Best Dating Rules, Tamie Dearen [literature books to read txt] 📗

with Josh when he wasn’t around. But how could he insist she sit around alone when he was secretly working? And now, she was going to wonder why he didn’t call her back.

Rather than risk waking her, he sent a text. “Sorry I missed you. Accidentally turned ringer off. Project went long. Call you in the morning.”

He’d had a great night in tips so far. One Friday or Saturday night was probably worth two weeknights. But he couldn’t give up many weekend nights with Emily, or she’d get suspicious.

“Hey, Spencer! Can you get this one?”

Every car was one step closer to getting a ring for Emily. “I’m coming!”*****

Becca scanned the hiking group, searching for Spencer. She was totally frustrated. He hadn’t come on a single hike in a month, not since the day he’d come on the hike looking for Emily. What did he see in her? She was so flat-chested she barely even looked like a girl. All the guys appreciated Becca’s assets and let her know about it. She was very popular, except with Spencer. She hadn’t been able to get his attention, and it really bothered her. Now her phone calls went straight to voicemail, and he never called her back. He seemed to be really angry with her, and it wasn’t even her fault.

It was all Emily’s fault. All she’d done was let him know Emily was going out with another guy. She’d never cheat on Spencer like Emily had. Emily claimed they were only friends, so she was obviously leading him on. She didn’t deserve Spencer. And then Mr. Gherring filed charges against her for slipping a ruffie in Emily’s wine. It was a good thing she’d gone home and flushed the extras down the toilet after he made some remark about her attempting murder. She wasn’t trying to kill Emily. Granted, she put three in the wine glass instead of one, but Emily wouldn’t drink the whole glass of wine. It took her over an hour to drink the first glass. And it wasn’t that dangerous, either—she’d used them herself and always had fun. Emily had probably faked being sick to get attention from Spencer.

Becca knew she could have any other guy in the hiking club, but now she was determined to have Spencer. Maybe after they’d been together a few times, she’d drop him, just to let him know what rejection felt like. It was almost time for the hike to start, and he still hadn’t shown up. Then she heard Landon mention his name to a group of girls.

“Yeah, Spencer needs a dance teacher so he can dance at some wedding in a few weeks.”

“What kind of dancing?” asked Marsha.

“He said everything, even ballroom dancing.”

“Oh,” she replied, “I don’t know of a teacher for that. Our place has like a hip hop class.”

“Me, neither,” said Leah. “But I could ask around.”

Spencer wanted to take dance lessons? Becca felt like she’d been given a gift—a second chance. “I know a place,” said Becca. “The studio where I take jazzercise has ballroom dance classes on Mondays and Wednesdays.”

Landon scrunched up his nose. “I thought you and Spencer weren’t speaking to each other.”

Becca adopted her most unfairly injured look; “He accused me of something I didn’t even do, but I don’t hold it against him. Some day I hope he’ll find out he was wrong about me, but I’ll just give you the information. He doesn’t have to talk to me or even know it was me that helped him out.”

“Okay, sure. What’s it called?”

“Brooklyn Ballroom Dance and Zumba,” she said. This was a perfect opportunity. Now to make the most of it...*****

Spencer and Emily were already walking on the Highline Park when Landon called with the information about the dance class. “Okay, thanks for the info, Landon. I appreciate it. Yeah, maybe next week.” Everything was falling together nicely. He was quickly saving up a nice nest egg for the ring. Charlie said she could help him pick out a design Emily would like. Now he had a place to take dance lessons, so he could surprise her at Sam and Tanner’s wedding. There was still one tiny little problem. He needed to be sure she would say yes when he asked her.

“What did Landon call about?” asked Emily. “Were you supposed to go on a hike today? You don’t need to miss just because of me.”

“I’m not anxious to go on another hike when Becca might be there. Your dad said we should watch out for her.”

“I don’t know. I still think he’s over-reacting.”

“Don’t be naïve, Emily.”

“Don’t lecture me—I’m not naïve.”

Of course she was naïve. She’d trusted Becca enough to call her for information about that hike, and couldn’t believe Becca had drugged her wine. But he wisely clamped his mouth shut, and searched for a way to change the subject.

“So how was your date with Josh last night?” He couldn’t help the jealousy that crept into his voice. He didn’t trust Josh alone with Emily, no matter how much he swore he liked Charlie instead.

“It wasn’t a date. We split the cost of a pizza, and he certainly didn’t kiss me.”

“I don’t trust him,” he pouted.

“It sounds like you don’t trust me.”

“That’s not it. I don’t... I don’t like to think of you alone with him—with any other guy. Wouldn’t you feel the same way? I mean, what if I spent an evening alone with Candace or Becca or Leah?”

“Who’s Leah?”

“She’s just a girl in the hiking... That’s not the point. The point is, wouldn’t it bother you if I spent an evening alone with another girl?”

“No,” she said stubbornly. Then she grinned, “You could spend an evening alone with Grace or Olivia or Hannah or Claire, and it wouldn’t bother me at all.”

“Then I won’t be bothered when you spend an evening with any of your brothers, either.” He grinned until she laughed.

“Fine, I won’t be alone with Josh again, but it really was completely innocent. And he really is miserable.