“Would you mind if I took a look at it?” Even as Callie’s father asked the question, he was halfway down the front steps.
“Not at all.” Some of the tension tightening Spencer’s shoulders dissipated. He followed Mr. Rhodes to the curb, pleased that he appreciated how special this car was.
Walking around the vehicle, Bill Rhodes nodded several times, showing his admiration. “What a sweet ride. Be sure and let your dad know how impressed I am.”
“I will for sure,” Spencer said, unable to hide the pride in his voice.
He turned to Spencer and beamed at him. “It’s about time my daughter showed some sense. Makes me proud that she’s dating you.”
“We aren’t dating.” Spencer wanted to clear away any misconception before matters escalated and their parents got involved.
“I hope that changes after tonight,” Bill said. “Between you, me, and the goalpost—no pun intended—I’ve never been enthusiastic about Callie dating that football player she seems so fond of. The kid has more brawn than brains.”
Bill had always been a good judge of character.
“Come on back to the house, and I’ll see if Callie’s ready.”
Spencer followed him into the entryway. It’d been a few years since his last visit and there were some changes. The sofa was new, and the carpet, too. Callie was nowhere in sight, and he wondered if she’d linger until the last minute to avoid any extra time spent in his presence.
After a few minutes, when Callie remained absent, Claire, her mother, went upstairs to collect her. Another five minutes passed before Callie descended the stairs like royalty, her head held high. She avoided making eye contact with Spencer, which was fine by him.
The sooner this night was over, the better all around.
When he did chance a look at her, he was again struck by her beauty and had to remind himself, after everything she’d put him through, that it was only skin deep. Long gone was the girl he once knew. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Spencer handed her the obligatory small wrist corsage.
“White roses,” Claire said, with a meaningful sigh. “For my first big high school dance, my boyfriend gave me a corsage with white roses.”
Callie rolled her eyes.
Spencer noticed she didn’t produce a boutonniere for him. That was par for the course.
“Pictures,” her mother insisted with girlish excitement. “I want pictures.” Before either Spencer or Callie could object, she held up her phone and snapped several.
“Get one of them by the car,” Bill added, following them out of the house.
They were delayed another five minutes while Claire Rhodes took one photo after another of the couple alongside the Dodge Dart.
Callie’s parents stood on the lawn, their arms around each other as Spencer started the engine and drove off.
The silence in the car was as thick as a rubber tire. Neither said a word until Spencer parked outside the school gymnasium. It was time to break the silence and get this over with as quickly as he could.
“I know you aren’t happy that I’m your homecoming date, Callie. You’ve made your feelings clear from the beginning. When I suggested dinner, you flatly refused reminding me you had only agreed to the dance. Fine. I did my part and now you will do yours.”
She sat like a stone statue beside him. “You manipulated me into going with you,” she reminded him.
“No, I didn’t, we made a deal. Trust me when I say it’s been one of the biggest regrets of my life. And you went out of your way to make sure of it.”
She turned to glare at him. “It doesn’t help that you weren’t able to do what you said you could.”
“I said,” he reminded her, trying to control the irritation in his voice, “I’d do my best and I did. At the risk of who knows what, I hacked into Ben’s phone and email accounts and found nothing. You were the one who seemed to think I’d find some hidden information there.”
“He guards his phone and his laptop like it’s the Holy Grail. What else was I to believe?”
“If you remember, I said straight up that no drug dealer would be stupid enough to leave an Internet trail.”
She didn’t answer him. Her arms were crossed and her nose so far up she’d drown in a rainstorm.
Spencer drew in a breath before he spoke. “I do want to thank you, though.”
“Oh?”
“You taught me a lesson I’m not likely to forget.”
“Not to manipulate people,” she said, with a smug twist.