure yo
u actually do it.” Emmett stands and punches Dean in the arm. “It
’
s time. Stop being such a douche and show her what it
’
s like to be with Dean Michaels. How it feels to kiss him. Because the way I see it, you
’
re losing the battle fast. Your ship is sinking
, and the only way to save yourself is to pull some tricks out of the bag. Lift the wool off her eyes, man, and fucking show her what she
’
s been missing with you this whole time.”

Dean purses his lips. “You’re just full of metaphors today.”

Emmett shrugs.
“Hey, what can I say? I
’
m smart like that.”

“But I wanted our first kiss to be because
she
wanted to kiss me. Not because we
’
re showing off or pretending.”

Emmett stabs a finger at him. “Do it, dude! Just do it. That shit can come later. Let me ask you: do
you want to win her over, then have the privilege of kissing her the rest of your life because she wants to? Or do you want to risk waiting for the moment that may never come? Soon enough, she’s going to find out Maya already wants you back and then this
charade you’ve worked so hard for will be over, along with your chances.”

#

The sun has already set in the sky and dusk has turned to dark as Dean pulls up to his family home. Lights from within glow golden behind thick drapes, cocooning the house from wit
hin. Dean can see his mother
’
s silhouette moving
inside, probably preparing the table and excitedly awaiting their arrival.

He glances over to Callie, who sits next to him. Her face is a mask, completely unreadable in the dim light, and he wishes he could
better see her expression to get a glimpse of what she might be feeling.

Clearing her throat from the backseat, Jinny pipes up, “
Well, I
’
m heading inside. I
’
ll let you two lovebirds go in together.”

Jinny hasn
’
t given her opinion on their decision to let t
heir parents think they
’
re really a couple. In fact, she
’
s been surprisingly mute on the subject.

“Why didn
’
t you bring Todd again?” Callie asks as Jinny opens the door.

“Pfft. You think I
’
m crazy? No way in hell am I bringing anyone home unless I
’
m
thinking marriage or babies. And Todd? Mom would take one look at his long hair, raise one brow, and I
’
d be either scurrying to defend him the rest of the evening or cowering in the corner at her interrogation. No thanks.” She gets out of the car and close
s the door, shouting through the closed window. “I
’
ll tell
Mom that you
’
ll be in soon. Don
’
t be too long, though, or she
’
ll die of anticipation.” Jinny rolls her eyes and leaves.

Dean watche
s Jinny walk away. His stomach is a bed of writhing snakes. All he
could think about all day is Maya and her declaration of feelings for him. Before long, she would blow the lid off Operation Get the Girl and it would be over. Callie would walk away, thinking she helped him, and where would he be? No further than he is n
ow. He’d be stuck in the same rut he’s been in for the past seven years.

There’s no way he’s letting that happen.

Maybe this isn
’
t the most convenient opportunity for their first kiss, but he doesn’t have a second to lose, especially not with Maya complica
ting things.

“You ready for this?” Dean asks once Jinny disappears inside.

Callie turns to him. Her eyes sparkle with nerves in the low light. “I think so. We can do this, right?”

“Sure.”

“And you
’
re still on
board? With going along with this, for their sak
e?”

He licks his lips. “Of course.”
It
’
s time. Do it!
“I
’
ve been thinking, though…” His heart beats faster and the snakes in his gut writhe harder with excitement until he feels as though they may find a way out. “If we
’
re going to keep pretending… If we
want to make Maya jealous, and if we want people to believe we
’
re really a couple, we have to be one hundred percent convincing. Right? One hundred percent comfortable with each other.”

“Right. Yes, of course,” she says, shifting in her seat.

“And so we ca
n’t have what happened at the basketball game happen again. Can we?” Maybe it’s a low blow. He knows how awful she felt about blowing the kiss, but it’s the best tool he has in his arsenal.

Her gaze flickers nervously over his face before she answers, her
voice tentative. “No. I suppose not.”

“I think the best way to get to Maya is for us to kiss in front of her. She needs to see more than cuddling and holding hands.”

“Oh.” He watches as Callie inhales, her gaze leaving his for a moment as she seems to dige
st this information.

Now. Before she can overthink it!

“I want to kiss you. Right now. Before we’re in front of her, so it’s natural.”

“You do? Now?”

He hears the way her voice catches on the words and it nearly tears him apart.

Would it be so bad? Am I t
hat unappealing?

He lets the thought fuel him. He can feel the fire in his chest. The heat pulsing with the beat of his heart, solidifying his resolve. He’s going to show her. He’s going to blow her away and prove how incredible they can be together.

His
gaze flickers to her lips. They’re painted a dark pink and they look so soft. “Definitely. We should. Think of it as practice, a dress rehearsal of sorts.”

“Okay. Maybe you’re right.” Callie nods. “It’s eventually going to come up. We’ll need to kiss, so…”

He leans forward and places his hand on the side of her face as a herd of buffalo invades his chest. Trying to quiet the beat of his heart, he asks, “So you agree? You want me to kiss you?”