set.”
“What do we do until then, Crazy Girl?” I asked.
Callie blushed and shook her head.
“We wait,” Zara said.
Even though I’d never had two days pass more slowly in my life, Wednesday finally came. We rode in Callie’s car to her house, as to not raise suspicion. Since Carson lived right next door, we walked to his house, and he guided us to his room.
There were football posters on the wall, a photo of him and Callie on the shelf, and one of him and all his older sisters on the wall. They were beautiful, each of them, with curves and hips and all.
As Ginger walked around the room, planting little microphones in obscure places, Carson said, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Callie put her hand on his shoulder. “Remember the tickets.”
He turned his eyes toward the ceiling. “Sold my soul to the devil, I did.”
She laughed. “You sound like Yoda.”
“Someone in here needs to have some wisdom.”
Zara rolled her eyes. “This is all part of the plan. We need to know what Beckett likes in a girl, especially since he doesn’t like Merritt anymore. What is he looking for next?”
Carson sat on his bed. “I know, but I don’t want to see him get hurt either.” His eyes landed on me, waiting for a reassurance that I easily gave.
“I don’t want to hurt him,” I said. “I’ve liked him for years.” That last part was harder to admit, especially for how pathetic it sounded—secretly harboring a crush for someone and never doing anything about it.
“Years?” Carson asked. “I thought this was about a bet.”
I sat on Carson’s bed and sighed. “It was freshman year, after my best friend moved away. I was lonely, and no one wanted to pick me in freshman gym class. Like, ever. I was always last. One day, Beckett picked me first. He picked me. And after that, people didn’t tease me as much.” The familiar flood of shame and gratitude filled me. “I know he has a good heart, and the more I get to know him...the more I like him.” I sighed and put my head in my hands, knowing all of this was a longshot.
Callie put a hand on my back. “He would be lucky to have you.”
Carson’s voice was gruff. “It sounds like it.”
“I think it’s the other way around,” I said earnestly, then looked up at the others, desperate for a change in subject. “Are we good to go, Ging? I don’t want to be here when Beckett shows up.”
“Almost,” she said. “I just need to figure out where to put this.” She held up a Star Wars pin. “It has a tiny camera in it so we can see what’s happening. Do you have a corkboard, Carson?”
He shook his head. “And my mom would kill me if we put a hole in the wall.”
“Hmm.” She stepped toward Carson, wielding the pin.
He stepped back. “What are you doing with that thing?”
“I’m not going to stab you!” she cried. “I’m just going to put it in your shirt.”
“No way.” He backed up until his hips hit his desk and he had nowhere to go with all five of us girls in the room. “I’m not that big of a nerd.”
Callie moved from me and held his arm. “Do it for the tickets.”
“Is this what the dark side feels like?” he asked, only half joking, and held still as Ginger pinned it on his shirt. “This movie better be good.”
“Oh, it will be,” Zara said, an evil gleam in her eyes. “But not as good as the one we’re about to watch.”
Then the doorbell rang.
Eighteen
I completely froze, stuck on Carson’s bed. Carson stood just as still as I sat.
“Crap!” Ginger cried.
Zara’s eyes flitted from the door to the closet to the second-story window, calculating.
“Crap,” Ginger repeated.
“Shh,” Callie said. “Carson, go down and take him to the garage for drinks.”
Robotically, he followed her directions, and Callie turned to us. “Now, we’re leaving out the back while they’re out there.”
Zara raised an eyebrow. “Out back? Why can’t we just use the front door?”
Callie pointed out Carson’s front window where we had a clear view of Beckett’s Mercedes in the street. From the other window, we could see Callie’s room. Jeez, was this house conspiring against us?
My heart pounded with each second that passed, afraid of being caught. “What do we do once we get outside?”
“Follow me. There’s a path to the gate between our yards, then we’ll go in through the back door,” Callie said.
Carson’s