Pete arrives and plops down into his seat next to Joy. My good mood evaporates. “What about you, old man? You into marriage?”
Pete nearly chokes on his spit. He clears his throat. “No, ah, I mean someday but not any time soon. There are plenty of couple-grams out there and that’s not really my market.”
“Couple-grams?”
“It’s social accounts for couples or families. Kind of like the old mommy blogs but now it’s mostly photos of activities with cute captions and hashtags,” Joy explains.
“Got it.” I nod as if I have the first clue—which I don’t, but after tonight, I’ll know everything about instafluencers even if that’s all I’m going to read about for the next week.
“I’m more of a dating guy myself.” Pete winks at Joy. “Nothing like trying out a new car every week, am I right?”
“Every week?” Joy echoes faintly.
“Not into marriage, dates every week. Sounds like you’re living a full life.” I give him an encouraging wink.
Predictably, Pete takes this bait. “Yeah, I got instahots sliding into my DMs every—” He breaks off, suddenly remembering where he is. “Not that I respond to them, of course. We’re just twenty-five, so it’s not like our fans are into marriage either. They want to see us having a fun, lavish life. Otherwise, they’ll just look at their own feed and not ours. Right, Joy?”
She shrugs. “I’m just myself. I don’t have any grand plans. I post what I’m doing every day.” She and Cece share a smirk. “Or night.”
They’re both thinking of their late-night excursion with the plastic wrap. I did see that video on her page.
“How do you feel about pranks?” I ask.
“I like them!” Joy exclaims. Her eyes start twinkling.
“Pranks?”
“Yeah, like Saran Wrapping someone’s car,” Cece says.
Pete frowns. “Sounds very juvenile. My page isn’t about that. I have a certain aesthetic that my fans expect me to exhibit. Sexy. Suave.”
“Sensible,” I suggest. In other words, boring. Suddenly, I’m a big fan of pranks. I’m going to have to do a good one on Joy or else she’s going to slot me into the Pasty Pete category. Hashtag #nothappening.SixJoyDating is stupid. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to after this disastrous evening. We all pile into Dane’s truck. I make sure to get in the back. I grab Cece’s hand so that she gets in the back with me. She does without question. All night Pete kept trying to rub against me. I watch as Dane hops in the truck and almost leaves without Pete, who chases after the truck. It’s so hard not to laugh. I reach up and smack the side of Dane’s shoulder.
“Fine,” he grumbles. Pete puffs his chest out like he’s won some battle. He starts to open the door, but Dane drives forward a few more feet. This happens three more times before Cece and I are dying of laughter in the back seat. I know it’s not right, but Pete had kind of been a prick during dinner, and I can’t say he doesn’t deserve it a tiny little bit.
Pete slams the door as he finally gets into the truck. “I knew I shouldn't have agreed to a date with you, but I figured since you were on the chubbier side that you’d give good head.”
I gasp at the same time Dane slams on the brakes. Of course dumbass Pete isn’t wearing his seat belt and his head hits the dashboard. I’m betting Dane knew that.
Oops. I bet that’s gonna hurt for a few days. Dane slides out of the truck, not caring that he’s blocking some traffic. He opens the passenger door and pulls Pete out by his collared shirt before tossing him onto the sidewalk. He made it look as though Pete was nothing but a ragdoll with how easily he threw him.
Cece and I watch as Dane walks back to the truck, gets in, and takes off like nothing happened. The truck is completely silent as we make our way back to our place. Dane pulls up into his driveway and puts the truck in park.
“Double C, you mind giving us a few minutes alone?”
She looks over at me, making sure that I’m good. I give her a nod, letting her know that I can handle myself. I don’t have to say anything before she’s eagerly getting out of the truck. I climb out right behind her.
“Thanks for the dinner and entertainment, Big D.” She gives me a hug before she’s on her way. I purse my lips. I want them to get along, but not this much.
“So I’m guessing we shouldn’t go on any more double dates.” I try and tease. “At least it will be a good post for social media. They are going to eat this up.” I glance over at Dane. “Shouldn't you be walking your Double C to her car or something? She was your date, after all. You don’t need privacy with me, you need it with her.” I tilt my chin up in defiance.