Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
13
BETH ANN
Maybe it was the forearms.
I always had a thing for forearms, especially when a man rolled up his sleeves before doing something. It didn’t matter what. It was a masculine thing, and I responded to it. The blue-collar, haul-it, he-man thing. I liked it. Which was weird because I also wanted to be able to have a reasonable discussion with a person I was attracted to and not some dumb jock who was going to rattle off sports statistics and call girls “chicks.”
Though, I had a feeling if Jason said that, I would let it slide.
I found my eyes drifting down to his forearms a couple of times, though, and I wondered if he noticed. More than once, his sleeve would slip, and he would roughly push them up over his elbow and I felt heat rise in my cheeks and my breath catch.
Or maybe it was the fact that the last date I had been on was… good Lord, I couldn’t even remember. It was a while ago. It hadn’t gone well. I remembered it just the other day, and yet now, sitting across from Jason, I couldn’t bring it up in my mind. It didn’t matter. Not much else on the whole planet mattered right that moment.
Perhaps it wasn’t either of those things. Perhaps it was the fact that I had just put away my third cosmo and was debating a fourth. I didn’t want to look like a lush in front of him, but at the same time, we were enjoying ourselves, and I never let myself loose like that. If there were a dancing club within walking distance, I would have dragged him to it. I wanted to celebrate this liberating feeling for as long as it lasted.
I also wanted to experiment with how it felt to have my body pressed really closely to Jason’s. For science.
I felt drawn to Jason in a way I never expected. It was more than that he was hot. Or that he was gentle. Or that he looked like he could bench press a U-Haul. It was something that sparkled between us even when we were silent. A sensation that there were words that didn’t need to be said, only glances over the rim of a glass and a grin.
God, that grin.
If there wasn’t a table between us, I would have made a move already. I had no idea what had become of me. Who was this girl who asked boys out and then drank a little too much and was willing to be the one to kiss them? This was a whole new Beth Ann. Tennessee Beth Ann. Full of confidence and moxie. And desperately in need of Jason’s touch.
“I was wondering,” Jason said as more people filed out of the bar. It was getting close to closing time. I wasn’t even tired.
“Yeah?” I asked, noticing the slight slur in my voice but hoping he didn’t.
“What would you think about us seeing each other again after tonight?” he asked.
His boyish grin was so cute I could barely stand it. I thought the answer was a foregone conclusion, so much so I almost forgot to say it. I smiled.
“I would like that a lot.”
“Good,” he said, smiling wide. “I was hoping you would say that.”
“Me too,” I said.
Me too? That didn’t even make sense. Tennessee Beth Ann had apparently gone past Regular Beth Ann’s Lightweight Alcohol Limit.
“Another cosmo, miss?” the waitress asked as she came by again.
I shook my head. “No, thank you.”
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll bring the checks.”
“Just one,” Jason told her.
With a nod, the waitress walked away, and I found myself taking a big sip from the glass of ice water on the table and making googly eyes at Jason.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Thank you. I really enjoyed tonight.”
“Me too,” I said, thankful that this time it was at least conversationally appropriate. “I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”
“Yeah,” he said, looking at his phone. That was another thing. This was the first time he had picked it up the entire night. He sat it on the table the entire time and didn’t even glance at it. “I guess I can go ahead and get you home.”
“Too bad,” I said. “We should have started this night earlier.”
He smiled as he nodded.
“Yes, we should have.”
Jason paid the ticket, and we headed out to the truck. I was quietly monitoring myself, noting that it sure seemed like I was walking in a straight line. I wasn’t drunk. I was probably a little bit tipsy but not drunk. I hadn’t made a complete idiot out of myself.
Again, Jason held the door open for me, and we headed out and up the mountain. Rather than playing music loudly this time, we continued our conversation.
“So, if we were to go see a movie,” I said, “what would you be interested in?”