How do you lie to your best friend? I never saw it in me to lie to Kevin before. So when I opened my mouth, I frankly still had no clue what to say.
As if on cue, a hand slid around my waist, and I was immediately overwhelmed by an oddly familiar presence beside me. "Kaylie," he said, and I looked up, my eyes meeting with his gorgeous blue ones.
Thomas flashed me a smile, before greeting Kevin. "What are you doing here?" Kevin asked as he ambled over to us. At that point I was just praying Thomas knew what he was doing. Because clearly, I didn't.
"I was actually taking Kaylie out tonight," he said, catching me completely off guard. But Kevin didn't notice, because he simply smirked cheekily, "I see."
Kevin gripped onto my shoulder lightly, the smirk still plastered across his face. "You two have fun," he sang. I chuckled nervously, before tearing my gaze away from Kevin to stare at Thomas.
At that moment, Thomas released his hold on me. "But first I need your help," he said to Kevin. I watched as Thomas led him to his car, describing some kind of faulty wiring and asking if Kevin could fix it.
I stood rooted to the ground, watching from afar as Kevin settled into the driver's seat. Thomas remained outside, leaning against the door as Kevin examined the insides.
As I slowly walked up to them, Thomas turned and looked right at me. He grinned, and then winked before focusing his attention back to Kevin in the car.
A small smile formed across my face when I realized what he was doing. He was stalling Kevin for me. I found myself chuckling quietly. For once, I was actually thankful for Thomas.
For the next ten minutes, I watched as Thomas aimlessly dragged Kevin around his car, probably searching for a defect that wasn't even there.
Every once in a while Thomas would glance at me, shooting me a look that translated to what am I doing? I couldn't help but smile whenever he did that. And to be fair, I was being genuine.
"That should be fine," Thomas eventually said. I came up to them, finding myself beside Thomas instead of Kevin. "You have a strange car," Kevin remarked, running a hand through his hair in apparent frustration.
I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, smiling, "it's okay, Thomas will call you if he finds the problem." Thomas laughed, nodding in agreement.
"Kaylie, you were saying you needed something from Izabel's place?" He suddenly turned to me.
At first I was dumbfounded. I did? But then, I understood. "I do," I nodded at Kevin, who beamed in return. "Let's go then," he said before turning for the lobby.
"Shall we?" Thomas beckoned. I nodded, flashing him another genuine smile. "We shall."
Thankfully the surprise went along as planned. Soon, I found myself on the couch beside Thomas, watching as Kevin and Izabel danced fervently to the music. At least, I was observing them. They looked so happy.
A gentle touch on my thigh snapped me back to reality. "You okay?" Thomas asked, concern laced into his voice. I quickly flashed him a smile, "I'm fine."
Thomas held my gaze, as if studying me for confirmation of my claim. Eventually, he returned the smile, nodding. "Hey, thanks for your help back there," I said, remembering that I hadn't thanked him yet.
"How did you know I was in trouble?" I quipped, holding back a laugh. Thomas smiled, resting his arm on the couch behind me, "I could see it in your face."
"You could tell?" I probed, inwardly impressed at his ability to detect my subtle tenseness from before. "I guess it's because I stared at you too much on our last date," he chuckled before furrowing his eyebrows, "I'm sorry."
I giggled, looking to the ground as I felt the heat rising to my cheeks. "So, I said I was taking you out tonight. But since we're busy, can I take you out tomorrow instead?" He cheekily asked.
Initially, I had planned on telling him I had zero interest in him. But as I sat beside him then, I decided that maybe a second date wouldn't hurt. Besides, I owed him for helping me.
"Sure," I replied coolly. Then, I found myself chatting with him about everything and anything under the sun, to the point that I was actually enjoying the conversation.
Eventually he was summoned by his teammates, leaving me to finally pounce on the snack table. As I picked up a few snacks, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. For one, I was glad I hadn't dismissed Thomas previously.
But the smug was mostly because of the wide array of food available. After about fifteen minutes of lingering by the table, I finally decided to retreat somewhere else.
I knew Izabel had a tiny guest room, tucked away in one corner of her house. So I scurried over to the room. But just as I was about to open it, I heard giggling from inside.
There are already people inside. But what caused me to freeze was the familiarity of the voice. "We can't be seen together here; Kevin is right outside! How about I come by tonight?"
I knew that voice anywhere. It was Izabel.
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