Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [37]
Scarlett wiped her sour cream–covered hands on her black T-shirt and gazed at Jane thoughtfully. “Speaking of guys . . . are you okay with tonight?”
Inviting Caleb and Naveen over for dinner had been Trevor’s bright idea. He’d told Scarlett and Jane that viewers would love hearing stories about their old days at high school, and that there had to be some boys in their story lines—even if the boys were “just friends”—since Jane wasn’t seeing anyone and Scarlett’s BF couldn’t be filmed. Which actually made sense, in a Trevor sort of way. Didn’t it? Fortunately, Caleb and Naveen had been completely fine about being filmed tonight. Scarlett knew they weren’t dying to be on TV or anything, but they were happy to help out the girls.
Jane frowned at Scarlett’s shirt and handed her a dish towel. “I guess? Why? Are you sorry Trevor talked us into it? Scar, you need to change. That’s gross.”
“Yeah, I know.” Scarlett frowned at the sour cream smears on her shirt. “Are you going to be okay with, you know, Caleb? He was all over you at STK. Seriously, I think he might want to get back together.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Jane said, looking away.
Uh-oh. Why was Jane avoiding eye contact? “Plus, you went out on that date last week. Dominic’s, right?” Scarlett persisted.
The doorbell rang. “That’s the crew! Oh, crap!” Jane cried out as she stepped in the puddle of salsa. Tucker began licking her bare foot. “Tucker, stop that!”
“You want me to get you a paper towel?”
“I can do it. You need to change, right now! And it wasn’t a date! Don’t bring that up on camera. Seriously, Scar!” Jane grabbed a roll of paper towels and headed for the front door.
“Okay, okay!”
As Scarlett walked to her room, yanking off her T-shirt, she thought about Trevor’s comment that Jane wasn’t seeing anyone these days. It might appear that way, but the truth was, Jane had more than her share of off-camera boy-drama in her life. Jane had confided in Scarlett about hooking up (again) with Mr. Unavailable, aka Braden James. (Who conveniently had to leave for Canada the next day, for a couple of months. Way to avoid the aftermath or any responsibility at all, Braden!)
Jane had also fessed up about Jesse’s DUI and the crazy lie she told him afterward, about possibly dating him again, to get him sober. Jane knew how much Scarlett detested Jesse, and she probably wouldn’t have mentioned that little tidbit if not for the tabloid pictures that popped up on various websites over the weekend, of Jane fighting back tears as she left Cedars-Sinai on Caleb’s arm.
And of course, there was Caleb. Scarlett was sure he wanted to be more than “just friends” with Jane. And from the way Jane was acting, she seemed to be toying with the idea, too. But hadn’t she been there, done that already, and gotten burned?
As Scarlett scrounged through her dresser for another black T-shirt, she heard the crew bustling into the apartment and starting to set up in the living room, then Jane shouting: “Scar! They’re heeeere!”
“Just a sec!” Scarlett shouted back.
Pulling a shirt over her head, Scarlett realized that she would have to play serious Musical Chairs tonight to keep Jane and Caleb far away from each other. Jane was her best friend, and it was her job to protect her from Boy Trouble.
Except . . . there was also Naveen to worry about.
The problem was, she hadn’t told Liam about tonight. She’d simply told him that she and Jane were filming at their apartment. Of course she would have to clue him in, eventually, before the episode aired. But there had been something about his little jealous moment last week, when he saw the tabloid pictures of her leaving STK with Naveen, that rubbed her the wrong way. She wasn’t used to being reined in. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been trying to rein her in, exactly. But it had felt that way to