Free All In (Cedar Mountain University #2) by Ann Garner Page A

Grace.”
    Shaking my head, I say “I told you I’d set them straight, and I
will. I’ll text Holden right now.” I reach into my pocket and pull out my
phone. He snatches the phone out of my hands before I can even unlock the
screen. “Hey,” I cry out, looking up at him. “Give it back.”
    “Jesus, Grace, is it always this difficult to ask you out on a
date?”
    “I don’t know. It’s only ever been Grant.” That brings him up
short. I can see the surprise on his face. Before he can say anything else I
add, “I don’t want a pity date.”
    “Who said anything about a pity date?”
    Shooting him a look I reach out to try and snag my phone back, but
he pulls it out of my reach. I frown as I cross my arms over my chest, rolling
back on my heels so I can look up at him. “You’re offering to take me on a
date, so I don’t have to admit I was lying that we’re dating. What would you
call it?”
    “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I actually want to go on a
date with you?”
    I just barely manage to keep my jaw from dropping. Because he sure
as shit looks serious, and those were not the words I was expecting to come out
of his mouth. “Um, no.”
    “Well it should, because I do.”
    I must look like a total idiot. That’s all I can think as I stand
there staring at him. Because no, it had never occurred to me that Jacob would
want to go out on a date with me. Not a real date. Lord knows I wasn’t one of
those girls who lacked self-esteem or self-confidence. I knew that, while I
more than likely would never be walking down a runway in Milan, I wasn’t
exactly sending small children running screaming in the opposite direction.
    But I wasn’t kidding when I said it had only ever been Grant. From
the moment I’d realized that boys were different then girls, and what that
difference could mean, I had set my sights on Grant. There had been no room for
other boys, and they had all seemed to recognize this, and had never tried.
    Or they might have been terrified of my older brothers.
    Regardless, I had never been asked on a date before Grant.
    “You’re giving this way too much thought. It’s just a date, Pixie,
not a marriage proposal.”

Chapter Seven

 
    The morning of my date with Jacob, the real one that I fumbled
through agreeing to, I wake up with tears drying on my face. I’ve always been a
vivid dreamer. My mother always told me it was because I was so passionate
about everything, even when I was sleeping.
    I had dreamed about Grant pretty much every night since he had
broken up with me.
    The dream always started the same way. It was the last time that
Grant and I had been together before the end. We’d stayed in since Grant had
complained he had a headache. I’d teased him about using a girl excuse to get
out of our plans. But I hadn’t minded staying home with him.
    I’d hit the local Redbox for a movie, popped popcorn, and we had
curled up in my bed together. It was The
Amazing Spiderman , a movie that I loved and Grant tolerated for my sake.
    We’re happy. We’re in love.
    Everything was perfect and right in the world.
    Then halfway through the dream it’s no longer me lying on my bed
with him.
    The girl on the bed is some faceless female body that is everything
that I’m not. Tall, rail thin, big boobs, a nice ass. She’s like a freaking
Barbie lying there with Grant in my bed, in my spot in his arms, and I’m forced
to watch them.
    I’m forced to watch him kiss her and touch her in ways that are
familiar to me. I can’t turn away as he kisses her once, twice, three times,
and then he pulls back and just as he leans down to whisper in her ear his eyes
lock with mine, and I hear him tell her, ‘I love you.’ And then he smiles. I
can tell by the look on his face that he wants me to hear him. He knows that I
am there. H e wants to watch my reaction.
    Because he knows that I am there. And he enjoys the pain that slips
through me.
    In my dream, I can’t leave the room.