On the Plus Side
Page 32

When I came out of my room, I stopped face to face with Devin. He had a really weird look on his face and for a minute I thought he was going to cancel our date and say that he never wanted to see my fat face again.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us, Lilly? Don’t be rude, I didn’t raise you to be rude.” She smiled sweetly at Devin, but I knew what was on the other side of that smile.
I rolled my eyes and blew out my deep breath.
“Mom, this is Devin. Devin, this is my overbearing, bossy, thinks she owns my apartment building, mother.” I smiled sarcastically and sweetly back at my mom.
I could feel Devin’s nervousness radiating toward me. Poor guy.
“Devin, you look familiar. Have we met before?” my mother purred.
His entire body went stiff and for a minute something seemed…off.
“No, ma’am, I don’t think we have, but it’s nice to meet you. Lilly, are you ready? I hate to be rude, Mrs. Sheffield, but we have dinner reservations for thirty minutes from now.”
“Not at all, Devin, you kids have fun.”
The way she said his name made my stomach turn.
She snatched up her bag and went to the front door. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Lilly.”
Then she was gone. I turned to Devin with an apology in my eyes.
“I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” he asked.
“I didn’t arrange for you to meet my mother or anything like that, she just popped up and I was in the process of trying to kick her out when you…”
He reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping all words from leaving my mouth.
“No worries, it wasn’t that bad. Stop apologizing to me all the time,” he smiled. “Let’s go, I’m starving.”
Once we were at the restaurant, I spent the first few minutes looking over the menu and trying to find a not so expensive meal. I wanted this meal to also be small. I wanted the meal to say, “Hey this chick really doesn’t eat that much.”
Later, after we left the restaurant, we stopped off at a gas station really quick and I sat in the car while Devin pumped gas. He apologized like a mad man for not having gotten the gas before the date. I laughed at him. Like I cared whether or not he got gas. I was out and about with him and that’s what mattered to me at this point. It didn’t matter if we were at a nice restaurant or at a ratty old gas station.
I ran inside for a pack of minty gum and was on my way back to his car when I noticed him talking with another guy.
“Lilly, this is my friend Matt. Matt, this is Lilly.” He looked nervous as he tucked his hands into his pockets and looked away from me.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
The million dollar question…do hot boys run in packs?  Was it like a secret society that no one knew about, because Matt was hot! He was just as tall as Devin with black hair and sea blue eyes. I wanted to stick my pinky finger in his little dimple as he smiled back at me. His eyes brazenly moved up and down my body and I suddenly felt naked. I had to stop myself from covering my boobs with my hands. Heat infused my face as I started to blush.
Was he wondering what Devin was doing running around town with the fat girl?
“It’s very nice to meet you, Lilly.”
He exaggerated the L’s in my name which resulted in his tongue being flicked at me before he sucked his bottom lip in and ran his teeth across it.
And then I saw it… a look that I instantly recognized. It was the same look Devin had given me that very first day in the café, the same look I get from Devin all the time. Matt was checking me out. He was smiling and talking to me all flirty like.
What the hell was going on around me? Was I suddenly secreting some female hormone that I never had before? And did this secret female hormone attract sexual man beasts? I seemed to be surrounded by them lately. I’m not complaining, but what the hell?
I looked over at Devin and almost laughed out loud when a scowl developed across his face.
“So, Lilly, what the hell are you doing out with a punk like Devin. You could be out with a real man like me,” he winked and nodded.
Typical playboy moves…I think. At least that’s what they do on TV.
I laughed nervously and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
“That’s enough, Matt,” I heard Devin say. “What are you getting into tonight?”
“Headed over to a party on the docks. Y’all should come. It’ll be fun.”
“That sounds fun.” I smiled sweetly at Devin. “Wanna go?”
Devin didn’t look too happy about it, but he agreed.