Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
She looked like she’d rather do anything else, but reluctantly nodded her head.
“I guess that’s best,” she admitted. “What time?”
I looked at my watch, noticed that it was almost after four, and said, “How about seven?”
“I have to be at practice tomorrow morning by six thirty,” she admitted. “We have practice early, before school. I won’t be able to stay out too late. Nine at most.”
“Six?”
Her smile was radiant. “That’s better.”
“Okay. Six it is,” I replied softly.
Her eyes were bright as she offered me a small smile. “See you then.”
Then she was gone, walking away without another word.
I watched her go across the entire field, then move through the gates that led to the parking lot beyond.
There, she disappeared around the side of the building and left me to my thoughts, which were rioting.
On one hand, I knew that this wasn’t a good idea. Jay’s parents—Krisney’s parents—were fucking nuts. They were asshole rich people who thought they were better than us. It wasn’t a stretch to think that they wouldn’t like me. Based on her mother’s face as she stared at my house, I knew that when I showed up at her door dressed in nice jeans and a collared shirt, she wouldn’t think I was good enough for her daughter, either.
But I couldn’t see myself not going out on this date.
It’d been three days, and I couldn’t get her out of my mind.
She’d always be that ‘what if’ that I couldn’t stop thinking about. I just knew it.
And let’s not forget that she was still sixteen. Those years didn’t make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but for state law…yeah, that made a difference.
So, after twenty minutes of more playing around on the field, I drove home and quickly showered.
Once I was dressed in my nicest pair of jeans and my polo shirt—the only collared one I owned—I drove over to her house with ten minutes to spare.
My car was loud in her driveway, and I immediately winced.
The car that I had was loud because I’d cut the mufflers off of it a few weeks ago. I loved the way it sounded…but now, with the reverberation of it bouncing off the houses around me, I was acutely aware that it wasn’t going to be approved of by her parents, either.
Shit.
I shut the car off and walked up the perfectly landscaped path straight up to the front door. Before I could think better of it, I knocked and waited, shuffling from foot to foot.
The door opened moments later, and the nervousness exploded inside of me when Krisney’s father—or at least who I assumed was Krisney’s father—answered the door.
His eyes took me in quickly as he asked, “Can I help you?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m here to pick Krisney up for a date.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “And you are?”
“Dad, that’s Reed Hail. Tobias’s older brother. Jay’s best friend?” Krisney appeared wearing a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt with black lettering that said ‘Hostel Volleyball’ on it in big bold letters, and a pair of tennis shoes.
“Oh, you,” the man said, finally taking my offered hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Have her back by ten.”
Then he left without another word.
Krisney came through the open door and patted my hand. “Let’s go before my mother gets home. If she sees us leaving, she’ll want to know a whole lot more than my father did.”
“What’s your father’s name?” I questioned her as I stuffed my hands into my pockets.
“My dad is Ephraim, and my mother is Brenda.”
I walked down the pathway with her to my ride, circled around the big beast to her side of the car, and opened the door.
She smiled at me, and I felt that smile straight in my heart.
It kicked thunderously, and I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and kiss her.
She took her seat, though, and grinned up at me. “I’ve never been in a muscle car before.”
I snorted.
“This isn’t really considered a ‘muscle’ car,” I told her. “More like a fast car, with a little more oomph than anything.”
She snorted. “Yeah, whatever.”
Twenty minutes later, we were seated at one of the only restaurants in the city that was open that wouldn’t be packed this late at night.
Instead of sitting across from her, I sat next to her, scooting in close so she was either squished up against the wall or against me. She chose me, and we were touching from knee to shoulder. Her shoulder, not mine.
She was a tiny little thing, and though she had some muscle on her, it was more than obvious that I had quite a few pounds on her.
“How tall are you?” I questioned.
She looked up at me and narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Honestly? I’m just curious. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”