Prank Date [✔]

Part 4

My lips compressed into a tight line. "No, I'm not."

"Hey, nothing wrong with that." When I looked down, Lisa realized she was touching my forearm. She pulled her hand back. "We just need to wait a few weeks until we tell Jin we're ready to rent a U- Haul and adopt a cat together."

"Dog." I said, a tiny grin lurking at the corner of my mouth. "Jin knows I'm a dog person."

"Let's get both. Then when we experience lesbian bed death and split up, you can keep the dog and I'll keep the cat."

I lifted a brow but didn't comment on the "lesbian bed death." After a moment, I reached out to shake Lisa's hand and said,

"Deal."

* * *

I stared at my reflection in the mirror above the bathroom sink.

Something soft brushed against my ankles and made me look down. Kuma's green eyes looked back at me.

"I'm da'ing a w'man now," I told the dog, toothbrush in mouth.

When Kuma walked away, not interested in my confession, I shook my head. I then paused and squeezed my cheeks
between my thumb and my other fingers. A strange tension resided in my cheeks, and it took me a moment to figure out that my muscles ached from laughing about the stories Lisa had told me during dinner.

Lisa had a great sense of humor. She seemed to delight in making me laugh or blush. While her teasing and her constant questions caught me off guard and sometimes pushed me out of my comfort zone, I realized that I had still enjoyed myself tonight. Who would have thought?

The ringing of the phone startled me. I spat a mouthful of toothpaste all over the sink. I bet that's Jin, calling to gloat about duping us. Jerk.

After wiping my mouth, I rushed to the phone and nearly stumbled over Kuma, who was crouched into a sphinxlike position in the middle of the living room.

"Yes?" I said on the phone.

"I was starting to think you'd gone home with your date," Jin's smug voice greeted me.

I gritted my teeth. Stay calm. Remember the plan. "I've never gone home with anyone after just one date. You know that."

When I answered with the calm rebuke instead of angry shouting, Jin was silent for a few seconds. "Let me guess. You didn't go on your date?"

"Of course I did. I always keep my promises."

Another pause. "Then Li didn't show up?"

"Why would you think that? Of course she showed up," I said, emphasizing the "she."

"And?"

I bit my cheek to keep from laughing. "We had a wonderful evening. I wish all of your friends were like her."

A rasping noise at the other end of the line sounded as if Jin had trouble breathing. "What?"

" I wish all —"

"I heard what you said. You're not angry?"

"Angry?" I imitated the innocent tone Jin had used whenever he had been caught doing something wrong as a boy. "Why would I be angry?"