Page 13 of Mr. Principal

I looked around, wondering who she was talking about. And then I remembered that Carter still had his arm wrapped around my shoulder.

“Carter’s just a friend of the family,” Tom answered for me, giving Carter a long look.

“Actually, I’m a friend of Dana’s,” Carter corrected Tom, not missing a beat.

Becca’s look went from hopeful to pity. Damn it, she felt sorry for me. For some reason, that made me angry.

“Carter, don’t be coy,” I said flirtatiously, wrapping an arm around his waist.

He gave me a funny look but didn’t pull away. I lowered my voice and said in a stage whisper, “I didn’t want to say anything, but Carter and I are dating.”

Tom looked like he had been slapped. “What?”

Carter removed his arm from my shoulder and instead pulled me close to him around the waist.

Without missing a beat, he said, “Now you want to be open about it, hon? I was sort of enjoying it being just our little secret. But since it’s not a secret anymore...” he let his voice trail off as he tucked a hair behind my ear, touching my face in the process and sending an unexpected shiver down my spine.

He tilted my face up and with confusion in my eyes, he leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been kissed, but I knew I didn’t want it to end. I felt suddenly like a heroine in a storybook, a fairy tale where I was winning in life instead of feeling like a loser.

Suddenly, Carter was pulling away and I opened my eyes, having not even realized that I’d closed them. And apparently, I’d also wrapped my arms around his neck.

He smiled down at me. His eyes teasing and self-satisfied. I couldn’t help but smile back and then I noticed the audience around us, and I self-consciously pulled away.

I turned to meet Tom’s eyes. He looked away uncomfortably.

Becca, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction. “Oh my gosh, I knew it. I just knew it. You guys were too cute together to not be a couple. And you guys make a cuuuute couple.” She gleefully clapped her hands together.

No wonder Becca and Meredith got along. It was almost as if they were the same age.

Before I could say anything, Tom was pulling Becca away, mumbling something about, “Giving the lovebirds some space.”

I could hear the sarcasm dripping from each word.

The audience we had suddenly turned away and pretended to be looking elsewhere. Tom and Becca made their way outside and I watched them disappear.

When they were gone, I looked back at Carter and slowly pulled myself from his embrace. I instantly missed his warmth and shook my head at the thought. Carter was my friend. A friend whose lips had been pressed against mine a minute ago, but my friend nonetheless.

“Stop looking so self-satisfied,” I said to him softly so that no one would overhear us.

He smiled wider. “You should have seen the look on your face after I kissed you.”

Great, he was going to tease me about it.

“Shut up, Carter.”

“I tried to break the kiss after the first like second, but you had your arms wrapped around me like a bear trap—”

“Shut up, Carter.”

“Your arms were like a vice. I imagine that’s what it would feel like to be hugged by a python.”

“If you don’t shut up I’ll strangle you with a python.”

He laughed then, tossing his head back and I couldn’t help but laugh with him. Suddenly, the tension I felt at our very intimate exchange evaporated.

He was clearly just a friend trying to save my butt from humiliation.

“This is the part where you thank me for coming to your rescue,” he said sitting back and resting his hands behind his head.