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—-or not.
God had apparently heard her prayers, and had used stupid Landon to make things less awkward for Valentina, who was now looking like a snake that had just swallowed a vinegar-flavored mice.
"Charles?"
Charlotte started choking on heronigiri,and Valentina's friends snickered while Landon started pounding her back. She knew he meant well, but he was seriously making things worse since one: he was about to break her spinal cord with those chops of his, and two: he was the reason she had choked in the first place!
Who's Charles?"
Valentina's hiss had Charlotte badly wanting to keep eating heronigiri.Did the other girl seriouslynotrealize how she was very much acting like a snake?
Landon pointed to Charlotte, and if looks could kill, Valentina's glare would've had her six feet under in a heartbeat. Or maybe even sixty, with the way the other girl now looked a slither away from chomping her head off.
Devon gave Valentina a sympathetic look. "If it means anything, Landon has skipped all of our birthdays one time or another as well."
"If we have something that falls on a weekend," Logan added, "we've just learned to count him out."
"And if you really need to get a hold of Landon on those days," Nick drawls, "there's only one place you'll find him—-"
"And that's Charlotte's bedroom," Sean finished with a sly smile.
Charlotte could not believe what the other guys had managed to spout in just ten seconds. Itwastrue that Landon did spend every weekend at her place - well, okay, hewasin her bedroom most of the time as well - but all he was doing in her room wasread!That was it! Unfortunately!
Enough was enough, Charlotte thought irritably. She turned to Valentina, wanting to clarify things, but Charlotte instead found herself staring at empty air, with the other girl and her friends having already angrily stalked off.
Oh no.
Charlotte glared at Landon and his friends, but all five boys only looked at her with innocent expressions on their too-gorgeous faces. She was badly tempted to give all of them a couple of hard whacks to the head, but since they were still in school—-
"I'm going to kill you guys," Charlotte yelled as soon as they were all in Landon's house and thus safe from the prying and judgy gazes of other kids in school.
Devon hastily pointed to Landon. "Blame him. He was the one who told us we needed to make it seem like you guys were a couple."
Charlotte swung around to face Landon, demanding, "Is it true?"
"Er..."
Landon's younger sister came down to the living room just in time to see Charlotte sucker-punching her brother in the guts. "What's up?"
"You just saw your brother assaulted," Landon growled, "and you're askingwhat's up?"
"Duh!" Cha-Cha rolled her eyes. "Like I'd ever take your side over Char's."
"You little—-"
Landon was about to go after his little sister when Charlotte stuck her foot out, and he ended up nearly skidding down the floor. "Dammit, Charles!"
Charlotte smothered her laugh and was saved from any acts of retaliation when the Carmichaels' housekeeper bustled in to tell them dinner was ready. Everyone trooped outside to gather around the enormous oak table facing the garden, and it was while they gorged themselves on spicy chicken wings, tacos, and salad that Charlotte finally learned the truth.
Cha-Cha turned out to be just as involved in the whole Valentina face-off, with Landon's younger sister having overheard Valentina telling her friends about how Charlotte had been desperately throwing herself at Landon for years.
"She was saying just so many awful things about you," Landon's baby sister griped. "I had to tell Landon and the others because I knew you would never do anything about it even if I told you the truth."
"Now, do you get it?" Landon asked Charlotte an hour later, and it was just the two of them in the living room. Everyone else had already left, and Cha-Cha had also headed up to her bedroom, saying blithely that playing the third wheel had never been her thing.
"We were all doing it for you."
"Hmph."
