my whole body was trying to force me to reach out and
touch her.
It seemed like an age that we sat there in
silence, but in reality was probably only a few seconds. She cleared her throat
nervously and looked away from me. “It ’ s getting late, you should probably go. Thanks for the ride home. I
had a really nice time tonight,” she said quietly, pushing herself up off the
sofa.
I nodded, getting to my feet and not even
mentioning the fact that I hadn ’ t
even had time to drink my coffee before she was asking me to leave. I had a
feeling that the little silence after that heavy discussion had made her feel a
little uncomfortable, so I didn ’ t
want to make it worse.
“So, how are you celebrating your first day
on the job tomorrow? Going out with someone?” I asked, mentally crossing my
fingers that she ’ d say no. This
was the last time I was asking her out. I couldn ’ t keep being rejected by this girl.
She shook her head. “ Nope.
I don’ t know that many people. Anna ’ s got Cameron, so I can ’ t ask her, and my sister ’ s busy, so…” she trailed off, shrugging.
My spirits lifted instantly. “Great. I ’ ll pick you up at around seven thirty.”
She looked at me, shocked, and then a
sarcastic smile spread across her face, as if she thought it was some kind of
joke. “Okay, player, I ’ ll see you
then,” she replied.
“Yeah? Sweet.”
Her smile faltered as a frown lined her
forehead. Before she had a chance to take back her acceptance, I strutted to
the door. “Wait, Nate, that was a joke, right?” she called to my back as I
reached for the door handle.
“No way, muffin, you ’ ve agreed now. I ’ ll be
here at seven thirty on the dot,” I answered, grinning over my shoulder.
“Nate, I can ’ t.” Her mouth carried on moving after she spoke, but nothing else
came out.
“Sure you can. You said you have no one to
go out with tomorrow. You need to celebrate your first day at work. Your man ’ s still in Barstow; you ’ ll be eating alone. I ’ ll
be eating alone too, so it makes sense for us to go out. Just as friends if you
want to.” I shrugged, giving her my puppy dog face, girls literally went crazy
for it, so I didn ’ t pull it out
very often, but then again, I wasn ’ t used to not getting my own way.
She sighed, looking a little pained before
she finally nodded in agreement. “Okay, yeah, sure. I can ’ t let you eat on your own, can I? But just as friends though. This
isn ’ t a date.”
I bit back a growl of victory. I actually
wanted to fist-pump the air chanting she-said-yes over and over, but I resisted
the urge. She said it wasn ’ t a
date, but hopefully by the end of the night tomorrow, I ’ d be able to convince her that it was a date, and not just a
friendly dinner.
“See now, that wasn ’ t so hard, and I didn ’ t
even have to embarrass you for you to agree. We really are on the up and up,” I
teased, winking at her and pulling open the door, wanting to run away as
quickly as I could before she could change her mind.
She laughed and leant against the
doorframe, pressing her forehead against it, closing her eyes. “Hmm, well I ’ ll see you tomorrow.”
“Try not to dream about me too much
tonight, huh? I don ’ t want you
having hot, inappropriate dream flashbacks while you ’ re teaching tomorrow.” I smirked at her as she laughed and shook her head.
“I ’ ll try, but it ’ s gonna
be hard,” she answered sarcastically.
“Oh, it ’ s always hard, but maybe that ’ s just around you.”
She groaned. “Just leave, slut, before I
change my mind. You really are talking yourself into reheated lasagne for one
tomorrow.”
I practically skipped back to my car. For
the first time since I met her, I felt like I could properly relax. I didn ’ t realise how on edge I ’ d been all week. I actually couldn ’ t wait for tomorrow night; she ’ d finally conceded, well, slightly conceded because she insisted it
was a