Muscles tense, I focused on the window across the room as his arms folded around my waist and he dipped his chin, resting it on my shoulder.
“Did I tell you about the first time I met Clyde?” he said.
Shaking my head, I whispered, “No.”
“It was on a Sunday. Met him at the bar. He ended up making me tacos.” He paused, chuckling softly in my ear. “Said it was tradition if I was going to be a part of his family.”
The next breath I took was sharp as a little more of that drowning weight lifted off me.
It was later in the day and Jax was finishing up with his shower before he took me back to the house so I could get ready for our date.
Our date.
Wow.
It seemed odd to be going on a date, with everything that was happening, but Jax operated on his life-is-short mentality, so I wasn’t too surprised by it. And in spite of all the craziness and my hang-ups, I was feeling good about the date—about this morning and about us.
Since he was busy, I tried calling Teresa and I was thrilled when she answered on the third ring. “Yo,” she chirped into the phone. “I was just thinking about you.”
I sat on the edge of Jax’s couch. “You were?”
“Yep. I was wondering if you were still bartending, and if so, were you going to become our official drink mixer when you get back to Shepherdstown.”
I laughed. “I don’t know if you want that. Most of the people up here order straight from the tap, the bottle, or shots, which is a good thing because I’m not that good at mixing drinks.”
“I still can’t believe you’re bartending.”
I was sure there were a lot of things that Teresa probably couldn’t believe about me. “How’s the beach?” I asked.
Teresa’s sigh was audible. “It’s great. I have an awesome tan, and Jack really loves it here. It’s the first time he’s been to the beach.”
Jack was Jase’s little brother, whom he was superclose with.
“And you should see the two of them together out on the sand. Nothing makes your ovaries get all happy than seeing a hot guy with a kid,” she explained, and I grinned and then I pictured Jax with a kid, and there was a quiver somewhere down below. “Anyway,” she went on. “We’re leaving in a couple of days, but I swear, I think I could live at the beach.”
I really needed to get my ass to a beach at some point.
“So tell me about things in the great state of Pennsylvania. Is everything cool?”
“Well, yeah, things have been . . . they’ve been great,” I told her, glancing at the stairs. “I’ve, um . . . I’ve met a guy.”
There was silence.
And more silence.
I frowned. “You there?”
“Yes. Yes! You just caught me off guard. You went from things are good to there’s a guy and I was waiting for, you know, more detail.” She all but shouted the last word. “Like lots of detail.”
With another glance at the stairwell, I told her about Jax and our date tonight. I ended my impromptu confession with “So, yeah, I’m pretty sure he likes me.”
“Well, duh. Of course he does. So the place is called Apollo’s? Hold on a sec,” she said, and then her voice sounded farther away. “Hey, Jase, look up Apollo’s outside of Philly. What? Just do it.”
Oh my God.
“Back to the liking-you thing. Why would you be surprised that he likes you? Brandon totally liked you, but you—”
“What?” I interrupted her. “He did not.”
“Oh, yes, he did. It was cute. You were all quiet when he first started coming around and he was always looking at you, but then you really didn’t pay any attention to him. I thought maybe I read you wrong and you weren’t into him.”
Teresa was smoking crack.
“Do you like him?” she asked suddenly. “Because Jase just looked up Apollo’s—and, by the way, Jase says hi.”
“Hi,” I mumbled back.
“She says hi!” she yelled and then, “He says the place looks pretty classy. Do you like him, Calla?”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I like him. I really do.”
“Good. I can’t wait to meet him. And to see you. But I really want to meet him.” She giggled when I laughed. “I’m happy for you. Seriously.”
Sighing, I then admitted something kind of scary. “I’m happy, too.”
I got off the phone after making a promise to give her the details, and it was when I tucked my hair back behind my ear, I felt it—the awareness of not being alone.
Oh no.
Biting down on my lower lip, I twisted around and saw Jax standing at the bottom of the stairwell, already dressed for our date. Dark denim jeans and a white button-down. He looked damn good.
He was also grinning a smug little grin. “So you like me? You really do?”
I groaned, cheeks heating. “Shut up.”
Jax tipped back his head and laughed. He was lucky he had such a great laugh.
Lip gloss was almost the finishing touch and I was glad I was done getting ready. My tummy was grumbling and I really hoped Jax liked girls with big appetites because I had a feeling I was going to gorge myself on food.
I’d put loose waves in my hair and parted it on the side. I’d skipped on the Dermablend again, opting for the light look with smoky eyes.
The dress I had on, since I had to bring all my clothes with me, was cute and flirty. It was a strappy dark blue sundress that was fitted through the breast and waist. Maybe a little clingy around the hips, too, but then it flowed around, the skirt bouncy and ending just below mid-thigh. I paired it with a pair of sandals with a low heel. The final touch was the baby blue cap-sleeve cardigan that ended just below my breasts and was also fitted.
Checking myself out in the mirror, I had to say that I looked pretty damn good.
I nodded at my reflection like a dork and then marched into the living room. While I’d been getting ready, Jax had puttered around the house and then made his way to the couch, where he was reading his book.
Studying his profile, with his chin dipped and his face masked in concentration, I had to say that he was hot. But when he looked up and saw me he was even hotter.
“I’m ready,” I said, and then added, “To go to dinner and eat.”
Yep. It was official. I was an uberdork.
His eyes darkened and heated. In a second he was on his feet, and then he was in front of me. One hand curled around the nape of my neck and the other landed on my cheek. His thumb moved along the bottom of my lip and got my stomach doing cartwheels.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
And I felt beautiful when he said that. “Thank you. You look beautiful, too.”
A dark eyebrow rose.
Ugh.