Ten minutes… hair, a little makeup, crap! What do I wear? Where are we going? I can’t do this. I think I’m getting an ulcer.
After empting my closet, I finally decided on my favorite pair of distressed jeans and a lavender cashmere sweater that fell off one shoulder. I put on a little makeup, enough to highlight, but not to look like I was trying too hard. Exactly ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. I could hear my dad and Chay talking in the foyer. I finished buckling my boot, grabbed my cell phone, and ran out of my bedroom door. I had to force myself not to skip down the hallway.
What is the matter with you? He just wants… what does he want? Do I care? Nope.
“Hey.” I made sure I took the stairs one at a time.
“Hi.”
I was so nervous I had to concentrate on my breathing so I didn’t hyperventilate or hold my breath and pass out. Either one would’ve been wicked embarrassing. It was bad enough I’d already puked in front of the guy. Twice.
Chay seemed completely at ease, as always. He stood with his thumbs hooked through his belt loops, looking amazing. His jeans rode low on his hips, and his blue T-shirt was snug in all the right places.
Stepping down from the last stair, I looked at Chay. I waited for him to clue me in on what we were doing.
“Well.” My dad leaned back on his heels before rocking forward on his toes. “You two have a nice afternoon.” Whistling, he walked away.
“Ready?” Chay asked.
“That depends.” I looked up at him.
He flipped his keys around a finger. They jangled when they hit his palm. “On?”
“What we’re doing,” I answered.
He chuckled. “How about a movie? Can you handle that?”
Oh, crap, I don’t know if I can or not. A dark theater? Close seating? Sounds like torture.
“I think so. What’s the occasion?”
“A break from chemistry homework. I’ve had enough studying for one day.”
Oh. Of course, a break from studying.
“Sounds good.” I shrugged a shoulder.
He opened the front door for me, and I walked by him, holding in a groan. He smelled too good to be legal. I knew sitting next to him in his small car was going to be torture. At least the theater would have popcorn to mask his gorgeous smell.
“So, which movie do you want to see?” He slid the key into the ignition and started the car.
“This was your idea. I thought you had a plan.” I glanced at him as I clicked my seatbelt in place.
“Nope. Just wanted to get out of the house.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Besides,” he continued, “if I keep you out all day, you won’t have time to finish.”
I angled my body toward him. “You don’t want me to finish my homework? That’s why you called and asked me to go with you?”
“Partly.” He grinned. I wasn’t sure what there was to grin about.
“Why?” He was so confusing. It was almost exhausting being around him. My heart did funny things, it was hard to breathe, and my head spun trying to keep up with the asinine remarks he made.
“Because I thought you were going to text me to work on our chem homework together. When you didn’t, I decided to take things into my own hands and remove homework from the equation.”
“Why?”
He sighed and jammed his fingers through his hair. “Because I wanted you to text me, and you didn’t.”
He wanted me to text him?
“You told me to text you if I got stuck on something. I was doing fine.”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly? You know, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”
We pulled in to the movie theater, and he parked the car. Turning in the seat, he looked at me. “I wanted you to text me. I didn’t care about chemistry.”
“Oh.” I looked out of the window at the people walking through the parking lot. “You know, last I checked, cell phones worked both ways.” I shrugged a shoulder. My sweater slipped over it and his eyes followed, lingering there for a few beats before moving to my gaze. I gave him a quick smile. “Just sayin’.” I opened the car door and slipped out.
He seemed to mull over my answer, a grin on his face. “Well… then I guess I should have texted sooner.”
I bent down and stuck my head in the car. “Yes. You should’ve. Now, let’s go. I want some popcorn.”
He got out of the car with a laugh, and I bit my bottom lip to keep a stupid grin off my face.
We picked a horror movie. A lovey-dovey chick flick didn’t seem his thing, and I wasn’t into the military, bomb-throwing action movies that were playing. So we settled on a horror film we both wanted to see.
“You really don’t need to pay for all the popcorn and Cokes,” I said, standing at the concession stand with him. The smell of buttery popcorn filled the building. Buzzers and alarms sounded in the arcade next to the concession stand and made it hard to talk without yelling. “We can split the cost.”
“It’s good. I have it,” he said close to my ear. His breath skated down my neck, sending ripples of warmth through me. He bought our popcorn and Cokes from the concession counter. “Butter?” He looked at me.