21 Steps to Get the Wrong Guy

After talking to Heather and Lilly, I hopped into my car and headed to the pizza place. When I got there I saw Cam sitting in a booth with Christian.

The two guys were talking but Cam looked uninterested in the conversation. He kept looking up and searching the restaurant until his eyes met mine. He smiled and waved which made Christian quickly turn to do the same.

I walked to them and sat beside Cam. "Hey, what were you guys talking about?" I asked.

"You," Christian answered easily.

Cam kissed my cheek and wrapped an arm around my waist. I let it sit there and scooted a little closer to him. He smelled really good. "How long ago did you take a shower?" I asked randomly.

Cam laughed. "About thirty minutes ago. I got home and my parents needed me to do some yard work," he explained.

"Oh you made it. I'm Danielle," a blonde introduced herself to me. She held her hand out which I awkwardly shook before she sat beside Christian.

He put an arm around her shoulders and freely made out in front of me and Cam. I turned to Cam with confusion and slight disgust. "His idea for getting you back," Cam whispered in my ear.

"I'm starving, I hope the pizza comes soon," Danielle claimed after pulling away from Christian's lips.

I smiled sweetly at her but felt a little bad for her. I hoped she knew that she was just here to make me jealous. It figures Christian hadn't really changed.

This was all he knew. He just used girls to get what he wanted. I knew it was impossible for him to turn into a completely different person over night. Maybe he did though. Maybe my rejection turned him back into this. Maybe rejection gives him something to fight for, something he's willing to do anything for.

Whatever it was, Christian surely had this girl wrapped around his finger. She looked so happy to be with him.

"Wow isn't this a party," Lilly announced. I turned to see her, Gavin, Heather, and Tony coming to our table.

"Hey you guys, I'm glad you're here," I exclaimed and it was completely true. I stood up to hug Heather and Lilly and greet their dates. I didn't think I could survive a double date with Christian if he was trying to win me back.

Cam high fived Tony and Gavin and waved to Heather and Lilly. We then sat back down and pushed a table and some chairs closer to our booth so everyone could fit. Christian's girl looked a little uncomfortable with the additional guests. Christian didn't seem to concerned about her though. He was now focused on Heather and Lilly.

"Heather, nice necklace," he complimented.

Heather's hand shot up to the necklace and she squinted her eyes at Christian, keeping a small smile on her face. "Thanks, my mom pried it off my dead grandma and then I had to slowly pull it out of the skin and muscle tissue around my mom's neck after she was strangled with it," she replied.

Christian looked shocked and his eyes went wide. Everyone laughed aside from Christian and Danielle. Christian looked shocked and disgusted that we would laugh at something like that and stared at me especially. "She's totally joking. She got it last year as a Christmas present from her aunt," I explained.

"A very late Christmas present," Heather added.

"She likes to celebrate Christmas in July as seriously as the real deal," Lilly stated.

"Wow, you guys know a lot about each other and family," Danielle said with amazement.

The three of us looked at each other and shrugged. "That's what happens when you really care about someone. Everything is important," Heather claimed.

"Even the small stuff," I reminded her as I reached for her necklace. She sat next to me so it wasn't a far reach. Heather smiled at me before giving me a hug. Tony joined in and so did Cam. "We would let you two join in but this is already awkward enough," I told Lilly.

"I don't care," she cried as she reached over the table to join the group hug. Gavin did the same. "We'll have to have a better group hug when a huge table isn't in the way."

"Um, here's your pizza," a voice said and we quickly parted from one another. We all had goofy smiles on our faces as the server looked at us funny.

I turned to Cam, wondering why we only had one pizza. "When I ordered I thought it was just going to be me and you," he explained.

"That's fine. I want ice cream anyway. Can we go to our ice cream shop after this?" Tony asked after the server walked away.

"Oh you guys were supposed to have just a simple date. We're sorry we crashed. We at least planned to come late so you guys could have some alone time," Gavin said.

"Yea, Christian why are you here?" Heather asked. Although it was a rude question and she probably meant it to sound that way, she kept a smile on her face.

He shrugged and then put his arm back around Danielle. "We wanted a good place to have a date and we thought of this place. I saw Cam waiting over here alone so I came to talk to him," Christian answered.

"Whose idea was it to come here?" I pushed, wanting to know if he had really planned to ruin my night.

"Christian said this place was amazing and I'm pretty new to the town so I said we should go. I didn't know I was going to meet all his friends," Danielle replied.

"Bless your heart, you sound too sweet to be played by this guy," Lilly sympathized.

"Plus we aren't his friends," Heather added. "You may be able to forgive him but I can't and you can't ask me to," she told me.

"Forgive him for what?" Danielle asked.

I turned to her with a smile and shook my head. "Don't worry about it. It's really nothing. So how do you like our city?" I changed subjects.

"I like it a lot. It looks much better than my hometown," she claimed as she looked into Christian's eyes.

The view would have been sweet if it was any other guy besides Christian. I knew his agenda and I knew he didn't really care about her. She seemed like a nice girl. I couldn't let her end up like the rest of Christian's conquests.

"There are many other guys in this city," I stated. Everyone at the table turned to me and I looked at Christian. "This is a very low and dirty tactic. You could have chosen any other girl at our school and you might have gotten away with it," I told him.

I turned my attention to Danielle again. "You seem like a nice girl. I used to love this guy. I used to dream of marrying him and enjoying long, exclusive vacations on luxurious beaches or somewhere in a foreign country.

"Then I had my moment with him because of a stupid bet that he made. He's a player. He messes with girls until he gets what he wants." I turned my attention back to Christian. "He recently said he had a change of heart and wanted to really try to be with me. I turned him down because I actually like how my life is now. He had to get what he wants though and decided to show up on my date coincidentally."

I turned to Danielle again and smiled helplessly. "So if I were you, I would say Christian is a much better acquaintance than a love interest. I warn not because I want him to live a life alone or because I want someone to fall back on when Cam and I break up. I warn you because you seem like a nice person. You don't need to go through the same roller coaster I did," I told her.

Everyone looked at Danielle except Christian who was still focused on me. She looked at Christian and then back to me before standing up. "Thank you," she whispered before walking off.

"Don't you have to take her home?" Heather asked Christian.

"She drove herself here," Christian responded carelessly before taking a bite of pizza.

I shook my head and laughed lightly. "You know it repulses me that you would stoop so low to get a fake date but then to make the poor girl that's new to town mapquest the place and find her own way here is ridiculous," I complained.

He looked like a lost puppy, not sure what to say at the moment. Cam hugged me tighter to him and rubbed my back.

"Heather was right. We aren't even friends," I confirmed.

Without another word, Christian stood up and left. It was quiet for a moment. "So are going to head to the ice cream shop? Tony made me crave ice cream now," Gavin asked like a child.

We all laughed as he eased the tension and we stood up, making our way to our cars. The rest of the night was as easy and fun as our usual date night. Only this time, I was free to admit to myself and everyone else that I liked Cam.