Page 20 of The Bad Boyfriend Curse
His face softens and he chuckles at my story.
“So,” I say, giving him my most persuasive smile. “Remember yesterday when you told me that you’ve never been to thecountry club? And you’d want to see people’s faces if you ever went?”
He bends to pick up the weed I just pulled out. “Yeah.”
“Would you really want to?”
He shakes his head. “Like, to work? Nah. A buddy of mine was a waiter there last summer. He said the customers are seriously demanding. He barely made any tips. I’ll never understand why rich people are so cheap.”
I frown. Is Jason like that? Mom always tips well because she waited tables in college; she’d never marry a bad tipper. Right?
I’m getting away from the topic. “I don’t mean for work. I mean…” I exhale and shake out the disorganized thoughts in my head. Why am I so nervous? “You said that you would, like,go outwith me to piss off my parents. Does that offer stand if it’s not areal date?”
Noah freezes, a tuft of weeds in his hand and a confused expression on his face.
“I’m asking you topretendto date me.”
He blinks. “Pretend?”
“I mean, nothing against you, but, um, I’m just not ready toactuallydate anyone right now because of my terrible first date.” I take a deep breath. This is ridiculous. Why did I ever think this was a good idea? “But my parents are having this party at the country club on the weekend, and they said I could bring someone. Mom would be annoyed if I brought a guy because… because never mind why, but…” I pause. “It wouldn’t be arealdate. Just a—”
“Apiss off your folksdate?” he asks, one eyebrow raised.
I nod, my heart beating heavily in my chest. I’ve insulted him. I’ve implied that he’s not good enough for the country club. “I mean, Idoactually want you to come… as my friend, because I’ll barely know anyone, and we’re friends, right? But we’d let others think it’s a date. My stepfather is kind of important in this town, and”—I sigh, my shoulders slumping—“I want my mom and stepfather to send me back to Toronto.”
“And if you date someone like me, you think they will send you back?”
I can’t read his expression at all. I look down and shrug. “I don’t know. Probably. But I don’t mean that you’re not good enough for the club or for me, or anything like that. I’m not the country club type either.” I exhale. “But they want to turn me into the country club type.” I bite my lip to stop myself from saying something else dumb. I’ve probably lost the closest thing I have to a friend at CROP.
“Who’s your stepfather?” Noah asks.
“Jason. Jason LeClair. His father owns LeClair Industries, and Jason works there and is a city councilor, too.”
Noah blinks, then lets out a long puff of air. He doesn’t exactly look surprised.
“I’ll make it up to you,” I say quickly. “I mean, I can do all the weeding for the rest of the week alone, and next week I’ll—”
He shakes his head, his face transforming into a slow smile. “You don’t need to doanythingfor me, Noorani. I’ll do it.”
“Seriously?” I ask.
“Seriously.” His smile is huge, but there’s a tigerlike glint to it, mischievous and dangerous. “It would be my absolutepleasureto be your pretend date for Jason LeClair’s country club party.”
I grin. He said yes. Noah Jacobs and I are going to the country club together.
CHAPTER NINEMy First Visit to Donut Den
I’m still a little shocked that Noah agreed to go to Jason’s party, and I’m quite positive that he’ll back out at some point between now and Saturday. But I still tell him everything I know about the event while we keep weeding. Well, almost everything. I don’t mention that Jason’s going to announce that he’s running for mayor, because I promised Jason I wouldn’t tell anyone.
“My mom says it’s semiformal, not that I know what that means for a country club. Her wedding was there, but I wore a fancy lehenga to the wedding. That’s an Indian outfit. I’m getting a dress. I guess semiformal for guys is a nice shirt? I can try to get you one if you don’t have any. I mean, you’re doing this favor for me, so I don’t want to put you out or anything.” I frown. Can I ask Mom to add a men’s shirt to our shopping list?
“Wouldn’t I be a better terrible date if I dressed like this?” He’s wearing black jeans and a T-shirt again. Today’s is a green Sonic Youth one. I wonder if he buys these shirts at vintage stores. I should ask him if there are any in town.
I like how Noah looks in his band shirts, and I get why he listed them as something important to him. They’re soft andworn, so they hang perfectly off his square shoulders. And the short sleeves show off his strong, tanned arms and his spiderweb tattoo. I honestly can’t imagine what he would look like in formal clothes. Or even semiformal. There’s no way he would look as good as he does in his old T-shirts.
I sigh. Ineedto stop lusting after this guy. I never thought I would ever be into the bad-boy look, but here we are. The curse ispotent.
I plunge the weed puller into another weed. “Good point.” I’m such a rule-follower. It truly never occurred to me to not follow the dress code. “But then again, maybe they won’t let you in if you don’t follow the dress code?”
