“Sure, that sounds good.”
“See you then.”
“Bye.”
I hung up the phone.
Holy moly. I was going on a date. Alone. In one hour.
I picked up the phone and dialed Kennedy as fast as my fingers could dial.
As soon as she answered I cut her off instantly.
“No time for small talk Mrs. President. I have a date with Preston in one hour. Alone.”
“Shit, no way.”
“Yes way.” I nodded my head even though she couldn’t see me through the phone.
She laughed loudly into my ear. “Well sister, you’re on your own on this one. I can’t come and lend a hand because I am buried under a pile of homework. Besides you don’t need me. Wear that light blue skirt and the cute white top that Darcy got you, and don’t forget your lipstick.”
“What am I going to say? What will he talk about? What if he wants things from me, like romance kind of things?” All of my words slurred together.
“Grace! Calm down. It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. That’s the good thing about having a vagina.”
“Don’t say vagina.” I replied.
“Well I’m not calling it a monkey. I refuse.”
I sighed. She was insatiable.
“Just be yourself and have fun.” She said.
“Okay, but be ready for a long phone conversation when it’s over.”
“I’m here for you babe.”
“I better go get ready.” I sounded far from enthused.
“Have fun.” She said and the line went dead.
The nerves had set in and I was not at all ready for this date. I hoped that our conversations would be as easy as before, not complicated because we were alone. I didn’t want there to be awkwardness between the two of us. Preston seemed like a really nice guy. I mean, he’s no Jackson, but I can’t compare the two. They are night and day. One guy likes me and wants to spend actual time with me, while the other is on the fence. One day Jackson likes me, and the next day he doesn’t. I can’t make him want to see me or spend time with me, especially when I have someone else who really does want to spend time with me.
There had to be no more Jackson nonsense.
I rushed up the stairs to get ready for my date.
I took Kennedy’s advice and put on my light blue skirt. It only took me about twenty minutes to get ready, so I had to sit for thirty minutes on the couch with butterflies in my stomach. So many thoughts were running through my mind.
Would he be a gentleman? He had been so far.
Would he want more from me? I had no idea.
There were so many unanswered questions. I wondered if this is what all girls went through before a date. I was going to give myself an ulcer just thinking about it.
The knock on the door couldn’t have come at a better time.
I peeked out the side glass to make sure it was him, and it was. Opening the door, I found Preston standing there with a small bouquet of flowers. He looked so cute and sweet standing there. I instantly felt much better.
“You look great.” He said as he handed me the flowers.
“Thank you.” I opened the door wider. “Come in.” I smelled the fresh flowers for a moment. It was very thoughtful. “I’ll just take these to the kitchen, then we can go.”
He waited patiently for me in the living room. His bright smile lit up the place. It made me smile too. I liked the way he felt so comfortable around me. It made such a difference. His confidence was one of the things I liked most about him. He was never ashamed to be seen with me. It was nice.
“I’m ready,” I said once I realized that I had stood there far too long staring at him. He hadn’t noticed that I was, thank goodness.
Once we were inside his car, I finally asked where we were going.
“I thought we’d have dinner, and then we could just take a walk if you want.” He answered as he pulled away from the curb.
“That sounds nice.”
We chatted lightly all the way to dinner. He was so easy to talk to. I don’t know why I had gotten myself all worked up. It was all for nothing. He could easily lead a conversation and I never felt uneasy. Even the silence wasn’t awkward.
The only thing that bothered me was that in those few moments of silence, my mind wandered back to Jackson. No matter how hard I tried to keep him out, he was always there.
Those lips.
Those eyes.
I wondered if for one single moment he thought of me too.
20
Jackson
It’s our last night of freedom before basketball season starts full force. One last hooray and we usually did it up right. I planned on drinking until I didn’t know my name, or Grace’s.
Yep, she was still on my mind, every fucking minute of every fucking day.
I thought I could do it, that I could handle whatever was happening between us. I was beyond wrong. It scared the hell out of me. Scared me bad enough to make me run.
Her kiss was like fire and ice. It freaking sucked me in, so bad that I thought I’d die from it. Death from kiss…
Right, like that hasn’t been done before.
How about death from shriveled up balls? That sounded more likely.
I was meeting the guys at the bar for a few drinks before we headed to the park. We always ended Freedom Night with a bonfire and music at the park just outside of town. It was a secluded place where we could do just about anything we wanted, and we never got caught.
Reaching on my nightstand I grabbed my cell phone and my keys. The night was young, and I was ready to kick it with my friends. I wanted a drama free, alcohol filled, night of fun.
I met Jeremy at his house, and left my truck parked in his driveway. By the end of the night, I was hoping that I wouldn’t remember my name let alone be able to drive. He came out of his front door just as I was making my way on to the porch.
“Hey man. Right on time, you ready to go?” He asked.
I nodded. “It’s been a long damn day. I’m ready to blow off some steam.”
“You and me both brother.”
“Are all the rest of the guys meeting us there?” I hadn’t spoke to any of them, so I didn’t know what their plans were.
“Yeah, they’re probably half lit by now. You talked to Holly?”
I groaned.
“Sorry man, I was just wondering.”
“It’s not you. I’m just aggravated. I want to drink away the thought of all females tonight.”
He laughed as he started the car. “You got it. But just so you know, she’ll probably be there tonight.”
“Well, I hope I’m drunk by the time she shows up.”
He cranked up the stereo as we headed towards the bar. There was no more talk about Holly or any other girls. We wouldn’t have a chance to speak anyway with his stereo volume set on max. The car rattled and thumped all the way there.
I rubbed my ears as I stepped out of the car and onto the curb. “I don’t know why you have to listen to that crap so loud.”
“It’s better that way you big baby.” He tossed his arm across my shoulder. “Us big boys like our music loud, and our women even louder. If you know what I’m sayin?”
I just shook my head. “I hear you, loud-n-clear.”
After a couple of hours at the bar we decided to head down to the park. The bar was too damn crowded, and it took too long to get a drink. Thank goodness we started with the shots. I felt really good. Not drunk but good. We loaded the cars up with as many as we could fit inside and took off.
Pulling onto the gravel driveway that led to the field next to the park, I noticed that there were a lot more cars than usual. We had to park pretty far back, and walk most of the way. The music was loud, and coming from somebody’s pickup parked close to the bonfire. The night air was cool, and people were all over. It didn’t feel crowded like the bar, and I suddenly wished we had just come here first.
I spotted the keg of beer as we closed in on the crowd of people. I took off in that direction.
“Where you going?” Jeremy hollered.
“To get a beer.” I called back over my shoulder.