“Good, good. How are you?” he asks, already filling his plate so full of lo mein that I’m surprised he can add anything else as he moves on.
“I’m good,” I answer, looking around for food that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to eat. I end up mainly grabbing fruit, but that’s mostly because I love fruit.
“That’s all you’re getting?” Brayden asks doubtfully, practically having to peer over his heaping plateful of food.
I smile and nod. “My parents don’t buy much fruit, so I take it when I can get it.” He nods, still looking a little unconvinced.
We sit down in the booth again and it’s silent for a solid two minutes. I’m basically looking anywhere but Brayden. He clears his throat, moving my attention back to him. “Why is this so awkward?” he asks me with a frown.
“Mostly because the last time we saw each other, things got really weird,” I answer honestly.
“Things didn’t get weird,” he denies.
I raise my eyebrow at him. “Brayden,” I say.
“Anna,” he says back.
“Things got so weird.” I stab a slice of cantaloupe.
“What? How?” he asks sincerely.
“I basically sobbed for a half an hour, telling you my most embarrassing story, and you don’t think that was weird?” I ask, dumbfounded. The whole situation was my very definition of weird and uncomfortable, but Brayden apparently didn’t see it.
“That wasn’t weird. It was just emotional. Emotions aren’t weird, they’re real. That’s why we need them, so we don’t become carbon copies of one another.”
“I see.” I nod, kind of amused by how deep Brayden can be sometimes.
“And now I know that you don’t turn down my date offers because you hate me. But simply because you’re just not ready. And I’m relieved by that,” he adds.
I’m surprised by this. “Wait, you thought I hated you?” I ask.
Nodding, he says, “Well yeah. I mean, every time I offered to take you out somewhere, you acted like I was a leper or something. It seemed like, as long as we were in the friend zone I was cool, but as soon as something more came to the table, you were disgusted by me.”
“I’m so sorry,” I exclaim, feeling horrible that I ever made him feel bad about himself. I know how that goes; thinking you’re not good enough for somebody you really want to impress. “If anything, I’ve always thought you were grossed out by making the offer. Like I was a charity case or something. Don’t get me wrong, you never actually did anything to make me feel that way, it’s just how I am,” I explain.
“A charity case? You’re far too precious.” His voice is so soft and honest that I have to gulp back tears.
“Don’t make me cry, Brayden,” I sniffle with a shaky laugh.
“Don’t be afraid to, Anna,” he murmurs earnestly, offering me his gorgeous smile.
I roll my eyes and eat another piece of fruit, officially clearing the tense air around us.
“So, have you talked to Carlos lately?” I ask lightly.
“Yeah, he’s so excited about Ro finally going out with him. He was always afraid she wouldn’t like his ‘Latino sugar,’” Brayden laughs. I snort.
“You mean he thought that the girl with purple hair and piercings all over her body would be racist?”
We both laugh. I love Ro’s hair. Even though it intimidates some people, it makes me feel even more welcome in her life. Like we’re both oddballs and made to be together.
“So, how’s your family?” I ask, taking a sip of my soda.
His nose wrinkles. “You really want to talk about my family?”
I laugh and nod my head. I love his family. He smiles at me and starts telling me about everybody.
“Well, Landon and Evie are expecting again. They haven’t actually announced anything yet, but Evie’s been even more crazy than normal and we all know what that means.”
I watch as his eyes light up and he sits up a little bit. “What if they don’t even know? That would make me like psychic or something! Sweet!” I have to laugh at his enthusiasm.
“That would be pretty crazy,” I humor him.
“Yeah, but anyway, Zander’s been asking about you every time I see him. He goes ‘Anna wiff you?’ and looks behind me. I think he really does like you more than me.” I’d feel a little worse about that if I wasn’t so busy thinking about how adorable that little kid is.
“My sister, Ashley, is coming home from college for a few days,” he continues.
“You have a sister?” I ask, then mentally slap my forehead. Clearly he has a sister if he’s telling me that she’s coming home. Brayden doesn’t seem to care that I just asked the obvious.
“Yeah, Ash is . . .” I watch as he does the math in his head and laugh when his face contorts a bit. “Holy crap, she’s the same age as you. That makes things a little weird.” I start laughing harder.
“It’s not funny!” he complains. “She’s my baby sister. I still imagine her as a little girl in floral dresses.”
I can’t hold in my laugh as I tell him, “I wear floral dresses.”
“Anna!” Some giggles escape and I have to cover my mouth to stop. “Stop it! I’m like a freaking cradle robber now!”
I’m still laughing a little bit as I say, “Brayden, you’re only three years older than me. That’s not exactly ‘cradle robbing’ territory. I mean, are you not interested now?” I ask, keeping the smile on my face even though I’m getting a little nervous.
“Of course I’m still interested,” he responds without hesitation.
I roll my eyes at how distracting my age seems to be for him. “What’s her birthday?” I ask.
He shrugs. “June something?”
“Well, see? Mine is in March, so she’s still younger than me.”
Brayden starts to smile again. “You’re right. She’s younger than you. I’m not a creepy old man now.”
Shaking my head, I tell him, “You were never a creepy old man, Brayden. Creepy, maybe. But ‘old man?’ Not yet.”
His jaw drops as he scoffs. “I am not creepy!” he objects, mock offended. I raise my eyebrows as he pouts and crosses his arms, repeating “I am definitely not creepy,” again under his breath.
“Okay, you’re not creepy,” I tell him in the voice I use with small children.
He looks up at me and we both start laughing, hard. It takes a while to calm down and we continue to eat as we talk about random things. When we’re both taking our last few bites, Brayden asks me, “Would you be willing to do me a favor?” He looks nervous.
“Maybe?” I’m not going to agree until he tells me what it is.
“Well, my dad’s a surgeon and the hospital is having this huge benefit dinner thing. It’s basically a bunch of rich snobs coming together to outdo one another by donating a ridiculous amount of money to the hospital. There’s dinner and dancing and an auction and stuff. Anyway, I was wondering if you’d be my date.”
Before I can respond, he quickly continues. “Not like a date, date. Unless you wanted that. But my parents bought an extra ticket for me to bring somebody with me and you’re the only person I want to take.” He looks almost terrified.
“Okay,” I say.
“Okay?” he asks, looking as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard me correctly.
I nod. “Yeah. I’ll go with you. When is it and what should I wear?”
He looks visibly relieved. “Thank you! Awesome! It’s this weekend.” He beams.
My jaw drops and I’m about to yell him about giving me such short notice but he covers my mouth with his hand. “I know, I know. But I was going to ask you before, only then you told me about last year and the timing just didn’t seem right. Then, I was a dick and wasn’t able to call you or anything for the past few days so this is the only chance I’ve had.”
I narrow my eyes at him before darting my tongue out and licking his palm. Instead of pulling back in disgust like I planned, he gets a smirk on his face. “Kinky.” I stop immediately
and pull his hand away.
“You still haven’t told me what to wear.”
“Well, it’s kind of a black tie affair.”
I glare at him again.
“But whatever you choose will be fine.”
“So if I wear sweatpants and a tank top, I’ll fit right in?” I ask sarcastically.
He grins. “Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be fine. But you’ll look beautiful in anything you wear.”
Does he always need to make me blush? “I’ll figure it out,” I mumble, already thinking about what I have in my closet that could pass as “black tie” material.
“Thank you, Anna,” he says, smiling gratefully at me as we stand and go outside.
Brayden walks me to my car and hugs me as he says “I’ll call you with the details and stuff.” I nod, quickly leaning up to kiss his cheek. He looks shocked as I pull away.
I shrug. “If you’re going to wait for me, or whatever, I might as well give you something to look forward to.”
A huge smile takes over his face as I get in my car and pull away.
Chapter Ten
Belle of the Ball
“Are you sure this is appropriate to wear to an event like this?” I ask, looking doubtfully at the dress in my hands as Ro adds the finishing touches to my makeup and hair.
She’s spent the last hour and a half curling my locks, with the top half pinned back and the rest falling in graceful spirals past my shoulders. It was almost painful having to sit still long enough for her to apply eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, blush, and lipstick but it was all in the name of “perfection,” as she says.
Ro hasn’t let me look in the mirror yet and I have a sinking feeling that, when I do, I’ll look horrible and need to take another shower and start over. I’d taken one this morning, only to take a second when Ro arrived so she could have a clean slate to work with. I did as she said, figuring it was better not to argue. “Just put it on,” she urges, pulling me up.
“But it’s so revealing,” I whine, stepping into it nonetheless. She zips the side of it closed, making the fabric cling to my body.
“Yes, it’s revealing, but it’s not inappropriate. It seriously accentuates your curves in the sexiest way I’ve ever seen. In fact, at this moment, I’d totes do you. If I was into girls, that is.”
Even though I’m aware that she’s joking, I still blush. I’m definitely not used to people telling me they’re interested in me like that. Now I have Brayden implying it and Ro saying it outright.
“You’re going to have every woman in the room jealous of you, and every guy jealous of Brayden. It’s perfect. Turn and see.” She’s grinning as she spins me toward the mirror.
I gasp at what I see. The frumpy, ugly, girl I expect is long gone and in her place is a woman. A beautiful woman at that. Ro’s right, it fits my curves perfectly. We got the dress a few months ago when I was clearly not thinking straight. I’d never normally buy something like this, but Ro was in one of her “don’t tell me no” moods. The dress is tight across the bodice until it reaches my waist, where it flairs out a bit and ends somewhere around mid thigh. It’s a silky fabric with mostly blacks, reds, oranges, blues, and a bit of cream mixed into geometric angles. Kind of an Aztec print.
I’ve matched the dress with a chunky necklace that matches the bit of gold in the fabric. I’m also wearing a pair of flats that are an off-gold color with beads along the edges. I’ve never been one for much jewelry, so there are no other accessories. I figured that, between my hair, makeup, and necklace, I’d be fine without anything else.
“Wow,” I whisper, taking it all in. “Not too bad . . .”
“Now all you have to do is name your firstborn child after me and we’re even,” Ro says proudly.
I laugh and nod my head. “I’d expect nothing less,” I assure her with a smile.
Downstairs, there’s a knock on the door. I turn to Ro with wide eyes; Brayden’s about ten minutes early. I really didn’t want him to meet my parents—well, my mom at least. I think my dad will be fine—he’s never been one to embarrass me. I’m just worried that my mother will make some comment that offends or embarrasses us. I quickly grab my pink coat, which is the only nice jacket I own, and run downstairs. Brayden is being greeted by my sister and father. They all turn to see me making my less-than-grand entrance, and I watch as all three jaws drop.
“Shut up,” I snap, even though nobody said anything.
Dad smiles and says, “Banana, you look gorgeous.” I smile softly and shuffle closer to Brayden.
“Yeah, I mean, who knew you were beautiful?” Lena smirks. I know she really didn’t mean it as rudely as it sounded, but it stung anyway.
“I did,” Brayden says sincerely, sending me his amazing smile that makes me warm inside, no matter what the temperature is. He steps forward and helps me with my jacket as I blush and say “Thank you.”
I’m about to lead Brayden out when Mom comes running in, camera in hand. “Mom, what are you doing?” I groan. I knew she’d do something.
“I need to take a picture of this. I mean, I never thought you’d go on a date!” she babbles as she gets the camera ready.
“Why wouldn’t she?” Brayden asks, sort of scowling. I nudge him, shaking my head.
“Well, Anna’s always just been so introverted. Plus, after what happened last year, I never figured she’d open herself to somebody like you.”
Brayden puts a protective arm around me and, before he can respond, I quickly mutter, “How about that picture now?”
Leaning down, he whispers in my ear as my mother lifts the camera, “Make a stupid face.”
Right as her finger is about to press down, I part my lips, showing both rows of teeth like I would to check for leftover food in a mirror. I also squeeze my eyes shut. Brayden’s hand quickly moves from my back and in the next second, a flash practically blinds me, even though my eyes were shut.
“Time to go,” I grin, pulling Brayden out the door.
We’re both laughing hysterically as he opens my door for me. “I have been waiting years for something like that. Mom feels the need to document everything with that damned camera. I hate it.” I shake my head with a smile.
“I think most moms are like that, Cutie. I didn’t like her saying she never expected you to be with somebody like me. I mean, what’s wrong with me? I’m amazing,” he finishes with a wink.
I giggle a bit at that, thinking how amazing he truly is. “Well, I think that’s why. You’re out of my league. Anyway you’ve met the parents now and you know they’re crazy. We also just made some beautiful Christmas card material.” I start laughing again. “I think this evening is off to a wonderful start.” I climb into the truck and I can see my mom in the rearview mirror opening the door to try to call us back for a real picture. We are long gone.
The way I feel for Brayden is indescribable. I really want to be the person who makes him smile, whom he kisses goodnight, and whom he gets to hug when he needs it. But I just can’t. I don’t even know what’s blocking me, but it’s there. I feel like a completely different person around him, but I can’t act on any of my feelings. It’s like, subconsciously, I’m always expecting him to be like “Ha-ha, you thought I was actually interested in you?” I know he would never really do that, but I can’t stop feeling that way. I don’t want to start something with him only to pull away. I want to give him my all, but I can’t right now. I’d be too insecure. I am too insecure. I mean, why is a nearly twenty-one-year-old guy interested in a shy, insecure, girl like me, anyway? It’s probably just a self-punishing phase.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks me. I blink a few times, coming back to reality. I give him a fake smile and shrug dismissively. “Just stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?” he muses.
I roll my eyes and smile. “Girl stuff,” I tease back.
“What kind of girl stuff?” he probes.
“The kind that guys know naught of.” I laugh at his disappointed look
. Like hell I’m telling him what I was actually thinking about. It’d just make him feel bad.
We sit in silence for a few minutes until Brayden starts speaking again, “You really do look beautiful tonight, Cutie.”
I blush, “You can thank Ro for that; she’s got magical hands,” I laugh.
Brayden shakes his head as his thumb begins running back and forth over my knuckles. “It’s not magic; you’re beautiful without all the makeup and styled hair. You look gorgeous all the time.”
“Flatterer,” I laugh, making light of the butterflies now fluttering in my stomach. He could seriously make a girl melt.
Instead of answering, he just smiles widely, reminding me a bit of Zander. It’s clear that Brayden still has his boyish charm, which is really one of the biggest reasons I like him so much. He’s simple. There’s no drama when I’m with him. He makes everything seem better. I don’t have to worry about looking okay, like I do at school. I don’t need to think about his motives; he’s too kind to be cruel.
About twenty minutes later, we pull up to a fancy-looking building and rush inside. There are twinkling lights lining the entire ballroom, making everything shimmer. The area I’m assuming is a dance floor is made up of whitish tile that’s made to look marbled. The rest of the area is carpeted and has tables scattered across it.
We make our way to the table that’s reserved for his family. I see Adrienne and Paul talking with another couple. Landon and Evie are trying to get Nora to stop crying while Zander is running around the table at full speed with his toy airplane.
“Zander, sit down!” Evie demands. Zander ignores her. As he continues to run around, she turns an evil eye to Landon. “I told you not to let him bring that damned toy.”
Landon shrugs. “He’s a kid, Evie. Nobody’s getting hurt, let him play.”
“This is not the type of place for a little boy to play like that,” Evie snaps.
Instead of arguing further, Landon leans in and gives her a long, gentle kiss on her lips, calming her down. I can totally see why they’re so perfect for each other. They’re completely in love. Just then, Zander turns toward us and runs to me.
Just One Kiss Page 6
