“Okay,” I said with a toothy grin. I would promise her every paycheck I received for the rest of my life. That’s how much of a fool I was for her. “I really like it too, so I think I’ll keep it.” Her compliments emboldened me. I had the guts to ask her something that would have mortified me to say only a day before. “Is it my turn to touch your hair now?”
She stepped back. “Huh?”
“I mean… you touched my hair. It’s only right that I get to touch yours.”
That logic instantly hit her. “Oh! Sure. Why not?”
Why not, huh? Here I went, touching the one thing I always stared at when Shannon was within fifty feet of me.
Oh my God. Her hair was so outrageously soft. For the longest time, I debated whether her hair color was real. It looked impossibly red, yet such a dark hue that you had to squint your eyes to see the highlights in the sun. Yet hair that had been dyed so many times couldn’t possibly be this soft, right? I wouldn’t know. I’ve never dyed my hair before. All I know is that such volume couldn’t occur in nature.
Or could it?
“Is it reaaaal?” I shot back at her with a jesting tone. It made Shannon giggle. That beautiful melody was the kind of sound I needed more of in my life.
“Of course it’s real!”
I pulled my hand back. Reluctantly, I might add. “So…”
“Oh, shit, I’ve gotta go.” Her backpack fell off her shoulders as she turned around abruptly. “I was on my way to a meeting when I saw you.Greathair, Jess! See you around!”
She waved as she took off. It was only then, as I stood in the middle of a busy walkway outside the student union, that I realized we had been more intimate in those few precious moments than we had ever been over the past few months.
It would be more than enough to get me through the summer holidays. I swore to God that by fall, I would be more than ready to officially seduce Shannon Parker.
If she would ever have me, of course. Hope and determination could only get a girl so far if she met a wall of resistance.
That day, I had enough hope to fell every wall in my vicinity.
***
Jess entered the noodle house ten minutes late. It had been on purpose, although she feigned it as a mistake when she messaged Shannon and said she was behind due to the buses running slow at rush hour.
She didn’t want to be the first one. She didn’t want the potential disappointment of waiting twenty minutes only to be stood up. God knew she had been on enough dates like that in her life.
Not that this was a date, obviously. Falling into that trap would be a grave mistake.I haven’t felt that level of delusional hope in a hundred years.The days of being powered by a single touch to the hair had long faded. Jess was too cynical and too guarded to fall into that trap again.
Even if the trap were laid by Shannon Parker, the seductive devil in a little black dress.
Oh my God. Why?What was more shocking? Shannon’s presence in the corner of the noodle house, or what she wore? Shannon rarely wore dresses. Or at least, she never wore them back in college. She was forever a jeans kind of girl, like Jess.
So what the hell was she doing in a body-hugging black dress? A triangle cutout in the chest showed off a hint of cleavage, although the long sleeves attempted to give her more decency. She may have worn dark tights beneath the tighter skirt, but that dress did nothing to hide the outline of a fit body worth dreaming about.
No, no, no. Jess really did not need this. Especially when she was dumb enough to show up in her casual-date-best as well!
Nicest jeans. A button up shirt. A form-fitting black denim jacket she only brought out when she wanted to impress the world. Even her jewelry had been pulled from the depths of her boxes. From head to toe, she was bedecked in a look that screamed,I’m meeting someone important.
They definitely looked like they were on a date. It didn’t help that candles burned on the tables and wine was served.
What the fuck was happening!
Jess hadn’t chosen this place. When she agreed to meet for dinner, a poisonous mix of trepidation and anticipation in her heart, she had suggested they get Asian cuisine. Shannon claimed to have known the perfect place, but Jess had never heard of it before. How was she to know that this place was set up for couples and rich old friends?
“Sorry I’m late,” Jess said, wrapping her purse strap around the back of the chair. Shannon sat on the bench along the wall, her jacket tastefully draped around her slim body. Jess felt like a fat freak emerging from her outerwear, but the heat was cranked and that sweat on her brow could have as easily come from the anxiety crowning her brain. “Really got caught in traffic down by the university.”
Was that grin practiced? Or was Shannon really that excited to see her? Andwas she wearing that Aquarius necklace again?Jess was so confused that she could vomit because she didn’t know what else to do.
“No worries.” Shannon waited for Jess to sit down before continuing. “Hope it wasn’t too long trapped on that bus. I don’t ride them that often, but I know how cramped they can get at this time of day.”
