“You want to go get some dessert or something?” Jeff suggested as we walked out of the theater.
“Um.” I looked down. White Nikes, not black boots. But still, Jake was wearing a burgundy Abercrombie hoodie, and I couldn’t shake off the funk I felt being around him.
“This has been great, but I need to get home,” I said.
“Okay, I guess that’s my cue.” Muriel gave Drew a small smile.
“No, no, you guys are still having fun. I have to get up early for practice anyway. I’ll take Milayna home.” Jake fished his keys from his pocket.
Muriel looked at me and raised her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes at her.
“Thanks, Jake,” I said.
“No problem.” Jake drove me home, talking and joking during the ride. I tried to keep up with the conversation, but the only thing I could think about was his damn hoodie. A few weeks ago, I would have been trying to figure out how to get it off him. Now I just wanted to get home as fast as possible.
As soon as the car rolled to a stop in my driveway, I opened the door to get out when Jake said something that made my heart jump—and not in a good, swoony way.
“Do you ever think of changing, Milayna?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. “No. Never.”
“Even if it meant you’d save your family?”
I turned to him. “My family wouldn’t want me to change, no matter what happened. Do you think about it?”
“Hell no!” He shook his head and drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel.
“Then what’s up with the questions?” I narrowed my eyes and studied him.
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and shrugged. “You know, Lily and Shayla are going to try to get to all of us. Just got to keep tabs on everyone.”
“Yeah.” I shot him a quick smile.
Gray hands, burgundy Abercrombie hoodie, and black boots.
My hands shaking, I shot out of the car and up the walk to the house. Jake followed me. My insides were swirling like someone took an egg beater to them, and Chay’s warning swam in my mind.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should’ve been more careful after Lily and Shayla.
“Thanks for bringing me home. It was a lot of fun being out with the group.” I tried to sound normal. My throat was so tight, I was sure my voice sounded strained. I wished he’d stayed in the car instead of walking me to the door. It wasn’t like we were on a date.
“Maybe we could do it again?”
“Yeah. The group definitely needs to get out and do fun stuff together. Stuff that doesn’t include demons,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“Well, yeah. But that’s not what I meant.” He skimmed his hand up my arm to my neck. I was in too much shock to really follow along with what was happening. It wasn’t until his hand curved around the back of my neck and he leaned in, saying, “I was thinking next time it could be just me and you.”
Oh please, don’t kiss me.
I was never very lucky when it came to guys. Jake’s lips touched mine. I suppose it was a nice kiss. It was soft and sweet. But, it wasn’t Chay. His were perfect. The kind of kisses that made my heart fall into my stomach and my toes curl—a kiss that created warmth in all the right places. They threw me off-balance in a way that I never wanted to end. The kind in romantic movies when the gorgeous guy kisses the girl, the music swells in the background, and you think, ‘Yeah, that doesn’t happen in real life.’ But when I kissed Chay, it was as though it did happen. I heard music in my head. Our own symphony. Okay, totally too corny. But true.
Yeah, Jake’s wasn’t like that.
Jake rested his hand on my waist and started to deepen the kiss when I took a step back. “Um, that’s nice, but I’m with Chay. I really need to go…” I motioned to the house.
There was no way in Hell, or, preferably, out of it, we’d go on a date together.
“Yeah. Okay.” He frowned. “I’ll see you Monday. That’s if we don’t have any trouble over the weekend.”
I laughed. It came out too loud and shrill, and I cringed. “Yeah, we don’t want any trouble.”
“Right. ‘Bye, Milayna.” He lifted his hand in wave and walked away, watching me as he went.
He’s gonna change. Maybe he has already and that’s why I felt so weird around him.
“‘Bye.” I made myself stand still for seven seconds. I ticked them off in my head. Okay, I was going for ten seconds, but I didn’t make it. I wanted away from him.
I all but fell into the house. I tried not to slam the door closed—I forced myself to push it closed gently, but as soon as it latched, I threw the deadbolts. Letting my purse fall to the floor, I leaned my forehead against the door, sucking in a deep breath to calm my nerves.
My hands were still shaking. My entire insides felt like they were shaking. I was James Bond’s martini: ‘shaken, not stirred.’ Of course, that was said in the delicious Scottish Sean Connery’s voice, because everyone knew he was the best James Bond. Yeah, I totally watched too many of those old movies with my dad.
“Milayna.” I flinched at the sound of my dad’s voice coming from the living room. “How’d it go?”