Best Dating Rules (The Best Girls 2)

“What did you say to her? Are you the reason she— Never mind. Forget it.” He spun his back to her, using a rag to make angry swipes at the messy kitchen. It was suddenly quiet behind him. When he turned around, he found himself alone with a contrite-looking Grace sitting at the table.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?” he asked, still frowning.

“I didn’t know Emily was different. I didn’t know you really liked her.”

“I don’t—”

“Good grief! Don’t try to deny it. I’m your sister—I can tell. But maybe you’re lying to yourself.”

“I... I’m not... She doesn’t

like me. Not like that.” He slumped in a chair across from Grace.

“Spencer, I didn’t know.” She put her hand on his. “I... I may have said something I shouldn’t have.”

“What? What did you say?”

“I told her about you getting all those phone calls from Becca.”

He groaned. “Becca! I’m beginning to wish I’d never met her. Why would you tell Emily about that? How did you even know?”

“She called about eleven hundred times when you left your phone here Monday night. She’s got a serious crush on you, for sure. Did you break up with her or something?”

“No! We’ve never even been on a date.” He let his face fall into his hands. “I can’t believe you told Emily about her calling. She probably thinks I’ve been lying to her.”

“Well... I think she thinks you’re a player.”

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s kind of what she said.”

“So did you tell her it isn’t true? Did you tell her I’m not a player?”

“Well, no… I mean, I thought you were a player, too. Why are you getting mad? It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve never denied it before. You’re always with a different girl. You never seem to stay with one girl long enough for us to even meet her. It seems like you go from one girl to another or even more than one at the same time.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “Really? That’s what my own sister thinks about me? That’s what you told Emily?” His face dropped back into his hands. “Great. That’s just great.”

“So what are you saying? All these girls are okay with it? Or they’re all doing the same thing?”

His frustration reached a boiling point. “All these girls! What girls? Can you name one? Huh? Can you? No! You can’t, can you? Because I’ve never actually even dated one. Not! One! Single! Girl! There—are you happy? Now you know.”

Grace sat dumbfounded for a moment. “But... I’ve seen you with lots of girls. All the time. They were hanging all over you. They were practically drooling on you.”

“So? Did you ever see me with one girl? Did I ever tell you I had a girlfriend?”

“Are you saying you were only with all those girls physically? That none of them meant anything?”

“My god, Grace! Don’t you have any respect for me? I’d never do that. I wasn’t with any girl physically—I’ve never even kissed a girl before.”

“Oh,” she said. “Oh!” she repeated, grinning. “Now there’s something I never would have guessed. Why didn’t you deny it before now? We’ve teased you about it for years?”

“Oh yeah. That’s a great idea. I could go from being teased about having too many girlfriends to being tormented about not having any. And now I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Grace was quiet. “I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not mean, you know. I care about you—you’re my brother. I’m actually on your side. We... We won’t tease you.”

“I don’t care. Go ahead. It doesn’t matter any more.”