“La La Land,” Charlotte suggested.
Alex sighed and shook his head. “Can you blame him? I mean, Theresa Campbell is quite the eye candy.” When she jabbed him with her elbow, he grunted. “Okay, jeez. You’re right. I’ve never seen Brian that weird over a girl before. He’s always been charming and cracking jokes around the ones he likes. But tongue-tied and dazzled?”
“It’s a first,” she agreed. “So what do we do about it?”
“Why do we have to do anything? Theresa would have to be a total moron not to see how great a guy Brian is. If they’re not together by Commencement, it’ll be a miracle.” Alex dug through his bag for something and missed the expression on Charlotte’s face. “They’ll have such beautiful babies.”
Charlotte smacked the back of his head. “Who said anything about babies? Besides, what if she already has a boyfriend back home? If she’s that perfect and pretty, there’s no way she could be single. Right?”
“Maybe she just hasn’t found the right guy, yet,” Alex pointed out. “Maybe Brian’s the one.”
She folded her arms and stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Uhh…yeah?”
Charlotte huffed and slid off her bed. Grabbing a hairbrush, she tugged it through her long curls. Men, she thought with a roll of her eyes. They thought they knew the way a girl’s mind worked. Fortunately, they weren’t girls and couldn’t always see one the way another girl did. She’d seen Theresa, too, and she hadn’t entirely liked what she’d seen. She just hoped that Brian wouldn’t have his heart trampled upon by Theresa Campbell.
“What are you thinking?” Alex had known her long enough to know that the myriad of expressions that had flitted across her face signaled trouble.
Charlotte merely shoved her hair into a messy bun and met his eyes in the mirror. “I’m thinking you should probably go get ready. If we’re supposed to have dinner with the Campbells in an hour, we can’t be late.”
He sighed and shook his head. “I can’t quite see what you’re thinking, Char-Char, but I know it’s not good. We can’t get between Brian and what he wants. What kind of friends would we be?”
“The good kind,” she replied simply. “The kind that don’t want to see our best friend’s heart broken.”
“What if she’s who he’s been waiting for?”
“Waiting for?”
Alex shrugged as he stood and offered her the bag of gummy bears he’d been eating through. “Come on, Char. Ever since we’ve known him, we’ve known that Brian’s been waiting for that one girl to come and sweep him off his feet. What if Theresa Campbell’s the one?”
Charlotte said nothing for long moments and found that she could say nothing. The idea of some random girl or woman coming in and stealing Brian away from them made her uneasy. And sad. Sighing a little, she took the bag from him.
“I just hope she appreciates him.”
At the moment, Brian didn’t care if Theresa appreciated him or not. All he wanted was for her to look at him. Just look at him with those big brown eyes and the expression in them that made his knees go weak. He’d wanted to reach out and comb his fingers through her hair and hold her close. Kiss her.
Considering the fact that her father had been standing not three feet away had made that fantasy stay just that. A fantasy.
But a guy could hope.
He studied himself in the mirror as he tried to comb his sun-streaked curls into submission. They’d been growing a little too long, and he figured he was long due for a haircut. Of course, when he’d asked Charlotte if the curls had to go in order for him to look more mature, she’d disagreed.
“You’re perfect the way you are, Brian,” she’d told him, ruffling his hair. “The curls add charm and a certain spark to you. Keep them.”
So he had. But that had been before Theresa had shown up in the picture. What if the guys she was used to seeing were all clean cut and dressed well? He glanced down at the slacks and royal blue polo he wore. It was the best he could come up with for dinner with the President’s family. Should he wear something else? What if Theresa thought his fashion sense needed a major overhaul? You could never be sure what a girl thought was attractive when it came to male clothing. Then again, he reminded himself, he’d been relying on Charlotte’s sense of style for the past three and a half years.
“And Charlotte’s got the fashion sense of a tomboy,” he muttered out loud. “It’s not like she dresses like a girl half the time either.”
But it wasn’t Charlotte he thought of in his mind’s eye. It was Theresa of the unbelievable beauty and poise and perfection. When he’d seen her, a little voice in his head had whispered, “Yes! This one!” He’d have to be a moron not to listen to his conscience.
When his cell phone rang, he took one last look in the mirror, decided he’d do, and answered.
“You ready?” Alex’s voice came through on the other end.
Brian bent to retie his shoelace. “Yeah. You?”
“Charlotte and I are waiting outside. Whenever you’re set to go, lover boy, so are we.”
Brian winced. “Do you mind? I don’t need the whole world to know.”
Alex chuckled on the other end. “Are you kidding me, Bri? The whole world already knows by the way you seemed to float five feet above the ground the whole time we talked to Theresa Campbell earlier today.”
“Well, great. If everyone else saw it, so did Theresa.” Brian mentally smacked himself as he slid his wallet in his back pocket and grabbed his keys.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’s already half in love with you. Most girls usually are.”
“The Brian Littrell charm strikes again.”
“Oh, yeah. The only females immune to it are the ones you’re related to, the professors, and Charlotte.” Alex snickered a little. “Of course, the only reason Char-Char’s not in love with you is because she’s got a thing for runners. The sweaty variety—Oof. Hey!”
Brian locked his door and grinned at the sound of his friends bickering. Somehow, their presence made everything seem brighter. “Children,” he said mildly. “Whenever you’re ready to act like normal human beings.”
“Hey, I was just telling it like it is,” Alex began.
“What a rotten lie,” Brian heard Charlotte say indignantly, and his grin widened.
When he stepped out the front door of the dorm and saw Charlotte’s car at the curb, he snapped the phone shut and slid into the car. “Are we done fighting now?”
Charlotte didn’t spare him a glance. “You’re just as bad as he is.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.” Brian ruffled her hair. “But you know you still love me.”
She merely sniffed. “The jury’s still out on that one.”
While Alex ooh-ed from the backseat, Brian just shook his head. “I’m glad you guys were invited, too.”
“Why? So we can run interference for you when things get awkward with you and Theresa?” Alex suggested.
Brian was silent for a moment. “Yeah, something like that. I just know I’m gonna screw something up, and she’ll never speak to me after tonight.”
Charlotte sighed and reached out to pat his knee. “If she’s got any sort of heart, she’ll fall for you like that.” She snapped her fingers. “How could she not? You’re a great guy. You’re smart, you’re sweet, and funny.” She waited a beat. “Funny-looking.”
Brian rolled his eyes while Alex groaned in the back. “That is the oldest—and the most played out—joke in the book.”
“It’s still funny,” she pointed out and pulled into the driveway of the President’s home. “Well, here we are. Ready?” she asked Brian.
“As I’ll ever be,” he muttered and got out of the car. Staring up at the house, he squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. “I don’t exactly have a choice.”
It wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be. There was no firing squad waiting to put him out of his misery if or when he messed up. In fact, he’d made it through appetizers and the main course without saying anything wrong. He was seated across the large dining table and down two places from where Theresa sat. The fact that they’d already made eye contact three times during the course of dinner made him want to puff out his chest proudly. He was doing everything right.
On either side of him, Alex and Charlotte watched the non-verbal exchange between him and Theresa.
Pathetic, Charlotte texted to Alex under the table.
You’re so cynical, was the reply.
She’s just playing him.
How do you know?
It took Charlotte a few minutes to think about it. She studied Theresa surreptitiously for long moments. The other girl hadn’t said two words to Brian all through dinner, but she’d watched him right back. As much as Charlotte wanted to believe that Theresa was as innocently interested in Brian as he was in her, she felt there was something wrong. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.
I just know.
We’ll see.
After dinner, Theresa’s mother engaged Alex, Charlotte, and three of the other students that had been invited in a conversation about Duray and their achievements. Unable to keep an eye on Brian and Theresa, Charlotte reluctantly let it go and sighed a little when she felt Alex’s hand squeeze hers reassuringly. He was probably right, she decided. She was too cynical and should just let it go. Brian would be fine. He always was.
