“This is so sweet. Thank you.” I looked up at him and smiled. “Maybe I can let everything about the weekend slide, just this once.” Those doubts I had earlier were starting to melt.
“No, thank you,” he said, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. When he did, his body lightly pressed up against mine.
I felt those little electric bolts run through me. He really was so sexy. He may have messed up, but he was coming through in the end. If we actually started dating, he’d be there for me, like now. We’d make plans together. We’d be a power couple. There was so much we could take on as a team.
“I have something for you, too,” I said. I turned, reached into my locker for the baseball card, and presented it to him.
“You didn’t have to get me anything else,” he said.
“I wanted to.”
“Charlie!” he said after he opened it. “I love it. This is incredible. It looks just like an official rookie card. Seriously, you are the world’s best gift giver.” That was an accolade that really belonged to J.D., but I bit my tongue.
“You’re one to talk,” I said instead. “You’ve been pretty spot-on yourself. Except for maybe that broken candy cane in the beginning. The rest, though?” I gave him the A-OK sign.
“I guess that’s just one more thing we have in common,” he said playfully.
“I guess so,” I responded, matching his tone. Everything was back on track for us. I kicked myself for ever doubting him. Teo was the one for me, and after J.D. helped me find him the perfect gift for the Sentinel party, I was going to complete Operation Secret Santa by asking Teo to Noelle’s party. There was no way we weren’t going to that ball together. It was happening. I’d never been more sure of anything in my life.
Thirty-Two
“Ready?” J.D. asked me after school on Wednesday. I had been waiting by my car for eight minutes.
“I’ve been ready since the bell rang.” Some things never changed. I should have known he’d be late.
“Sorry, I got here as soon as I could.”
I took a deep breath. It was okay. After everything he had done for me, I could let this go. Instead of making a snide comment, I just got in the car.
“Where are we going?” I asked. The only information he had given me so far was a text that said bring boots and a baseball.
“It’s a surprise.”
Was he trying to push all of my buttons? “How am I supposed to drive there if I don’t know where there is?”
“I will direct you, your own personal GPS.”
I would have preferred the one on my phone.
“Did you bring the ball?” he asked. I pointed to the glove compartment. He took it out, threw it slightly up in the air, and caught it.
“And I need that for…”
“Can’t tell you.” He was so strange. What was he going to do? Make me paint it, doodle on it the way he did with his history notebook, print out Teo’s photo on it?
“Okay,” he said. “Take a right when we exit the parking lot.”
“Just give me the address.”
“Just try enjoying a little adventure.”
There was no use objecting. He wasn’t going to tell me, and I needed a final gift for Teo, so I took the right. And then I kept driving as he led me up one winding road and another until we were in the middle of nowhere.
“Okay, see that little dirt road up ahead?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Take it.” This did not seem like a smart idea; we were already on an out-of-the-way road. Who knew where this one would bring us?
“I don’t think we’re supposed to drive on it.”
“It’s a road,” he said.
“An unpaved, uphill one.”
He laughed. “The snow’s been cleared. Just do it. We’ll be fine. Park at the end of the road.”
Against my better judgment, I did as instructed. He got out of the car, and I followed.
“This way,” he said, pointing to a wooded area up ahead. An area with no walkway and covered in snow.
“Uh-uh. It’s all snowy.”
“And that’s why I texted you last night to wear your boots. Come on.”
He started walking, and I followed him. This was ridiculous. “What kind of gift am I going to find for Teo out here? Some branches? A jar of snow? Animal droppings?”
“Just wait. We’re not here for Teo.”
Then why were we there? I kept my eyes trained on the ground, watching as my footprints crunched in the snow. Other than the ones J.D. was making, and a couple of little animal prints, mine were the only ones out there.
“Have a seat,” J.D. said, and wiped some snow off a big rock.
“It’s wet.”
“Fine, then just take a look around.”
Whatever. The quicker I did it, the quicker I got to get out of there. I looked up and was totally stunned.
“Oh my God. It’s gorgeous.”
We were on the top of a hill that overlooked the center of town. It was like looking into a life-size snow globe. The First Congregational Church with its giant Christmas tree out in front looked like it could have been straight out of an old painting.
“This is my favorite spot,” he said. He had his camera out and was snapping pictures. “I come here all the time to draw or write or just think. It’s always my favorite right after it snows. Or in the fall once the leaves have changed colors.”
It really was stunning. “How did you ever find this place?”
“Sometimes when my parents let me have the car, I go exploring.”
“You just drive?” That seemed so random.
“Yes. Not everything has to be planned, Charlie, and sometimes you find something or somewhere you don’t expect.” He laughed. “Don’t make that face. I found this place.”
That was true.
“Come here, I want to show you something.” He turned his camera so I could see one of the photos he took. It was of the whole scene—the church, the Christmas tree, the town. It was beautiful. Then he pulled up a different shot. It was a little icicle melting off of a small branch. It was equally as breathtaking.
“Those are really good.”
He shrugged. “Thanks, and I know you have issues with some of the photos I take for the paper, but—”
“It’s not issues.”
“It’s issues,” he said.
“Okay, fine, I get in my mind what I want, and it’s hard for me to change that.”
He smiled. “I know. But sometimes it’s good to challenge your thinking. The scene of the town makes a great photo, no question. But there are a lot of other things that do, too. And sometimes it’s the smaller, not-as-in-the-center-of-it-all, less obvious choice that’s the better one. The one that will surprise you.”
“Maybe,” I said.
“There’s no maybe about it.”
He was looking right at me, his expression so intense that I started to wonder if it was really photos he was talking about.
I looked back at him. “No?”
“No,” he said.
“But how do you know?” I asked.
“It’s a feeling. You go with your gut, not your head.” His eyes were still on mine. “You have to trust your instincts.”
We just stood there for a moment. Silent. Not moving. Then he leaned in slightly, and my breathing picked up. What was going on?
Oh. My. God.
Was J.D. Ortiz about to kiss me?
I was pretty sure he was.
As the thought crossed my mind, I let out a small gasp.
And just like that, the moment was over.
J.D. looked away, and I did, too.
“We should go,” he said, turning from me. “We have a gift to get.”
I followed him back to my car.
J.D. was back to his light, breezy self, as if he didn’t just almost kiss me.
Probably because he didn’t. I was being ridiculous.
Of course it was photos he was referring to. I
don’t even know why I would think anything else. J.D. didn’t like me. Not like that. And that was a good thing, because I didn’t think of him that way, either. We were friends. Nothing more.
So why couldn’t I get what just happened out of my mind?
Thirty-Three
J.D. and I had barely spoken since we’d gotten back in the car. I didn’t know what to say. J.D. seemed normal, but my mind was all over the place. I needed to snap out of it. He wasn’t acting awkward or uncomfortable, so I wasn’t going to, either. “We’ve been on this road forever. How much longer?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“We’re getting there.”
“If you’re making me drive into New York,” I told him, “just know that not only will I kill you, but my mom will, too.”
“We’re not going that far. Close, but not quite.”
Twenty minutes later we pulled into a parking lot.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I said, getting out of the car. “You made me drive over an hour to go to a pub?”
“Not just any pub,” he said, tossing that stupid baseball again. “A pub owned in part by Manny Franco.”
“Who?”
“Teo’s favorite ballplayer.”
Right. He had told me that. “So what are you going to do, bring him back a napkin? Taking him here would have been a nice surprise. Telling him I had a burger at his favorite player’s sports bar, not so much.”
“That’s why we’re going to do a lot better than that.” He threw me the ball. “Like getting our own Manny autograph.”
“Wait, what? He’s here? Now? That’s amazing!”
J.D. bobbed his head back and forth. “There is a chance he’s here. I don’t know for sure.”
I was having a hard time grasping this. He made me come all the way up here for a maybe? “What do you mean, you’re not sure?”
“Since Operation Secret Santa started, I’ve kept my eyes open for mentions of Manny sightings here,” he said. “And it looks like he just got back to Connecticut last week. I called to ask if he’d be here. They wouldn’t tell me for sure, but they said he’s been here almost every night.”
“Almost. What if he’s not? The party is Friday. I won’t have a gift for Teo.”
“I’ll sign the ball. I bet I could forge Manny’s signature.”
“J.D.!”
He laughed as he opened the door to the pub. “I’m kidding. If he’s not, we’ll figure something out. I’ll come up with something.”
“Are you forgetting you also have to turn in your photo spread tonight?” I asked.
“Hi,” the hostess said before he could answer. “Just the two of you?”
“Yes, thank you.” The place looked pretty empty, but I had to ask. “Any chance Manny is here?”
“Sorry, he’s not,” she answered as she led us to our table.
J.D. was a dead man. “Do you think he’ll stop by later?” I asked.
“He could,” she said, handing us each a menu. “Can I start you guys off with a drink?”
“I’ll just have a water,” I said.
“Coke, please,” J.D. added.
“Be right back to take your order.”
“Sounds good,” J.D. replied.
He seemed pretty nonchalant for a guy whose whole plan was a bust. “What are we going to do?”
He picked up his menu. “It’s still early. Let’s give it some time.”
I felt like my skin was curdling. Give it time? That was not a backup plan. “And what about the Sentinel?”
“What about it?”
“I told you it’s due tonight. If you don’t get your stuff in, we can’t print on time, and the issue doesn’t go out on Friday.”
“What? The deadline’s tonight? I thought I had another week.”
“J.D., how could you do this?” I gripped the table. “I knew I never should have let you take charge. This is a disaster. What?” He had a stupid grin on his face. “Why are you smiling?”
He didn’t answer, and it hit me. He was messing with me. I threw my napkin at him. “You are not funny.”
“Did you really think I’d forget the deadline? You only told me and texted me about it just shy of a dozen times and had Morgan on my back for the past week. How scatterbrained do you think I am? I don’t want you to answer that.”
“So you have it done?”
“I just needed one more picture, and I got it today. It will be turned in as soon as I get home.”
“Good,” I said. “Do you have the proofs on your phone? Can I see them?”
“You can see it with everyone else. It’s a surprise.”
“I’m not everyone else, I’m the editor.”
“Sorry,” he said.
We had come so far, and yet he still managed to infuriate me.
I studied my menu. I was not in the mood to talk to J.D.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “I promise you, it will meet your standards.”
“My standards are very high.”
“No kidding.”
“Fine,” I relented. He was a good photographer, I knew that, and despite our issues in the past, J.D. proved over the past few weeks that he could come through in a pinch. “I won’t bring it up again. Just get it in on time. And make sure you get to the party on time, too.”
“You want me at your party?”
I played with the edge of my napkin. “Yeah, you and Morgan are my only real friends on the paper, so yes, I want to make sure you show up.”
That’s right, I said it, to his face. J.D. was my friend. He had said it before, but I never said it back. I expected him to give me a hard time about it, but he just smiled. “I’ll be there. I promise.”
Over the next hour and a half while we chatted, the waitress took our order, brought our food, cleared our plates, and brought us the dessert menu, but there was still no sign of Manny.
“I’m thinking the peppermint chocolate molten lava cake,” he said. “What about you?”
“I’m thinking I’m screwed for Friday. Let’s just get out of here.”
“But then you won’t get your autograph.”
I slunk down in the booth. “I’m not getting it anyway.”
“Well, the least you can do is ask him before claiming defeat.”
“What?”
He pointed to the bar. An older man was sitting there reading the paper.
I looked from the man to J.D. “That’s Manny and you didn’t tell me? He’s been there for at least fifteen minutes; why didn’t you say anything?”
“I thought you knew. You saw his baseball card at the store.”
“Yeah, and he was, like, twenty years younger in it,” I whispered. “There was no way I’d recognize him. If I did, I would have already been up there.”
What was wrong with him? Manny was the whole reason we were having dinner at the pub.
“It wasn’t like he was going anywhere. We were talking. I thought you could go up before we left.”
Did he not know me at all? I did not wait for things. You had to do them when you had the chance. What if Manny got called away? Or started talking to someone? You had to strike when you saw an opportunity.
I took the baseball and went up to him. “Mr. Franco, sir?” I asked.
He looked over the newspaper at me.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering if you could sign this for me?” I held out the baseball. He didn’t reach for it or even respond, so I just kept talking. “It’s for this guy I really like. I know he’ll go crazy over it.”
“Your boyfriend over there?” he asked.
“No, that guy is not my boyfriend.”
“Really? He keeps looking over at you, and the two of you seemed pretty caught up in each other when I walked in,” Manny said, taking the ball from me and nodding in J.D.’s direction.
“I assure you there is nothing between us.”
“Not how it looked to me, but if you say so,” he said, a smirk on his face. “Who do ya
want me to make this out to?”
“Teo, T-e-o.” That was who I wanted. Not J.D.
He handed back the autographed baseball, and after thanking him profusely, I walked back over to the table.
“How did it go?”
I held up the signed ball so he could see. “Teo is going to freak out. This is definitely going to win him over. Thank you so much.”
“Sure,” he said, and then he leaned in and whispered, “I think Manny is staring at us.”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t even ask. He thought we were dating.”
“Us?” His eyebrows scrunched together.
“Yeah, crazy, right?”
“Totally,” he said and scoffed. “Like that would ever happen.” Then he gave one of those skeeved-out looks to drive the point home.
Seriously. The two of us only started tolerating each other recently. Dating was preposterous.
Yet the whole ride back to Sandbrook, Manny’s words were all I could think about. The two of you seemed pretty caught up in each other. What a joke. I did not like J.D. Sure, he had done some nice things for me and was actually really funny when you got to know him, not to mention cute. But he also drove me crazy. And he laughed at the idea of us together.
Of course he did. We made no sense. We were way too different. Teo was the one for me. He was the smart choice. We both cared about grades and academic accolades and awards. We were planners. J.D. was all over the place. I didn’t need spontaneity, I needed reliability. And that was Teo. He had a clear path ahead of him. He was an overachiever, we fit together. I couldn’t even believe I was questioning it. Teo and I were clearly meant to be. Besides, it wasn’t like J.D. liked me anyway.
Manny Franco needed to stick to baseball and running his restaurant, because he knew absolutely nothing about matchmaking.
I snuck a peek at J.D., and he was looking right back at me. I immediately put my eyes back on the road, but I could feel my heartbeat quicken.
Was it possible that Manny did know something? And did that mean …
Oh my God.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Don’t say it, Charlie. Don’t even think it.
But I couldn’t help it. Was it possible that I liked J.D.?!!
My New Crush Gave to Me Page 17
