He kind of painted himself into a corner by asking Allison how she wanted to be asked out on a date. She was very specific and her request wasn’t unreasonable. It was just out of season. In the past hour, he’d driven to a mall about ten miles off-campus. The first florist told him it was July and tulips were out of season by now. They’re spring bloomers, the clerk explained. Well, Tony was never one to take no for an answer, so he drove to a strip center and the next florist told him the same thing. And so did the one after that.
Sitting in his car, he was deep in thought, wondering what to do next. The more he thought about it, the more the idea of dating Allison scared him because a date with Allison wasn’t just a date. In Tony’s experience, going out with a girl didn’t mean “going out.” It typically meant staying in, having sex, moving on. Was Tony even mature enough to be in a relationship? Could he even sustain a relationship for more than an hour?
He wasn’t sure of the answer, but he knew he wanted to try. Allison was special, really special. He saw something when he looked at her that he never saw in any girl before. He saw someone who made him want to be a better person. She deserved a good man, and he wanted to be worthy of a girl like her.
Tony blinked several times as something occurred to him. He took his phone out of his pocket and did a search for a flower delivery service, one of those florists with an 800 number that had every kind of flower imaginable no matter what season it was. His excitement turned to disappointment when his research told him he’d have to buy an entire bouquet to get the type of flower he wanted. The shipping charges alone were more than the cost he expected to pay for a single tulip. He was on a limited budget and price mattered. As a college athlete, he received a stipend, but it wasn’t a ton and it didn’t go far. He’d rather spend fifty dollars taking her out on a date than asking her out on one.
The website was getting on his nerves with all the pop-up ads and offers, so he shut his device and got out of the car. Maybe if he wandered around the mall, an idea would come to him.
Passing a craft store inside the mall, he glanced at the glitter and beads in the window display. “Girly crap,” he scoffed. But when he reached the next store, his eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks. He turned around and went back to the craft store window. A knowing smile formed on his lips.
Chapter Fifteen
It was late afternoon, between the lunch and dinner crowds and there weren’t a whole lot of customers at Old Smoky’s at this time of day.
While filling up water glasses, Allison sniffled. She kept trying to push Tony out of her head. Her workout in the gym a couple hours earlier did nothing for her mood. She still felt like crap. Even worse, the thought of Tony dating some other girl sickened her. She was angry at herself for wanting him even more now that there was no chance for the two of them. Isn’t that always the way? You want what you can’t have even more than you wanted it when you still thought you could.
She expected work to be a good distraction, but so far it wasn’t, not when so many tables had vases with pink tulips. Weird. Old Smoky’s wasn’t normally the type of restaurant with flowers on the tables. Some vendor probably threw them in for free, she assumed. If anybody was all about getting things free, it was Bob. Still, the irony of the pink tulips wasn’t lost on Allison. She had just told Tony that’s the flower he should bring with him when he asked out the witch—whoever she was. Oh my lord. He’d better not be planning to bring her here!
“Martin! Table twelve!” She gave Bob a fake smile and a nod, then headed over to the booth. She set a glass of water down. Holding her order pad, she addressed the customer whose face was buried behind a menu. “Hi. My name is Allison. What can I get for y’all?”
The menu lowered and Allison’s face fell when she saw who the customer was. “Hi.” There was a huge smile on Tony’s face. “Surprised?”
“Um. Yes.” She shoved a pencil behind her ear. “What the hell are you doin’ here, Ramos?”
He sighed dramatically. “Those fries didn’t fill me up. I’m still hungry.” When Allison didn’t react to his joke, he quickly added, “I’m kidding.” She merely glared at him. “I was hoping you’d be here.”
“Of course I’m here. I told you I was workin’ tonight.”
He rubbed his lips. “Yeah, I guess you did. What about tomorrow night?”
She gave him her unfriendliest squint. “What about tomorrow night?”
“Well, when I ask you out for tomorrow night, I want to make sure you’re free.”
Allison’s brows knit. She looked around to make sure no one was looking for her, then she slid into the seat in the booth across from Tony.
“You um… you.” Allison couldn’t seem to form a complete sentence.
“I figured the pink tulips would be a dead giveaway.” He pointed to the nearby tables with tulips on them. He took the tulip out of the vase on his table and offered it to her. She instinctively held it to her nose. “They’re not real, they’re silk.”
“I thought it kinda smelled like plastic,” she said with a nervous laugh.
“I hope that’s okay. Real tulips are impossible to find around here this time of year, and believe me when I tell you I tried. But you asked for tulips and I wanted to give you what you wanted.”
Allison stared at the tulip, not knowing what to say. She was prepared to hate Tony for the rest of her life and now here he was doing the sweetest thing ever.
“Listen,” he said, “the flowers might not be real, but my feelings for you are. Real, I mean.”
She lifted her eyes and met Tony’s gaze. She let out a deep sigh. “I was afraid there was someone else. Some other girl.”
He shook his head from side to side. “There’s no one else, Allie. I just suck at this kind of thing and I didn’t know how to ask you out. Pretty lame, huh?”
Allison finally smiled. She looked around at the tulips on the other tables and a warmth washed over her body. “I don’t think you suck at this at all.” She turned her attention back to Tony. “This is the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
“See what I mean?” he chuckled. “I don’t normally do sweet or romantic, but if you like it, I’ll figure out a way to do it more often.”
“I like it.”
Tony smiled and placed his hand on the table, palm-side up. “So, would you go out with me on your next night off?”
Allison slipped her hand into his. His hand was rough and calloused and looked so large compared to hers. But it felt like a velvet cloud as it closed around her hand. Looking up from their hands, she nodded. “I’d love to.”
Tony took a deep breath and let out a laugh. “Good, ’cause I don’t know what I’d do if the answer was no. Hey, remember last night on the football field when I knocked you out with the football?”
She looked upward for a moment. “Oh my lord. I’m so embarrassed I didn’t catch that ball.”
“Don’t be,” he reassured her, placing his other hand on top of hers. She was transfixed by the hand sandwich he just made. “But I gotta tell you, I was so scared and I don’t scare easy.”
Lifting her eyes, she said, “I can imagine. You were afraid you’d get in trouble, and that’s all ya need on top of everythin’ else.”
“No, no, that’s not why I was scared. I was scared because I thought I hurt you. I never want to hurt you, Allie. And I don’t—” He stroked her hand with his thumb. “I don’t wanna lose you.”
Allison felt her eyes fill with tears. Ordinarily, she’d look away to hide her emotions, but not this time. “Don’t look now, Tony, but you’re really really good at this askin’-a-girl-on-a-date thing.”
The door to the restaurant opened and a new group of customers stepped inside, momentarily diverting their attention. The hostess greeted them and showed them to a table.
“That’s my table.” Allison reluctantly slipped her hand out of his grasp. “I’m sorry, I’m gonna need to get back to work.”
They bot
h got up from the booth and Tony reclaimed her hand. “So, tomorrow?”
She smiled from ear to ear. “Tomorrow.”
Tony smiled back. “Seven?” Allison nodded. He let go of her hand so he could take his phone out of his pocket. “Um. I know your building but I don’t know your dorm number. I can meet you outside, or—”
When she held out her hand, he pulled up his contacts list and gave her the phone. She keyed in her dorm info and handed back the phone.
Glancing at it before putting the phone back in his pocket, he said, “Great.” He leaned closer and kissed her cheek. “See you tomorrow,” he whispered.
Allison bit her lip and watched him walk toward the door, passing table after table with tulips on them. Her eyes widened. “Tony wait,” she called after him. He stopped at the door and turned back around to face her. She picked up the flower that was laying on the table and twirled it between her fingers. She smiled and lifted it to her nose even though it wasn’t real. “Thanks for the tulips.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tony stood in front of his bathroom sink and ran a brush through his hair. He sprayed some shaving gel into his hand and was about to apply it to his face but stopped to look at himself in the mirror, which was still slightly fogged up from shower steam. With his clean hand, he stroked the scruff on his chin. He typically only shaved on game days if he was forced to, but tonight he was making an exception. Tonight he was going on his first real date.
He smirked at himself in the mirror and quickly lathered up. Rinsing the gel off his hands, he picked up a razor. He wondered what Allison was doing right now. Was she nervous? Worried? Apprehensive? Excited? Would she be wearing something sexy or something conservative? It really didn’t matter. She’d look hot either way.
He reached for his phone sitting on top of the toilet tank. With one hand, he scrolled to her contact information just to see her picture. He smiled and set the phone back down. Hopefully she wasn’t nervous, because he wasn’t. In fact, he felt strangely calm, no first-date jitters like he expected to have. On the contrary, he was looking forward to spending some quality time with Allison, especially now that they both knew they were interested in each other. He’d be able to take her hand, touch her, kiss her, and she wouldn’t run away.
Remembering the string of women he bedded without thinking twice, he wondered why he never tried to get to know them beyond a quick lay. It’s possible he might have found he liked one or two of them.
His stomach turned when it hit him—the reason he took off first was to avoid getting dumped. After all, his parents had dumped him, so why would anyone else give a damn?
He picked up the razor and began sweeping stripes through the lather, revealing smooth skin with each swipe. Today was the start of a new chapter in his life. He wasn’t going to run away anymore. He also wasn’t going to put the moves on Allison. He was going to “man up” like Philip Mason used to say to him. He was going to respect the girl, like Matt Warner advised. He was going to become a better man, like Allison deserved. Maybe he’d even be a good boyfriend.
To do that, he’d have to be different. He’d have to treat Allison like she was special, which frankly shouldn’t be hard, because she was. She was sweet and kind of shy and didn’t have a lot of self-confidence. He guessed she was probably a virgin, which meant he needed to take things slow. That part would be torture. But he knew if he pushed it with her, it could be a disaster considering his reputation.
When he wiped the remnants of lather from his face he noticed that the man in the mirror looked different than usual. He ran his hand over his cheek. “Feels good,” he said out loud.
»»•««
Tony unlocked the passenger-side door of his car and held it open for Allison. Something about him was different, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She tried not to stare, but her eyes kept being drawn back to his face like a magnet. She stepped one foot inside the convertible and stopped. “Oh! I knew somethin’ was different.” She’d never seen him without a scruff before. She touched his cheek and briefly stroked it with her thumb, surprising them both a little.
Smiling, he held her gaze. “Like it?”
Yes, she liked it. She liked it enough to kiss, but her mother always said a proper Southern girl waits for the man to make the first move. “Very smooth,” she answered, proud of herself for at least breaking the ice with that little caress. She turned back toward the car and stepped inside.
Tony got behind the wheel. He backed the car out of his parking spot and headed outside the campus confines. Allison’s heart was beating even faster than the car’s sixty miles per hour. This was her first real date since high school and it was her first date in ages with someone she really liked.
She held her bangs down with one hand as the summer wind blew through her hair. On most days, she wore it up in a ponytail, but today wasn’t most days. She had a date and she felt prettier wearing it long—until she caught sight of her reflection in the side-view mirror. Lordy! What a mess! She’d spent so much time crimping and curling to give her waves that tousled, just-rolled-out-of-bed look. Now her long blonde hair was truly windblown, thanks to the top being down in Tony’s used Mazda Miata.
Glancing at her in the passenger seat, Tony tapped her arm. “I can put the top up if it’s bothering you.”
She smiled shyly. “No, it’s nice actually, even if it’s not good for my hair style.”
“Your hair looks perfect,” he told her, drawing a few strands between his fingers.
Allison blushed and stopped fussing with her hair. She turned to look at Tony, his olive skin starkly contrasted against the white polo he had on. His hair was slicked back and he looked almost dangerous. Even his smile had an air of mischief tonight.
He reached over and briefly touched her chin. “What are you thinking?” He appeared amused by her expression.
She shrugged. “Nothin’.”
“Aaaallison,” he teased. “Come on. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Just that we’re an odd-looking couple.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Odd? How?”
“Well, ’cause you’re dark and broodin’. And I’m blonde and blue and fair. You’re tall and muscular and athletic, and I’m small and klutzy.” She chuckled. “We’re just different.” She pressed her forearm against his as he held the steering wheel. “See? You’re ethnic and I’m …well … not. I’m white as snow.”
“Ha. Nobody's that white.” He turned his eyes back to the road.
“Okay maybe not, but I am fair.”
He reached out again and touched her chin ever so lightly. “The fairest of them all.”
She felt a tingle run through her body, unsure if it came from his touch or his sweet words. Was he just a smooth operator or did he really mean what he just said?
“Just because our skin tones don’t match, that don’t make us so different,” he said sincerely.
She shifted in her seat to face him a little to the extent her seat restraint would allow. “Okay then. Try this. Rap or rock?”
“Rap,” Tony answered quickly. “You?”
“Rock. Pizza or burgers?”
“Burgers.”
“Pizza. Dogs or cats?”
“Dogs,” he laughed. “Cats, right?”
“Yeah. Back home, we always had at least three cats at a time when I was growin’ up.” She looked out the windshield. “The ones I remember best were Peaches, Pecan, and Peanut.”
“Sounds like ice cream flavors,” Tony joked.
“Georgia crops,” Allison explained. “Anyways, like I said, we’re different.”
“Eh, differences make life interesting,” Tony answered as he watched the road. “We’re alike where it counts.”
“Like how?”
“Like, we both feel things really deeply. And we’re harder on ourselves than we should be.” Allison was impressed that Tony had self-awareness, and already seemed to know her better than she thought he did. “And we mana
ge to attract trouble, even though we’re basically good people.”
Allison was stunned, but in a good way. She wasn’t expecting such a serious response. Gazing at his profile, her heart swelled. He was so strong and handsome and much more down to earth than she realized. If they were a couple, she’d have thought nothing of hugging him, but they weren’t, not yet anyway. “You’re a wise man, Tony Ramos.”
He raised his brows and glanced at her. “Wish my coaches could hear you say that.” He paused as he watched the road. “Anyway, I don’t care how different we are. I think we could be amazing together.”
Allison drew a deep breath. If he was feeding her a line, she was eating it up. This was a man she could easily fall in love with. In fact, she was well on the way. Her eyes grew watery and she was certain she was blushing, so she turned away from Tony, pretending to be interested in the sights outside the car. Pink and blue hues of the sunset reflected in the windows of the buildings as they drove down the boulevard. “It’s a really nice evening,” she said to fill the silence.
She jumped when she felt Tony’s hand touch her shoulder. He removed his hand and reclaimed the steering wheel. “Sorry.”
“No, that’s okay,” she said with a smile. “You just surprised me is all. You can put it back.”
He smiled a small smile and reached across the seat, squeezing Allison’s right shoulder and pulling her toward him. She willingly slid over, disappointed that the center console kept her from getting as close to him as she wanted. There’d be plenty of time for that, she reassured herself. He likes you. He told you in the restaurant he has feelings for you.
He glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror. “What’s the smile for? What are you thinking now?”
“Now Tony, you don’t expect me to tell you everythin’ I’m thinkin’ all the time, do you?” she jokingly asked. “For your information, I was just wonderin’ if I’m dressed okay. You never told me where we’re goin’.”
He looked over at her from her chest to her legs. She was wearing a heather gray, cap-sleeved, V-neck, knit pullover with white capri pants, and she thought she looked way more casual than he did in his white polo and tight black jeans. The shirt was untucked, but his muscular build was pronounced, and his biceps strained through the shirt’s sleeves. He looked so sharp and sexy, he took her breath away.
Roughing the Passer (Quarterback Sneak Book 2) Page 8
