"What the hell, Jack?"

"Lana! What are you doing?"

"You were supposed to come and save me! Did you forget the signal?" She brought her index finger to her eyebrow to spark his memory.

Jack laughed. "No, I didn't forget the signal. I just needed a sec. I was going to pull you out of it soon!"

"Yeah, yeah sure! Thanks a lot! This might be the worst date I've been on in the history of dates!"

Jack laughed again, but this time it was deeper. Ugh, why is he so sexy when he laughs?

"Well, it can't be that bad. The poor guy looks like he's having a blast."

"Yeah, because he gets to hear the sound of his voice and all that powerful knowledge he has being recited."

"Ah, I see. We have a mansplainer. I was prey to that condition once. It's a deadly disease. You know what mansplaining is, right? So it's when a man tries to—"

"Jack! This is serious. I think my ears might start bleeding."

"Lana, if you wanted to go on another amazing date, you could've just asked me nicely. I would have gladly done it." Jack smirked and leaned in a little closer, his face mere inches away from Lana's in the confined space.

Lana was trying hard not to smirk back. She took a deep breath in, and his breath mingled with hers. The electricity in the air made her fiercely aware of his scent and the way he briefly ran his tongue over his lower lip.

Lana, don't be fooled by his charms. She leaned back and shook her head, snapping out of the daze that was nearing. "You know what? I don't need you to rescue me! I'm just going to call Chloe and see where she is."

"Okay, good luck with that." Jack cleared his throat and leaned toward the side to try to unlock the door.

Lana blocked his path. "Wait!"

He stepped back and waited for Lana to continue.

"What happened with Tammy? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine. She's just upset about something I said."

"Did you break up with her?"

"What? No, it's not like that at all. Tammy is like a sister to me."

"Does she know that?"

Jack laughed. "Well, I hope she does since she's dating one of my good friends."

"Oh, okay." Lana looked down and then looked back at Jack, who was smiling. She wanted to ask more but didn't want to be nosy.

"Can I go now? Our dinner companions may think we have bladder problems at this point."

"Oh, yes." Lana unlocked the door and let Jack out. She tried calling Chloe and it went straight to voicemail.

Ugh. Chloe, where are you? I guess I just have to sit through this date and complain to you about it afterward.

Lana looked at herself in the mirror and fixed some flyaways before taking a deep breath and heading back out into the restaurant. She scanned the bustling place; Jack and Tammy weren't at their table anymore.

It wasn't until she glanced at her table that she stopped abruptly in her tracks. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped as she saw Grayson and Jack sitting next to each other, laughing like they were old friends.

What is happening right now?

She continued cautiously, and both men looked up at her smiling. "Lana! Come meet an old friend of mine from college! Lana, this is Jack. Jack, this is Lana."

Jack stuck out his hand for a shake with a cheeky grin plastered across his face. "Hi, Lana. It's nice to meet you."

Lana shook it with her mouth still hanging slightly open. "Um, hi," she managed to say.

"Grayson, you didn't tell me she was stunning! Dude, you gotta be careful. I may just have to steal her away from you."

Grayson laughed. "Yeah, she is objectively beautiful, isn't she? Not like the hottest I've dated, but definitely top three."

Gee thanks, guys. It's not like I'm sitting right here or anything.

"So, um, how'd you two meet?" said Lana, trying to reconcile Jack's plan in her head.

"Um, what was it, Jack? I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, so you'll have to remind me how we met. Sorry," said Grayson sincerely.

"Oh, you don't remember?" Jack said with slight animation. He turned his head to Lana. "Grayson and I go way back. We were a part of the same history club in college."

"Hmm, I don't recall ever being in history club, but you know, maybe it's starting to come back to me now."

"Dude, you were wild. You knew all the facts about everything, and you schooled anyone who dared cross your path."

Grayson laughed. "Yeah, you're right! That does sound like me. I did win several trivia nights at the Batman fan club." He glanced at Lana, likely trying to see if she was impressed.

She was beginning to catch onto the lies that Jack was spewing for her benefit and giggled, thinking about how likely just a few moments before, Jack put his plan into motion.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Chloe and Jeremy walk in with the same confused look she just had. They looked at her, Grayson, and Jack and grabbed a table nearby. Lana would say hi, but that would just spoil the fun she was about to have.

"So, Jack, tell me something else about Grayson. What was his favorite food place that you guys used to go to a lot in college?" She smirked as soon as she saw Jack's smile falter.

Grayson beamed and looked at Jack, waiting for his answer. "Oh, um, that's a great question. There were just too many. Grayson here... he was one to go out and eat." He elbowed Grayson playfully.

Lana laughed. "Yeah, but like, what was that one? Like the one he would always go to no matter what?"

Jack smirked. "Alright, um, let me think for a sec."

"Take all the time you need. I'm just trying to learn more about my date."

"Cheesecake Factory! He used to loooove going there."

"I did?" Grayson asked with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, you loved it. What was your favorite again? Oh yeah, the cheesecake."

"I don't think there was a Cheesecake Factory in our town though. I don't recall there ever being one."

"No? Oh, I might have gotten it mixed up then with another place. It's been so long."

Lana noticed her phone vibrating with an incoming call. She quickly grabbed it, and her smile grew wider as soon as she instantly decided what she'd do next.

"Oh hey, Chlo. Is everything okay?"

"Lana, what's going on? Why is Jack sitting at your table?" said Chloe through the receiver.

"Oh my gosh, is she okay?"

"What? Oh, okay, so you still need rescuing?"

"Oh my gosh, okay. I'll be right there. Thanks so much for calling me and letting me know. See you soon, bye."

"Is everything okay?" asked Grayson as he eyed Lana.

"So sorry guys, there's an emergency that I need to head out for," said Lana as she stood up, grabbed her purse, and pulled out a $20 bill to set on the table. "But you guys should totally go for coffee and chat. I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do after all this time." She smiled at both of them and ignored Jack's 'what the hell' look. "Nice to meet you both. Bye."

As Lana turned from the table she heard, "That's kind of rude!" She thought it was Jack at first but was taken aback when she realized it was Grayson.

"I'm sorry?" she said as she turned back toward the table.

"That's obviously a fake phone call, and you're just bailing right now. Jeez, I was just thinking it would be fine to introduce a friend. You don't have to be weird about it."

Lana felt bad for lying and for catching this man in between the games of Jack and her. She decided to just come clean.

"Listen, Grayson I—"

"That was kind of rude of you Grayson," said Jack as he looked at Grayson unsympathetically.

"Oh c'mon, you don't think she's being serious about her 'emergency'?" he added in air quotes.

"She might not be, but so what?"

"Well, I refuse to be treated like this anymore. You know what, I wasn't even that interested in you anyway. You're very pretty, I'll give you that much, but you were so boring and uninterested in what I had to say throughout the entire date!"

"Um, excuse me?" said Lana, her pulse picking up.

"Yeah, I realized you're just kind of dull. I don't mean to be rude, but you also ask incorrect questions. Like when I was talking through my first story, you should have asked me about the mechanics of the wheels, not how I felt about them. Typical uneducated type of question," he huffed.

Lana's eyes were wide and cheeks red. Any words she had were caught in her throat. She prayed that the eyes that were starting to look at them throughout the restaurant would just look away.

I guess that's what I deserve after lying to him.

"Dude, just quit it, okay? That's no way to talk to someone, especially a date." Jack got up abruptly and went to Lana, putting an arm around her shoulder. He leaned in and whispered to her, "Are you okay?"

The hairs at the back of her neck stood up at his proximity. She nodded quickly. Grayson had already flagged down the waitress for the bill and dropped his cash on the table. He looked at Jack after he stood up. "Jack, don't waste your time or breath on that girl."

"Sorry, asshole. I actually know this woman to be smart, amazing, and an all-around fun badass. So, I think I won't waste my breath on you anymore, whoever you are."

Lana's stomach did somersaults, and she thought she would melt in his arms.

"Whatever, dude," said Grayson, not picking up on the fact that Jack said he knew Lana. He huffed one more time before he walked out of the restaurant, leaving both Lana and Jack stunned into silence.

As soon as Grayson left, Chloe and Jeremy ran up to them. "Oh my God, Lana! What happened?"

Lana looked at the group, and her frown quickly turned into a smile. Then as everyone stared at her, she started laughing. The laughter continued until she held her stomach. "Oh my gosh, did that just happen?"

The group sat down at the table, and Lana and Jack replayed the events of the evening to Chloe and Jeremy. It turned out that Jack quickly looked up Grayson on Facebook, saw the college he went to listed, and used that piece of information to get a seat at the table.

The group decided to order more food for Chloe and Jeremy and spent the rest of the evening talking, laughing, and just enjoying each other's company.

This night didn't turn out to be so bad after all.

***

This was a fun chapter to write! ☺️ Hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a vote or comment if so. ♥️