Best Dating Rules by Tamie Dearen (no david read aloud .TXT) 📕

“Really? How do you know?”

Grace looked around as if someone walking beside them might be listening. “He forgot his cell phone at the house last night. And during the two hours before he came back for it, he got about ten phone calls from some girl named Becca.” She smiled smugly.

She tried to keep her face neutral. Becca? Why was she surprised? She’d seen how aggressively Becca had pursued Spencer on the hike. He’d said they weren’t dating, and claimed they were only friends from the hiking club. And Becca had been so friendly to her, even calling her Saturday night to ask her to go to Jazzercise this Thursday. Could she have an ulterior motive? Now she thought about it, she remembered Becca asking a lot of questions about how she knew Spencer. Maybe it was a good thing she was cancelling the jazzercise with Becca.

“I know Becca,” she said carefully. “But I didn’t realize they were dating.”

“Honestly, I don’t know for sure, but he’s acting different. He usually talks about a ton of different girls, claiming all of them are friends. But recently, he quit talking about any girls at all.” She arched her eyebrows. “That’s why I know he’s hiding something.”

“Or maybe he isn’t hiding anything. Maybe he got really busy—he told me he didn’t have time to date anyone right now.”

“Yeah, right,” Grace scoffed. “Spencer claiming he doesn’t have time to date? He always has time for girls. I don’t know why he said that to you, but he knows better than to say something like that to me. I’d call him out in a second.” She looked more determined than ever. “I’m gonna figure this out if it kills me.”

“Well, let me know what you find out. I’m curious, too.”

“Truthfully, I was hoping it was you. Why don’t you want to date anyone right now, anyway? You’re finished with school. You should have plenty of time to date.”

“It’s just... I don’t really like to talk about it.”

“Oh, well sorry to pry.” Grace was quiet for a moment before busting out laughing. “No, that’s not true. I love to pry. What happened? You’ll feel better if you tell me. And I won’t tell anyone—I’m great at keeping secrets.”

“No really. It’s embarrassing. I can’t tell you.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you something embarrassing, and then you won’t mind telling me your thing. Let me see... There are so many things to choose from...”

Emily chuckled. “No, you don’t have to—”

“I know a good one. And it’s about a guy, too. There was this really cute guy in my Geology class named Jake, and I was dying for him to ask me out. Then one day I got a text that said, Hey this is Jake. Do you want to catch a movie on Friday? So of course I text back Yes. And the next day I went up to him in class and asked him about it. And he was all confused and asked what I was talking about. It turns out the message was from a different Jake. It was sooooo awkward!” Grace laughed out loud.

“That really happened? That’s awful. How can you laugh about it?”

“Stuff like that happens to me all the time. I’m an awkward disaster magnet. I guess I’m used to it. I drop stuff, trip and fall, say stupid things. I’m like a walking comedy skit. Okay, so give it up. What happened to you?”

Grace was certainly persistent. Maybe it would feel good to tell someone. She hadn’t even told Charlie. “Okay. You promise not to tell anyone? Not your sisters? And especially not your brother?”

“I promise. Really. I mean it.”

She sighed. “So there was this drop-dead gorgeous guy at my firm in Fort Worth. His name was Tristan. We went out four times. He was always making suggestions, you know, sexual suggestions. But I thought he was just flirting. On the fourth date, he declared if I really liked him I would prove it by sleeping with him, although his exact words weren’t even that nice. And when I turned him down, he took me straight home without speaking to me. Two days later he was in a relationship with another girl in the office. After that, I swore off dating.”

“Okay, he was a jerk, but that’s just one guy. You shouldn’t give up because of him.”

“He was only the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. Every other good-looking guy I’ve known has turned out to be a jerk or conceited or a player or something. I’m never attracted to the nice ones.”

“So you don’t want to date? Or you don’t want to date Spencer? Do you think he’s a player?”

“Isn’t he?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I know he’s had a lot of different female friends. He’s always claiming they’re only friends and nothing more, just like with you. So maybe it’s true. I only know one thing for sure. He’s a crabby, bossy big brother, but he’s really a sweet guy. He’s not a jerk like most guys who’re that good-looking. That may sound weird coming from a sister.”

“I think he’s lucky to have a loyal sister like you. And I don’t think he’s a jerk either. He’s been really nice to me. But I can’t take a chance on getting hurt again. I’m thinking maybe the guys I’ve dated are too young. Maybe an older guy, someone who’s more mature. Maybe someone like that would’ve outgrown the tendency to play games.”

“Maybe… But I think you should give Spencer a chance.”

“But he doesn’t want a chance, remember? He told me he didn’t want to date right now.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Grace rolled her eyes. “He may be selling, but I’m not buying.”

Chapter Seven

Wednesday morning dawned, and Spencer was still angry and frustrated.

“Candace... This is Spencer calling. Again! Please call me back!” Spencer ended the call and resisted the urge to throw his phone across the room. He’d called and texted