How to Date the Guy You Hate by Julie Kriss Page 0,35
took it out and looked at it and frowned.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said. He moved to put the phone back in his pocket, but it went off again. And a third time.
“See what I mean?” I said. “Girls are texting you right now.”
He shrugged, his expression closed down. “It’s nothing important,” he said. “Let’s roll.”
By six o’clock, we were lost. There was a detour off the interstate, and we were on a back road somewhere, with I-90 long gone behind us. The sun was going down behind the thick trees, we were tired of driving, and we were both starving.
“This is ridiculous,” I said. “I can’t believe the map and the GPS failed us.” The map was useless, and we were far into the land of no signal. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Okay, I think we should stop for the night and rest. We’ll get back on the interstate tomorrow.”
“No argument from me,” Jason said. “It’s nice around here, anyway.”
He was right. We were somewhere in the Finger Lakes in New York, and this far off the interstate there was nothing but trees, fresh air, and water. We drove down a back road until we saw a sign advertising an inn ahead. There were no street lights, and Jason navigated through the growing dusk as we looked for the turnoff to the inn.
“Well, I guess this will be better than a Motel 6 for the night,” I said. And more expensive, I tried not to fret.
The inn was set back in the trees, a three-story building surrounded by beautiful gardens. Yellow light was starting to glow from the big windows, and balconies in the rooms overlooked the large front terrace. The property backed onto a crisp, clear lake behind it. It looked like the kind of place you’d go on a honeymoon, not spend the night with a guy you roped in to being your wedding date. I swallowed and tried not to panic about the cost.
The woman at the front desk beamed at Jason, barely looking at me, and listened raptly as he told her we’d gotten lost and needed a place to stay for the night. Moms swoon over Jason, grandmas, everyone, Dean had said. He’s that guy. This woman was old enough to be his mother, but she was so smitten she gave us a discount on the room and smiled at me happily as she handed him the key. “You lucky girl,” she said to me when Jason turned away to grab our bags. “Such a lovely boyfriend.”
I didn’t bother arguing with her. I was too distracted by the fact that Jason had gotten us a single room.
“Hey,” I said, following him as he lugged our bags up the stairs to the second floor. “You only got one room.”
“It’s cheaper than two,” he said sensibly.
“I never agreed to be roommates on this trip.”
“Relax.” He’d reached the top landing, and even though he was carrying all our bags, he wasn’t even out of breath. “I got a room with two beds.”
The room was nothing short of beautiful. It had two big beds, a desk, and a sliding door to a balcony that overlooked the lake. It definitely looked like a romantic honeymoon suite, except for the two beds. I tried not to think about the two beds.
Still, despite everything I started to feel more relaxed the minute I came through the door. It had been a long day, and I had barely been sleeping since the appointment with Dr. Pfeiffer. When I sat on the edge of one of the beds and felt myself sink into it, I almost groaned.
Jason glanced at his watch. “Room service?” he said. “I don’t know about you, but there’s no way I’m going back out to the dining room.”
So we ordered sandwiches and beer from room service, and ate it out on the balcony, watching night fall over the water. It was beautiful, the air crisp and clean, and I felt my muscles relaxing. I slowly stopped worrying about beds or money or Dr. Pfeiffer or Kyle’s wedding or the fact that the woman at the front desk had thought Jason was my boyfriend. I just sipped my cold beer and watched the water and the trees, with Jason sitting next to me.
“I’m going to wash up,” Jason said at last. “Then the bathroom is yours.” He got up and left me alone. I listened to the crickets until I heard a buzzing sound. Jason had