Well damn, was the prospect really so horrible that she had to go all high pitched like that? He was debating with himself whether to explain that he wasn't trying to overstep and boundaries of friendship here, or just keep his mouth shut and wait for the inevitable when she actually agreed. Well. All right then. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll make reservations somewhere and pick you up at seven," he said in a rush. Before she could change her mind, or anything.
Nicola was giggling rather maniacally, he thought.
"So I can show you the letter, yeah," he rushed to add. "See you then."
"Who was that?" Nicola asked the moment he'd hung up the phone. "And is 'show you the letter' code for show you my prick?"
Justin gave her one last dirty look and dashed off to plead with his brother to make dinner reservations for him. Eddie was good at getting a table on short notice, Justin likely would have buggered it up and had to take her to a McDonald's. He really hoped Megan wouldn't think he was trying too hard. It was just that if you were going to tell a girl something potentially really horrible, you should probably do it in nice surroundings.
At seven sharp he was standing in front of her door dressed in a shirt and jacket with a tie stuffed in his pocket. Mum had been beaming the rest of the day, and Dad had smacked him on the back and given him a bit of well meaning - albeit totally useless - advice on the way out the door. It was good to know they had more faith in his ability with the opposite sex than he actually possessed. Shifting nervously from foot to foot, he rang the bell. Because of the letter. He was not nervous about a non-date.