“She can be a tyrant when she wants to be. Trust me.” Rugby wasn’t always easy, but I had to admit Coach Carr was way worse.
“So where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. Can I wait and think about it?”
“About going or choosing where?”
I could tell he wasn’t confident about me at all. “About choosing. I’ll go. I promise. And I’ll tell you what happened.”
“Why not tell me now?” he asked.
“Because maybe I want to make you work for it.” I gave him a wink and sped up my pace to leave him behind.
He caught up with me and grinned. “It’s going to take a lot more work than that to get away from me.”
“You sound like a creepy stalker.”
He sighed. “Damn, I can’t get anything, right? But that will probably be the next rumor going around about me, right?”
“As long as you’re only stalking me.”
“I guess you have heard the rumors,” he said, looking away.
“Well, I’ve never been one to hold much truth in a rumor,” I said. “But maybe sometime you could tell me what happened between the two of you?”
“Yeah, that’s fair. But you might not like it.”
I smiled at him. “At least you’re honest.” It was a start.
Coach blew her whistle for us to walk in.
“Allow me to shower, and I’ll just run back to the house to change.” I didn’t want to wear just anything if this was a date.
“Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll have to do the same.”
“Please,” I said, holding my nose.
“Hey, I don’t smell that bad.” He raised his arm and sniffed.
I giggled. It was fun to tease him. “I’ll see you around seven?”
“Make it six thirty,” he said. “I don’t think I can wait that long.” He gave me one of his sexy smiles and turned to go into the men’s locker room.
* * *
It was almost six thirty when I slipped on my best jeans and found a blouse that Clara had bought me months ago for my birthday. It wasn’t exactly my kind of day-to-day wares but definitely something I’d feel confident enough to throw on for a date with Seth, even though it had peek-a-boo shoulders that showed a little skin.
I was so nervous, pulling on my nicest pair of boots. They had a heel that gave me a little height and made me feel a bit more feminine than my usual sneakers or flats. But they did make me feel confident in a way as well.
I had just spritzed on some perfume when the doorbell rang, and I walked over to see Seth through the peephole. He was looking to the right and rattling his keys, which I could hear through the door. Surely, he wasn’t as nervous as I was.
I opened the door slowly and peeked around. “Hi,” I said. “I’ll be a second. Do you want to come in?”
“Sure,” he said, accepting my offer. He walked in and looked around, and I realized it was the first time he’d been inside my apartment. “Wow, this is a nice place.”
“Thanks. It’s kind of empty with Clara moving out, but I’m going to bring a few things from home next time I visit my mom.”
“Cool. I guess she and Dillon are really getting serious.”
“Yeah, you could say that. An engagement is a big deal.”
“Well, you let me know if you need any help with your stuff.”
I was surprised by his offer. “Oh? I might hold you to that.” I let out a relieved breath that he seemed to be in a good mood, and I hoped I didn’t wreck the evening when he asked me to explain what happened.
“I thought we’d go to eat somewhere outside of town. I’m a little tired of the food around here. If that’s okay?”
“Sure, I don’t really know of any places, so you’ll have to surprise me.”
“There’s one place that’s about twenty-five minutes away if you don’t mind the drive.”
“It’s a nice night for it,” I said. I loved being in his Jeep with him, especially when he took the top off. “I’ll just be a minute.” I went to the bedroom, added a little extra perfume, and dropped my lip gloss in my bag. I didn’t wear much makeup as it was, but I needed the gloss, especially since I refused to wear heavy lipstick. It always got on my teeth when I’d tried.
When I walked back to the living room, I found him looking at the photos under the glass coffee table. “Wow, your family must have traveled a lot growing up.” He turned his eyes to look up at me, and his mouth fell open.
“Yeah, we did travel a lot until our parents split up, and Mom couldn’t afford it. Dad wanted us to go places with him, but that never worked. Neither of us wanted to go anywhere with his new girlfriend.”
“Oh.” Seth looked surprised. “I’m sorry I brought it up. You look gorgeous by the way.”
“Thank you,” I said, feeling the blush rise to my cheeks.
“And I hope I didn’t hit a sore spot.” He gestured to the photos.
“No, it’s cool. I’m used to the fact that they divorced. It’s Clara who has the problems with it. She still hates my dad. I don’t hate him. I just don’t let him bother me as much.”
Seth nodded. “That’s probably why she hates me, if she’s listened to the rumors.”
“You promised you’d tell me if there was any truth to those, remember?”
“Let’s get going to the restaurant first. I don’t want you to lose your appetite.” He didn’t look too proud of himself as he held out his hand. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t usually carry a handbag many places, but I had a small clutch with a wrist strap that I carried along for my ID and lip gloss, as well as my keys. I picked it up and went to the door.
After I locked up, Seth walked me to the Jeep and opened the door before walking around to get in
