“If you haven’t been too horribly scarred by this evening, then yes. Preferably not for a while, though. I’d like for you to get to know me a bit better before you start judging based on how crazy my family can be,” he laughs. “What do you say? Would you kind of, maybe, sort of be interested in giving this another shot?”
I nod, and like the gentleman he is, he leans in slowly, giving me enough time to object if I wish before he brings his lips to mine.
And…
It’s nice.
Good technique. Not too much, not too chaste.
But there aren’t any sparks, which doesn’t make sense. I’ve gotten borderline giddy every time I’ve seen him these last nine months. He makes me laugh, and I always have a stupid smile plastered to my face after walking away from him. He makes me happy. He fills my stomach and chest with the best kind of butterflies. At least…until now.
Before I even left the house earlier, my head was elsewhere, and I want to kick myself for it. Wes should have gotten my undivided attention tonight. Instead, someone else kept creeping into my thoughts. And I can’t blame this on Jase’s note. When I was uncomfortable at the restaurant, I should have confided in Wes. Instead, I fled to a bathroom stall, needing to hear a certain someone’s voice thatdidn’tbelong to my date.
Wes clears his throat, and I’m suddenly petrified. Had he asked me something and I completely spaced because, again, I was thinking about Jase?
Focus, Ali!
Thank God when I look up at him, I see he’s staring out my window and not at me. His question, however, does nothing to alleviate my nerves as he asks, “Got another hot date lined up for tonight?”
The tone of his voice suggests he’s kidding, but there’s still a degree of trepidation in it. I whirl around and look out the passenger window to see someone sitting on the porch, his silhouette illuminated by the wall sconces positioned beside the front door.
Even without the glow of the cell phone screen across his face, there would be no mistaking the broad shoulders and tapered waist for anyone else.
“We live together,” I clarify, only to watch Wes’s eyes widen in confusion. “No, not like that! His sister’s marrying my brother. He’s just staying at my parents’ place while he’s in town.”
“And he’s…waiting up for you?”
Yeah, the playfulness in his tone is nowhere to be found. Wes just sounds skeptical and a bit weirded out. Can’t say I blame him. Even at a quarter to ten, it’s still almost ninety degrees with the heat index, and the loud chorus of cicadas plaguing our street sounds just like that: a plague.
Why on earth would Jase just be sitting around out there? Is he seriously waiting forme? Can he see us in here?
“He’s probably just locked out,” I say, using Jase’s excuse when he climbed through my window. However, since we can’t seem to call or text each other, Iama little worried. What if something happened, and he couldn’t get a hold of me? Somethingbad? “I should get going.”
I lean over and give Wes a quick kiss on the cheek, again wanting to kick myself for the absolutenothingI still feel. That guilt only doubles on itself when I climb out of the car and make my way across the lawn to the front porch. Jase’s easy smile assures me nothing’s wrong and, almost instantly, the nerves seizing every muscle in my body give way. Why couldn’t I feel like this three hours ago? Or even three minutes?
Because you’re an asshole,that little voice in my head whispers, and she’s not wrong.
I want to kick Jase in the shins just for the fact that I’m physically incapable of kicking my own. At least not properly.
“Slaying vampires during the apocalypse?” I ask instead, nodding to his phone. An incredulous look skitters over his face, and I have to clarify, “Crimson Oath.”
It does nothing to alleviate his expression.
“It’s a video game everyone’s obsessing over,” I try again. “Half the guys in town have been playing it this summer. Figured you joined in on the fun.”
He grins. “Yeah, I haven’t exactly had time to play video games lately.”
“I can see that.” I do a theatrical survey at the absolutenothinggoing on around us. “Very pressing matters, indeed.”
He reaches into a plastic snack bag and playfully chucks something tiny at my chest that I manage to catch, seeing it’s a gummy bear. “The deadlatch is back in place.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Oh, it gets better.” Though, the smile he’s wearing assures me it doesn’t. “It’s also in place on the back patio door.”
“And you didn’t feel like climbing through my window again?”
“More like Icouldn’t.” He stands up and strolls around the front of the house, directing me to the side of the property where I can see that, indeed, the window to my bedroom looks to be closed.
