Chapter 15 You Don’t Understand How Into You I Am #2
I glanced down at her feet and then at the gravel alley. “You okay walking in those?”
She held out her foot, showing off her heel. “Oh yeah, the magic of the platform. It’s all an illusion.”
“If you say so.”
I wrapped my arm around her and pointed us toward the sushi place on the square. It was a weird thing for a small town like Kirksville to have, but it was a pretty good restaurant.
“So how was your week?” She fiddled with the cuff of my rolled-up button-up, her fingertips grazing the skin on the inside of my forearm. I loved the ease of her tiny touches, as if they were natural and no big deal.
To me, they were a very big deal.
“Busy. Family, work, the usual. What about you?”
“A lot of the same, but it was nice to have this to look forward to.”
Warmth spread through my chest, and I looked away, smiling. She knew exactly what to say to make a guy feel good.
We crossed the street to the square, and Kat drove by honking like a mad woman. “Where’s she going?” I laughed, waving at the back of her van.
“Work.” Sarah smiled sweetly, glancing into the window of the Welkum as we passed. “Ope. Meg’s there.”
I kept my eyes on our destination across the square, humming to let her know I’d heard her. Outside of necessary conversations behind the bar, I’d avoided Meg. Luckily, she hadn’t seemed too interested in maintaining our friendship. “Has she given you any more trouble?”
“Nah. To be fair, I haven’t really seen her around.”
When we got to the restaurant, I held the door open and followed her inside, where we were immediately led to a table. Pulling her chair out, I waited until she was situated and pushed her in before taking the seat across from her.
Sarah bit her lip and batted her eyelashes. “Opening doors, and pulling out chairs? Mama McCormick raised a gentleman.” I didn’t miss the hint of humor in her voice, but I was who I was.
“McCormicks take manners seriously.” She raised an eyebrow, and I laughed. “Okay, maybe not Jamie.”
Her perfect, full lips spread into a beautiful smile as she looked down at her menu. The pressure to find something to say, to draw her attention back to me, was overwhelming. It was an anxiety I’d never felt before, and honestly, I wasn’t sure what it meant.
I stared at my menu without reading it, knowing I would panic-order at the last minute. What I really needed was a glass of water and to calm the fuck down.
“Welcome to Lotus Sushi. Can I start you with any drinks?”
Standing at our table was none other than Kat.
“You work here?” I asked, nerves now at one hundred.
“Yup.” She tapped her notepad. “What would you like to drink?”
The arrival of one of Sarah’s sorority sisters, especially the pink-haired hellion, added a level of weirdness to this date that I was not prepared for. “Can I get a water, and—” I looked at Sarah. “You want to get sake?”
“Sounds good.” She glanced at Kat and pursed her lips.
“Do you want it warmed or chilled?”
“Warmed?”
“You got it. I’ll be right back.”
Blowing out a breath, Sarah shook her head. The tension between us simmered like always, only this time we were on a legitimate date. For some reason, that meant we were acting like we hadn’t slept in the same bed the night before.
“Here are your waters and sake. You ready to order?”
Panic time. “Why don’t you go first?”
Sarah rattled off a few rolls, and I picked a few at random. Once Kat was gone, we stared at each other. Slowly, her smile grew, and she started laughing. “Why is this so awkward?” She took a sip of water, her eyes staying on me, waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know. It’s not like we’re strangers. I’ve heard you snore.”
“I don’t snore.” She tilted her head with the straw between her lips, her blue eyes sparkling with that emotion I’d caught earlier. Placing her glass down, she said, “Okay, how about this—this is my first real date in two years.”
“You’re lying.”
Sarah shook her head, placing the black fabric napkin across her lap. “Nope. I mean, technically, I’ve had dates to formals and stuff, but that’s going to a party with a bunch of people. I don’t consider that a date.”
“Then, I think I have you beat. By your standards, I haven’t been on a date in almost five years.”
She leaned in, her hand knocking into her water, but she quickly righted it. “Five years?”
I debated for a minute whether I wanted to dive into the exes talk, but hey, we hadn’t done anything the normal way, so why start now?
“The last date I went on was with my ex, and she ended up breaking up with me for a guy she’d met at school.
I’d just taken a bite of dessert, and she dumped me. Nearly ruined chocolate cake.”
Wincing, Sarah poured sake into two tiny white cups. “Ouch. Why do people do that? Break up with me before I spend the time getting ready.”
“Right? She was ready for bigger and better than a construction worker who wasn’t in college. Too bad she told me after racking up a hefty dinner bill.”
“The worst.”
“And it was Valentine’s Day.”
“Now I know you’re lying.”
“Nope. My last date was on Valentine’s Day almost five years ago.” I laughed and took a sip of sake. I wouldn’t call it smooth, but it was good.
“I can’t believe no one has snatched you up since.” She took a drink and winced. “Wow. That’s something.”
I smiled as she delicately took another sip. “I could say the same for you.”
“I’m sorry?” she said as she considered the small cup.
“I can’t believe you’re single.”
“Oh.” Pink tinted her cheeks, and she dipped her chin. “After being ghosted a few times, I became . . . more selective. Some might say picky.”
Frowning, I waited for her to continue. At my silence, she looked up, worrying her bottom lip. “The nickname princess might have been used a few times.”
As much as I wanted to disagree, I could see where someone who didn’t know her would think that. But that was the thing—once you knew her, there was no doubt she was as real and feeling as they come.
“I don’t really care what those people think. I know I’m not some prissy little princess.”
I reached out and stopped her fingers from tracing the condensation on the table.
Holding her hand in mine, I squeezed. “Sarah, you may be difficult when you’re drenched in someone’s drink.
” She gave me a closed-lip smile. “But you’re not some little princess.
You just don’t waste your time on randoms.”
“Exactly! People have this idea of me, and I’m sure I don’t help prove them wrong, but sometimes I get so frustrated.
These rich guys want me because they think I’m some pampered princess.
I remind them of their moms or some weird Oedipal thing.
And then, people who know me think I’m a people-pleasing pushover.
” She scoffed and took a drink of water.
“You saw how surprised Meg was that I popped off.”
“And here’s your first round of rolls. Do you guys need anything else?” Kat set down a plate with half our rolls and a plate of gyoza we hadn’t ordered.
“No. Thanks, Kat.” Sarah smiled at her straight-faced roommate, and we both watched her walk away without saying anything.
“You guys don’t get along, do you?”
Sarah broke her chopsticks apart. “We do. It’s just taken some time for us to understand one another. She thinks I’m too nice.” She took a bite of gyoza and moaned, her eyes closing in delight. Swallowing, she gave a pained smile. “Enough about me. What’s your deal? No girlfriends in five years?”
I bought myself some time by eating one of the rolls topped with raw fish. How do you tell the girl you want to date that you had no interest in relationships until you met her without sounding unhinged?
“I guess I never met anyone who made it worth taking the risk.” My mouth went dry. I’d said the first thing that came to mind. I hadn’t meant to be that honest.
“I get that.”
“It doesn’t help that all the women I came across I’d either known my whole life, were friends with my ex, or were coeds not interested in a ‘townie’ like me.”
“That townie word,” Sarah said with clear distaste. “People suck.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“But now you’re a student.” She somehow maneuvered an end piece of spider roll into her mouth without smudging her lipstick or getting sticky sauce on her chin.
“I am, but the most annoying thing happened.”
She covered her mouth and mumbled, “What?”
“I met someone at the first party I went to, and she kind of ruined other girls for me.”
“Is that right?” Sarah gave me a shy smile, tapping her chopsticks on the plate.
“It is. Even when I thought I didn’t have a chance in hell, she was still in the back of my mind. No one else compared to that initial spark. And the wild part is that I didn’t even know her that well.”
Sarah glanced away with a pleased smile, so I kept going.
“Now that I know I have a chance for more? She’d better look out.”
“It’s like that?” Her eyes tentatively turned to me. In the dim light, I could see her cheeks darken.
“It’s like that.”
Sitting up straight, she gave a decisive nod. “Good, because I don’t know if I can handle another Meg situation. Not to scare you, but I don’t do well with . . . complications. I shut down, as you witnessed.” She grimaced.
“I get it, but again, I’ve been very clear with her about where we stand.” I tried not to let any annoyance creep into my voice.
I wasn’t going to let Sarah use other people as an excuse for not giving us a real chance.
Sarah leaned forward, grabbing my free hand.
“Oh, I know. Maybe I’m not saying this right.
” She looked down, her bottom teeth snagging her top lip.
When her eyes met mine, uncertainty clouded the happiness there a second ago.
“What I mean is, I’m not going to be the girl who is constantly putting other girls in their place to defend whatever we have going on. ”
“Okay?” I frowned, not sure where she was going with this.
“So, in the future, if another girl is hanging all over you and we’re doing this for real, I’d appreciate it if you nipped it in the bud.
” Her eyes bored into me, something like possession sparking in them.
The warmth from being near Sarah turned into a heat that burned through me.
She wanted me, maybe as much as I wanted her.
“Done.”
“You sure? I understand if you want to keep things casual, but in the interest of complete transparency, I don’t think I can do that with you.”
Internally, I was freaking out in the best way. This bright, kind, beautiful girl thought I’d want to entertain other people? “You don’t understand how into you I am.”
Blowing out a breath, her whole body relaxed back into her chair. “Thank God. I was not looking forward to the walk home if this chat went bad.” She chuckled and placed her napkin on the table. “I’ll be right back.”
I watched her sparkly ass swing as she walked toward the bathrooms. When she reached the door, she glanced over her shoulder and winked. Caught dead to rights, I threw my hands up and laughed.
“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Kat snuck up on me with a water pitcher in hand. Refilling the glasses, she said, “You know I’ll fucking end you if you hurt her, right?”
Amused, I picked up my newly filled glass. “I had a feeling.”
“Good.” She looked toward the bathroom, her ever-present frown deepening. “I may be on her ass for being too soft, but that’s exactly why she deserves the absolute best.” Glaring down at me, she cocked her hip, widening her stance. “Don’t fuck this up. We clear?”
“Crystal.”
And like that, Kat’s face twisted into what could pass for a smile if there wasn’t so much menace behind it. “Let me go grab the next round of rolls.”