“Yeah, isn’t that what we are, or did I completely misread this whole situation, and I’m just so into you I assumed we were dating?” He glanced down and then back up at me and gave a shy smile. How did he manage to look unsure of himself while seeming confident? How was it possible?
“You never called me your girlfriend before.”
“Actually, I do all the time; you’re just not around to hear it.” He smiled. “So, are you okay with it?”
“I love the idea,” I said and then realized I had just used the L-word. “Well, I mean, it’s fine or whatever.”
He started laughing. “I liked your first response better. Not that hearing, ‘it’s fine or whatever,’ isn’t what all guys want to hear.”
I put my hand over my mouth and laughed. “Sorry, I just…I didn’t mean to. That word kinda made it seem so intense, and I wanted to lighten it up. I’m not smooth in the slightest. Stuff comes out of my mouth, and then I feel like I’ve said too much.”
“You say what you’re feeling, and that’s what I love about you,” he said, and then his eyes widened. “And now I’ve said the word, too. Wow, you bring out something in me—it’s so weird. I’m normally not so open. This is kind of freaky for me. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page because I thought we were, but…well, then you kind seemed shocked by me saying, ‘girlfriend.’”
“I liked you saying girlfriend.”
“Yeah?” His eyebrow arched. “Because I want to know how you feel. I know with my background it sometimes can seem like it’s all about me, and I want to make sure you don’t feel overwhelmed by all that. It’s not what I’m about, but it is what I come with, if that makes any sense.”
I nodded, and he reached over and put his hand on my shoulder.
“This all feels so new to me, and I normally don’t talk about this stuff,” he said. “But I guess I’m at the point where I’m feeling different things, and I’ve had so many relationships with people who wanted to be with the idea of me instead of the actual me.”
“You don’t think that’s why I’m with you, do you?” I asked, feeling queasy.
“No, never for a minute, but I’ve been wrong before. But you and I—I dunno how to describe it, but it feels different. Like we click. It feels easy with you, although I do feel a little insecure sometimes.”
“Must be a first for you,” I said and then squirmed. “Sorry, I don’t know where that came from.”
“Um, I’ve felt insecure before, Emme,” he said with a laugh. “I am human after all.”
“Not going to lie to you—I avoided going to your house because the idea of your family is overwhelming. Sometimes I am a little quieter around you because I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing, and I know you think some of the things I’m into are weird, but I love spending time with you…and I’ve said the L-word again. Whatever—it’s true. I love spending time with you.”
His smile made the corners of his eyes crinkle up.
“I’ve never seen you smile so big before,” I said, and then wished I hadn’t said something that made me sound like a creepy stalker.
“Not much makes me smile this big, but that did,” he said and leaned over to kiss me.
We jumped apart when his phone got a text. He picked it up.
“It’s from my mom asking where her groceries are since I left the house an hour ago. Somehow I got distracted,” he said, smiling.
“We better get her stuff.”
We got the groceries, and he dropped me off on the way home.
“Hey, I’ll text you while I’m away and call when I can,” he said. “So I’ll ask you again, you gonna miss me?”
I leaned over and kissed him.
“Answer your question?” I asked.
“Definitely. See you soon.”
Chapter 7
I had been noticing more and more signs about Brendon and me. Even my horoscopes were surprisingly accurate, like when the paper predicted a person who was born under the sign of Cancer would call me from a far distance and “lift my spirits.” Right after I read it, Brendon called my cell phone and said he had taken a last-minute trip to Washington, D.C., with his dad after their stop in Virginia, and he wanted to see how I was doing.
“Grandma was so tired today. She slept for almost our entire visit, and she’s not eating much. I’m kind of worried.”
“Did she say why she wasn’t eating? Like, does she have no appetite? I’m just asking because last month they put my Grandpa on an antibiotic, and it made everything taste weird, so he wasn’t eating. But when we figured it out, we just had to find what foods didn’t taste metallic to him, and for some reason if he took some soda first—it had to be cola—it’d kill the metal taste, and he could eat a little bit.”
“You know, they did put her on a strong antibiotic the other day. Maybe it’s causing the problem.”
“I was losing it when he wouldn’t eat because sometimes people stop eating…you know…toward the end,” he said. “It’s scary thinking you might lose the one person who gets you. Actually, I kind of feel like I have two of those people in my life.”
“Your brother?” I asked and then felt stupid. Had I ruined a romantic moment?
“Well, I guess somewhat, but I meant you.”
My face felt warm. “I wish you were here right now.”
“Me, too. I’ve missed you a lot this week. Normally, I’m busy with stuff and focused, but I keep thinking about you and wondering what you were doing.”
“I was being bored and missing you. Now you’re all caught up, so come home.”
He laughed. “I hate when you’re in class because I can’t text you.”
“Kirk texts all through class, and Mrs. Rae’s stopped caring. She’s given up on him learning anything.”
“So like every other teacher he’s ever had?” he asked.
“This is only my first class with Kirk, but I’m going to go with yes.”
“Gotta run. Dad wants me to go with him to some meet and greet thing. I’ll text you later.”
I didn’t hear from him the rest of the day. Normally I had my phone with me all the time, but today it was like I couldn’t be more than two feet from it, and I kept checking the volume to make sure I didn’t accidentally turn off my ringer and miss a call from him. Then I was checking my voice mail notifications just in case I missed an update. I was starting to feel pathetic checking it so much.
Brendon didn’t call me until the next evening.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.
I tried to act nonchalant like I was fine not talking to him all the time. John always said I was clingy whenever I called him instead of him calling me, and I was not going to make that mistake again.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, well, anything interesting happen the last day of class?”
“Nope.”
“Em, are you all right?”
“Fine.”
“Okay, well I had a crazy thing happen this morning. Our plane hit major turbulence on the way back to Michigan. I hate to fly on a good day and this scared the crap out of me. Even Dad was panicking.”
“Oh wow, are you okay?”
“Yeah, it was pretty intense though. The plane dropped at one point, and one of the aides had a full-blown panic attack.”
“It must have been terrifying.”
“Pretty much. Before I forget, my family is having a barbeque tomorrow. I meant to text you about it earlier, but I kinda got distracted with everything going on. Can you come?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Great, come over at noon, okay? See you tomorrow.”
Meeting the Agretti family? On their turf? And now to pray for a barbeque-canceling thunderstorm for tomorrow afternoon.
Chapter 8
I changed outfits five times trying to figure out what you wore to a senator’s barbeque. To anyone else’s party, I would have worn shorts and a T-shirt, but I had a feeling this was going to be fancier. Still, I
wanted to be myself and comfortable. I tried on a sundress, but it felt like I was trying to be something I wasn’t—preppy. It was like I was trying to be a mini-Lauren. I changed into a pair of khaki capri pants and a red boatneck shirt dressier than my other casual tees. Then I decided that I’d dress it up a bit with a pair of red sandals instead of my usual sneakers. It was cute, but not too casual.
I thought I’d blend right into the crowd until I got there and saw every other woman in a sundress. And all of them seemed to be in a similar type of bright-colored print. It was like there was some store or designer they all knew about, and I was one hundred percent unfamiliar with it. As more and more women showed up wearing pink and green print dresses while carrying matching bags, I started to wonder if everyone but me was the member of some preppy cult. One of the servers dropped a stack of napkins near me, and I stopped to help her pick them up. I couldn’t find Brendon so I texted him saying I was there.
“Hey, Emme,” he said, coming over. “So happy you came. Come on, I want you to meet everyone.”
He took me over to meet his brother Jayson, who was even better-looking in person. Jayson was a few years older than Brendon, and he had lighter brown eyes and cheekbones that reminded me of a ski instructor in the Alps. There was a blonde girl standing next to him in a yellow sundress and grasping Jayson’s arm like it was a life preserver.
“Hey, I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. “This is my girlfriend, Brooke.”
Brooke gave me a once over and a half smile.
Mrs. Agretti walked over to get Jayson, and Brendon introduced me to her.
“This is Emme, the girl I told you about,” he said.
“Right, of course, Emily,” she said, reaching her hand out like she was going to shake mine and then somehow getting distracted and turning away before we connected. “Brendon, your father is going to want you to greet the Steins. Go now.”
“Yeah. I’ll be back in a minute, Emme,” he said.
I stood there like an idiot as they left me there alone. Glancing around, I tried to make eye contact with someone I could talk to, but it was like I was invisible.
“And you must be Emme Trybus.”
Senator Agretti stood in front of me with his hand out.
“Yes, hello. It’s nice to meet you,” I said, shaking his hand.
“Well, I just had to come over and meet the girl who keeps my son on the phone twenty-four hours a day. You know Brendon avoids making calls if he can, texts and e-mails are his thing, so when I saw him making the effort to call you, I knew you were special.”
“Oh, well…um…” I stammered like a complete idiot trying to figure out how to handle what he said.
Senator Agretti put his other hand on top of mine, and it was like he had laser focus as he asked me if I was enjoying the barbeque.
“Well, I just got here, but so far it seems great,” I said.
“Did either of my sons offer you a beverage?”
“Uh, no.”
“Kids today. No manners. Now what would you like? We have cherry lemonade, which is amazing. Made with homegrown Traverse City cherries. Would you like Jayson to get you a glass?”
I nodded, but it seemed like he was selling the lemonade on TV rather than casually offering me a drink. He was completely different from any other father I had ever met. He even smelled different with all the cologne he wore. Senator Agretti had this way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room as he zeroed in on you.
“Dale, come over here and meet my future daughter-in-law,” he said with a laugh. A man walked over, and I recognized Dale as being the guy whose name was always being mentioned as a possible Presidential candidate.
“Emme Trybus, this is Congressman Dale Allington.”
Congressman Allington shook my hand as Senator Agretti said I was dating Brendon.
“Apparently you have his father’s approval since he’s planning your wedding,” Congressman Allington said, laughing.
“Brendon never likes to talk on the phone and suddenly he meets Emme, and it’s like it is attached to his head,” Senator Agretti said. “So far I like everything about her, but her one giant flaw.”
I felt my adrenaline shoot up and then he said, “There’s the unfortunate fact she is too young to register to vote.”
Both the men laughed, and I pretended to join in, but the conversation wasn’t like anything I had experienced before. His dad was being attentive, but it seemed a bit over the top. But at least he was paying attention to me, and he was friendly.
Brendon came over, and his dad slapped him on the back.
“Just talking to my future daughter-in-law here, and she is as lovely as you described,” his dad said.
“Way to freak her out, Dad,” Brendon said, but he was smiling.
“You two have fun.”
“Well, you made a great first impression,” Brendon said to me.
“I’m not sure how, since I didn’t say much.”
“Dad can tell right away if he likes someone. He takes in how people present themselves and how they interact with people. We were standing together when you helped the server pick up the napkins.”
“It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“Three people walked past her, and Brooke almost stepped on her hand,” Brendon said.
Jayson brought my lemonade over, and Brooke came with him.
“So you’re Brendon’s latest,” she said with a big smile. “Just kidding. I always tease Brendon, don’t I?”
She beamed up at him with her bleached teeth, and I was uncomfortable with how she was touching his arm. It was exactly what my ex-boyfriend, John’s, ex-girlfriend used to do. At the time my intuition told me something was up, and I ignored it because I didn’t want it to be true. And right now I was getting the same bad vibes from Brooke.
Senator Agretti came back over, and I almost puked when Brooke put her arms around his waist and started saying how “ah-may-zing” he was. Brendon didn’t say anything, but I saw his mother roll her eyes behind Brooke’s back. I couldn’t imagine doing that with a friend or a boyfriend’s father.
“Well, thank you, Brooke. If only the voters all shared those feelings,” he said, and then moved away from her. He exchanged a raised eyebrow with his wife, and I got the feeling neither one was on Team Brooke.
“Emme, I’m sorry I rushed off when you first got here,” Mrs. Agretti said. “And Brendon pointed out I got your name wrong—I’m so embarrassed.”
“Oh, it’s fine. Not the first time I’ve been called Emily.”
“Well, you have a beautiful and unique name,” she said. “Now let’s get you a plate before all the men eat up the food. We’re always outnumbered at these things.”
I followed her to the table set up, and she handed me a plate.
“Would you like a hot dog bun or a hamburger bun?” she asked.
“Mom, Emme doesn’t eat meat,” Brendon said. I felt uneasy as I saw her try to figure out how to respond.
“Oh, well, what can we find for you?” she asked.
“I usually make a veggie burger with just lettuce and tomato and pickles on a bun,” I said. It was my usual go-to at events like this, and I thought it’d look less weird if I pretended to be eating a burger in front of everyone.
“Problem solved,” she said. “Do you like avocado? We have some in the kitchen I can get for you. Come with me.”
We walked to the kitchen together. Their all-white kitchen was huge, like something from a decorating magazine.
“I’m sorry I’m so underdressed,” I said. “Brendon said it was a barbeque, and I didn’t think to ask what I was supposed to wear.”
“You look fine,” she said, and then I saw her look past me and frown. I followed her gaze and saw Brooke standing next to Brendon with hand on his bicep. “Emme, why don’t you let me deal with this veggie burger, and you can get back out there with Brendon.”
I walked back outside, feeling queasy as I watched Brooke
laughing and putting her head on Brendon’s shoulder. I couldn’t see his face, but wondered if he was into her little girly helpless act. Then I saw him switch his lemonade to his other hand, forcing Brooke to let go of his arm while he took a drink. Was that intentional?
“Hey guys,” I said, walking up.
Brendon gave me a smile, and he didn’t look guilty, so maybe the flirting was one-sided.
“Where’s your food?” he asked.
“Oh, your mom said she’d bring it out for me.”
Mrs. Agretti walked out then with my plate. “Why don’t you two go sit down?” she said. Brooke started to follow us when Mrs. Agretti asked her if she’d get her a bottle of water.
“I was hoping my grandparents would be here so I could introduce you, but my grandpa wasn’t having a great day,” Brendon said.
“Anything serious?” I asked.
“Nah, some days are better than others, you know?”
“Yeah. So how long have Jayson and Brooke been together?” I asked.
“They’re off and on. I don’t think he’s ready to be serious, but somehow they always find their way back to each other. Who knows?”
I took a bite of my food while wondering if everyone else was aware Brooke was leeching onto what she saw as a meal ticket, or if it was just Mrs. Agretti and me who picked up on her vibes.
“She seems friendly.”
He laughed. “I’m guessing you like her about as much as my mother does.”
“Oh?” I took another big bite to avoid having to respond.
“My mom made Jayson tell Brooke there was a dress code of no shorts because last time she showed up in these ones that were so short. I mean, my mom still brings it up.”
“Am I okay in this?” I asked.
“Trust me, you’re fine. You could enter a convent in that outfit compared to what she had on last time.”
Great, I dressed like a nun next to Jayson’s hot, flirty girlfriend.
Dating the It Guy Page 6
