Wow. Way to go, Lake. Way to sound like a smooth talker.
Why the heck was Zoey even going out with me? She could land anybody. I was just an awkward, sometimes clumsy—
All thoughts vanished, flitting from my mind when Zoey emerged from the bathroom, wearing a very tight and insanely low-cut shirt that showed off her cleavage like no one’s business. Couple that with the short shorts she wore, and I saw a whole lot of her I probably shouldn’t. Or, at least, parts of her I shouldn’t exactly stare at like a lecher.
I averted my eyes, spinning around like I’d just walked in on her naked or something. Don’t get me wrong—if she was naked, I’d have a whole different flurry of thoughts racing through my head right now—but she wasn’t.
And I was acting like an idiot.
Zoey laughed. “You can look at me, Lake. It isn’t like this is our wedding and you’re seeing me in the wedding dress before the ceremony.”
Right. Because that would be a whole lot of bad luck. This was just me being stupid.
I was measured in turning around, meeting her eyes. Their light blue hue was done up in eyeliner with perfectly-blended shadow, making their color pop even more. Her lips were painted red, her eyelashes looking extra long and thick. Her pink hair was wavy; not its usual straight.
“You look…” A lump formed in my throat, and for whatever reason, I could not finish the sentence: beautiful.
Because she did. She looked so beautiful it hurt. Like, what the hell was I doing, thinking I was good enough to go on a date with her, let alone multiple possible dates in the future? I must be on crack or something to think I could hold a torch against her.
“I’m going to take your silence as a compliment,” she paused, adding, “I think.” The only thing she didn’t have on was shoes, but she remedied that soon enough, sliding on bright pink sneakers that matched her hair. I’d seen her wear those same shoes countless of times now.
“Yes,” I sputtered out, wishing I could be not me for once, someone who knew exactly what to say and when to say it. “I was just coming over here to ask when you want me ready by. I mean, I’m ready now, but if you’d rather we wait, that’s fine, too.” I flicked my thumb over my shoulder. “I could go back to my place and wait…”
That probably wasn’t something good to say. The image of me sitting on my small couch and waiting for her made me look lame in her eyes, I bet.
Zoey tilted her head, studying me. She took a step closer to me, a smile growing on her face. “We can go whenever you want, Lake.” She practically purred out my name, and I did my best not to let the timbre of her voice affect me.
It was hard, damn near impossible. Just being around her drove me crazy, let alone being around her when she was all dressed up for me, saying my name like it was the most precious word to ever touch that tongue.
I felt heat touch my cheeks, and I hoped I wasn’t blushing. How embarrassing would that be? At this rate, Zoey probably thought I’d never gone on a date before, with the way I was acting. “When do you want to go?” Thank God, I didn’t trip over those words.
She must’ve sensed we could go round and round with this and never leave her apartment tonight, for she took charge and said, “We can go now.” She grabbed the keys resting on the kitchen counter, tossing me a smirk. “I still don’t have a car, by the way, so I’m afraid we’ll have to take yours.”
“You can ride me anytime.” The words were out of my mouth before my brain could register that they weren’t quite right, and when I realized what I said, I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide for a year or two. “I mean, my car. You can—”
Zoey giggled, biting her bottom lip as she led me to the door to the main hallway. “I’ll keep that in mind, Lake.”
Oh, dear God. I really hoped I stopped saying stupid things sooner rather than later. At this rate, I’d dig myself in a hole even I couldn’t get out of.
As she locked her apartment, I said, “Let me grab my keys.” I hurried to get my car keys and my apartment keys, locking my own door before meeting her in front of the elevator. I tried my best not to constantly check her out, but it was difficult. So very difficult, because she was, again, the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.
I was not exaggerating there. Like, as much of a wussy thing it was to admit, I only had eyes for her.
I really hoped I didn’t screw this date up.
Turned out, Zoey had our entire night planned. A simple, quiet night that involved going to dinner, getting ice cream from somewhere else as a desert, and ending it with a movie. A horror movie, which was so not my thing, but I nodded and smiled anyway, because I didn’t care what the hell I saw, as long as I sat beside her.
During dinner, I found she had a healthy appetite. She could shovel in food like no one else’s business; just because she was on a date with me didn’t mean she’d be all quiet and shy, apparently. Not that I didn’t want her to feel comfortable with me. I did. I totally did. I just wasn’t expecting her to wolf down fifteen chicken wings that were slathered in hot sauce while at the same time still looking just as gorgeous as ever.
She asked me about myself, so much during dinner that I hardly had the chance to ask her any questions about her life. She wanted to know the usual first date questions, the same thing everyone always did: what are you majoring in? What do you want to do after graduation? Do you have your life figured out already?
Everyone always expected kids right out of high school to know what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. I was twenty years old, out of high school for two years now, and I still had no idea. I was majoring in computer science, but that didn’t really mean anything. It wasn’t like I had a passion for computers and stuff; plus, I still had to take all of the generic courses everyone else had to, too.
I worked at a local retail store, so nothing too huge there. I did tell her if she ever wanted to use my discount to buy anything, she could totally hit me up.
Somehow, I didn’t think that impressed her too much.
The waitress came to take our plates away, leaving us with a bill—of which I lunged to grab first. No way in hell was I going to let Zoey try to pay for our first date. I might not be loaded like her parents, but I still wanted to pay. Some stupid, ingrained notion of masculinity or something.
“What about your family?” Zoey asked, weaving her fingers together and then resting her chin atop them. “Are you close to them?”
I knew Zoey wasn’t particularly close to her family, not after what happened, so I wasn’t sure I should tell her. Of course, I wasn’t a liar, so I had to tell her the truth. “Yeah. My, uh… my mom didn’t want me moving out. I think if it was up to her, I’d live in her house until I was thirty.”
Eh, either thirty or I got married.
Zoey’s eyebrows lifted, as if she couldn’t believe that.
“She means well,” I said, shrugging it off. I would not tell Zoey about the fact that my mom had been trying to sign me up on online dating websites. Like, I was only twenty years old. Give me at least a few more years until I got that desperate, okay?
“Do you have any siblings?” Zoey tiptoed around the word, and I could tell she wished she was an only child. But then, if that was the case, if she didn’t have a sister who’d slept with her ex-boyfriend, what was to stop that same ex from finding someone else to hook up with behind her back? No, she dodged a bullet when she found her ex and her sister together. It might hurt now, but the future Zoey would be thankful.
I shook my head, handing the waitress my debit card as she walked by. I’d have to leave a tip on the card too, since I didn’t make it a habit of carrying around cash. “No, it was just me and my mom. My dad died when I was ten.”
She looked like she wanted to reach over the table and hug me. “I’m sorry, Lake,” she whispered, frowning.
“It’s okay,” I said, wanting to get that frown off her face immediately. Don’t get me wrong, when I was younger, I was absolutely devastated that my dad p
assed away, but ten years was a long time to get used to something like that. Half of you moved on, while the other half thought it was just yesterday your dad was giving you a roasted marshmallow right off the fire, even though your mom hated how messy you were with them.
Zoey pursed her lips. “Sometimes I wonder what it would’ve been like to grow up in a different family. Having money is… sometimes I swear it’s like a curse.”
That, I could believe. You saw it in politics all the time. Money was the root of all evil, all greed. Men always wanted more, even when they already had more than their fair share. I never wanted to be super rich; I only wanted to get a job that could pay the bills and let me save up enough to go on a vacation every other year or something. Just enough to be happy.
I liked to think I was a simple guy.
A simple, insanely awkward guy, but a simple guy all the same.
We stopped at a small mom and pop ice cream shop before our movie. I got a milkshake, while Zoey got a huge vanilla cone dipped in sprinkles. We sat outside, on the small patio in front of the ice cream shop, as we ate. Or, rather, as she ate her cone and I drank my shake, all the while watching her.
Did Zoey realize she was so gorgeous? Did she wake up every day knowing she could get whatever guy she wanted, whenever she wanted? And, the most important question ringing in my head: what the heck was she doing here with me?
It was after one particularly sprinkle-filled lick that Zoey tucked some of her hair behind an ear, giving me a look that said more than words could. “What?”
“Nothing,” I said, probably too quickly. My eyes fell away from her face, dropping to my chocolate milkshake, staring at the melting contents inside the plastic container. Way to be obvious, I chided myself.
“You were thinking about something,” she said. “I can tell. What?” It seemed Zoey would not let it go.
I wondered if I should say it, or if I should come up with something else to tell her so I didn’t sound so lame. It wasn’t like I wanted to advertise how out of my league she was, how much she made me tongue-tied, but at this point, I didn’t know what else to say.
“It’s…” I was going to say it’s stupid, but then, when Zoey was in the picture, could anything really be stupid? I bit the inside of my cheek when I met her stare. The blue in her eyes was a light, delicate color, the hue of the sky just after sunrise, after the oranges and pinks faded away, the lightest blue imaginable.
Eyes like that made you lose your train of thought quite easily, apparently.
Zoey reached over the table, laying a hand on my arm. “What?” This time, her voice was softer, gentler, the kind of voice I could close my eyes and listen to all day and night. She had me trapped, wrapped around her finger, and I bet she didn’t even realize it.
“You,” I whispered, feeling the hand on my arm loosen. “I honestly don’t know why you’d want to go on a date with me, Zoey. You’re… you’re you and I’m me.” Well, if ever you needed someone to explain something using ineloquent words, I was your guy. Keep my number memorized.
She took a lick of her cone, mostly free of sprinkles now, narrowing her gaze at me a bit. “And what’s wrong with that?”
I let out an incredulous chuckle. “Look at me. I’m not really the kind of guy who you see standing next to models.”
Zoey frowned somewhat. “I’m not a model.”
“No, but you could be. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and I’m just a boy from a small town, trying to get his life together.” I realized then I’d just given her a compliment that was so not first date material, but it was too late to take it back now. “Sorry. I hope you don’t think that’s weird, or anything—”
“I don’t think you have a good opinion of yourself,” she cut in. “I think you’re perfect, Lake.” Just like that, she’d spoken something so seriously, so quietly and sincerely that I could do nothing but swallow and fight the heat creeping up my cheeks.
If anyone else would’ve said that, I wouldn’t have believed them, but hearing it from Zoey’s mouth… I wanted to believe her. I wanted her to think I was perfect. After all, if she thought I was perfect, why would she ever let me go? I sure as hell didn’t want to let her go, and this was only our first date. Who knew where life would take us after this, what would happen a week from now, a month from now, a year from now—but I didn’t care. I wanted Zoey.
I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anyone else before, so badly it was like no other girl existed in my life.
When we finished up at the ice cream shop, I went to hold her hand as we walked to the car. Zoey let me, which I took as a good sign. We even held hands in the car on the way to the movie theater. Her small, warm hand felt so snug, so soft, like it fit perfectly with mine, and if I had my way, I’d never let it go all night.
But, you know, once I bought us our tickets, she had to go to the restroom, so I had to let go of her hand for that.
I decided to order us some popcorn and a ridiculously oversized drink while I waited for her to come out. She’d chosen a horror movie that had been out for a few weeks, so I was hoping the movie theater room wouldn’t be jam-packed with other people.
Not that I was hoping for an empty theater… I knew what people sometimes did in empty theaters, and I would not want Zoey to get the wrong idea.
I mean, not that I wouldn’t want to do things with her if given the chance…
Oh, God. I need to stop that train of thought right now, before she comes back, I told myself. Suddenly getting a grip had never been harder. Zoey really did make me go nuts, rambling on and on about the stupidest of things. No one else ever had that power before; I hoped she’d use it for good and not for evil.
Zoey returned from the restroom, looking as stunning as ever, giving me a wide smile when she saw the popcorn in my hand. We found our theater room and chose seats in the highest back row. There were a few other small groups already in the room, but it was nowhere near as packed as the room holding the newest superhero movie was.
Well, if Zoey liked horror, surely I could learn to love it too, right?
The previews were already playing, and Zoey reached over to grab some popcorn. She gave me a thumbs-up and a wink when she tossed the popcorn into her mouth, grinning wickedly. “Super buttery. It’s good.”
I did my best not to watch her, not to stare at her like a man seeing the love of his life for the first time in years, but it was hard. While I tried to keep my mind occupied with something else, I wondered if she often went to the movies before, if she’d gone with her cheater of an ex. Did rich people go to the movies?
She seemed to be having fun, so I was going to take that as a win. Plus, you know, she was the one who chose what we were doing on the date, so it wasn’t like I was the one making the decisions here. It was all Zoey, and I was just along for the ride, happy to finally spend more time with her.
For a while there, I thought she’d decided I didn’t exist, which hurt. And then that guy, who kept coming over—what was his name? Baxter? Carter? Whatever. An agent of her parents or something, trying to get her to come back home. I hoped I was enough for her.
The movie started, and let’s just say I didn’t know whether I’d ever be a fan of horror. The blood. The guts. The torture. Even though I knew it was all fake, that the blood onscreen was nothing more than starch and red food coloring, it still made me a little sick in the stomach. Zoey, though, was rapt, her attention never wavering from the giant screen in front of us.
Never would’ve guessed she liked horror this much, but I guess everyone was different. That’s what made the world a fun place.
We were the last ones in the theater when the movie finished rolling. Everyone else got up the moment the credits began to roll, but Zoey didn’t. She remained in her seat, and so I stayed in mine, turning my head toward her, smiling as I watched her. For the first time ever, I think, she looked happy. Truly happy, content here, with me, and that’s all I ever wanted. To help her adjus
t, to help her forget all the crap she’d run from.
Zoey was slow to look at me, meeting my smile with one of her own. “I kind of wish we could watch it again. Did you like it?”
Did I enjoy watching a family get lost in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains, losing their lives and their limbs—not exactly in that order—to a family of inbred hillbillies? “It was definitely something else,” I said, not quite able to say I loved the movie. What I did love was spending time with her. I didn’t care what the heck we did, as long as I could be with her.
Man, listen to me. Our first date, and it already sounded like I was in love with her, didn’t it?
I mean, I’d thought about her a lot, tried to go out of my way often to see her or talk to her, but that was going a little too far, too fast. I couldn’t let myself get caught up in her; I didn’t want to scare her off.
She sighed as she got up. “You hated it.”
I followed her down the steps, tossing the mostly empty popcorn bag and cup in the trash bin before leaving the theater room. “No, I didn’t.” I didn’t sound very believable, though.
Her hand found mine, her fingers weaving through mine as we walked out. “Next time, I’ll let you pick the movie,” Zoey said, shooting me a smile. “How about that?”
My feet abruptly stopped, and I whipped my head in her direction, unable to hide how stunned I was at her suggestion. “You… you want to go out again?” I couldn’t say why, but that seemed like such a far-fetched scenario, I could scarcely believe my own ears.
A giggle escaped her, and she gave me a quizzical look. “Yes?” Zoey paused, letting her laughter die down as her hand squeezed mine. “Do you not want to? Was it really that bad of a date? I know it’s been a while since I’ve gone on one, but—”
“No,” I quickly said. “No, that’s not… that’s not it. Of course, I want to see you again, and not just as my neighbor.” Now it was my turn to squeeze her hand, to reassure her that this was not, in fact, a horrible date I never wanted to repeat again. “I really like spending time with you, Zoey.”
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