“What about this?” I held up a deep blue skirt and a sparkly pink tank. Tegan hadn’t said what we were doing, but hopefully, if he planned to go somewhere fancy, he would’ve said so.
“Perfect,” Laney told me with two thumbs up.
“So, Rhian, don’t compliment him. What else?”
“Hmm.” She tapped on her chin as she thought about her brother. “Oh.” She snapped her fingers. “Don’t ask him about why he left his job in Philadelphia. That’s not something he takes well.”
“OK.” My stomach tightened. What in the hell could’ve happened in Philadelphia that he not only didn’t want to talk about but also didn’t even want the job brought up? This was getting complicated and perhaps I was biting off more than I could chew. Now I was considering canceling the entire thing.
“The weirdest thing is the word ‘chocolate.’”
“He doesn’t like the word ‘chocolate’?” Laney asked her friend.
“No. It sets him off. It’s weird, I know, and I don’t know where it comes from, but it’s like he turns into a different person whenever someone says it. Maybe it’s a repressed memory or something.”
Seriously? Chocolate? Tegan was turning into a different kind of odd that I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with. If I canceled now, everything would be tense whenever the entire group got together. No. I could do one night with a hot weirdo.
I pulled my tank top over my head to replace it with a sparkly blue one. “Anything else?” May as well be prepared.
“Not that I can think of.”
Nodding, I yanked off my shorts and slid on the skirt. It was flowy and white with flowers. The only thing I still needed was some cute sandals. It helped keep me from worrying over what Rhian had told me about her brother.
“That’s perfect.” Laney jumped off the bed. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks,” I told her.
“We’re going to go before he gets here.”
“You look fantastic,” Rhian added.
I walked them to the door and once it was shut, I fell against it. There wasn’t much time to think about it before Tegan arrived. At least that was who I assumed was knocking on my door. When I opened it, Tegan was on the other side as handsome as ever.
“Hi,” I said as I opened the door.
“You look great,” he told me and it took everything I had not to reciprocate. But Rhian said he hated when women talked about his appearance. So I kept it inside, but he did look amazing.
Dark wash jeans and a white V-neck tee. I didn’t know why this kind of outfit worked so well on guys, but it did. Or rather it worked for me. His muscular nature stretched the shirt to its maximum without being too tight. This guy must’ve made a lot of nurses swoon at the hospital.
“Thank you.” I stepped out and pulled the door behind me, turning my key in the deadbolt. I was ready for this date.
Tegan drove a black something that looked expensive. I wasn’t a car person, so I had no idea what kind it was. But it was probably worth two or three of my little Ford Focus. When I slid onto the leather seats, I thought maybe it was worth four of my car. It felt like butter against my skin.
“I thought we’d grab some dinner, then hit a movie,” he said as he pulled away from my apartment.
“Sounds good.”
Tegan gave me a side-eye. This wasn’t me. I was normally much chattier than I had been in the minutes we’d been together. I’d agonized over going out with him and now that I was, I was on edge after the quirks Rhian told me about. After all, if those were the ones she’d told me about what were the ones she hadn’t?
“Do you have a preference?” he asked, though for a split second I had no idea what he was talking about. “Dinner.”
“Oh.” Duh, Maddie. Pull it together. “Uh, not really. Nothing fancy.”
He furrowed his brows. “OK.”
A few minutes later, he pulled the car into a steakhouse and turned the engine off. It wasn’t far from where I lived, yet I’d never been there. Toddlers don’t tend to eat much steak. Plus, I couldn’t have afforded this place anyway. It wasn’t fancy, thankfully, but it was very nice. And busy though not quite full. We didn’t have to wait to be seated and then I at least had the menu to focus on. The waitress took our drink orders before leaving us to peruse our options.
“Oh my god, that choc—” I started. Rhian’s voice swirled in my head. “Cake looks amazing,” I finished.
“We should get it for dessert.”
The waitress slid in, setting my Diet Coke and his water in front of us, all of which took me by surprise. “Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?” she asked.
“I’m ready,” he answered. “Are you ready?”
“Yup.” He put his hand out, indicating that I should go first. “Oh, um, I would like the six-ounce sirloin with mashed potatoes and broccoli.”
“Perfect.” She took my menu. “And you?” she asked Tegan.
I watched his mouth as he ordered, yet my ears heard nothing he was saying. My only focus was his mouth as it formed words. I could stare at him all day.
“Was the rest of the week as busy at work as when I was there?” Tegan asked after we ordered.
“Pretty much,” I told him. This was not excellent conversation on my part. “How are liking your ne—your job in Detroit?”
“I’m liking it. Probably better than the one in Philadelphia.”
My stomach clenched. Rhian had specifically said not to mention his job there. So why did he?
He sighed then kept talking. “I get more time in the ER here, which is fun. There it was mostly an office.”
“The ER is fun?”
“The ER is fun in my world,” he explained. “Fast-paced. Never know what you’re going to walk into. I only cover it a few days a week.”
“Is this what you wanted to do your whole life?” I asked then took a sip of my pop.
“Not especially but in college, I found that I love science.”
“Must be genetic,” I told him.
“Why is that?”
“Isn’t Rhian going to teach high school science in the fall?”
“Oh right,” he said as if he’d forgotten. “Maybe it is. What about you? Did you dream of being a stylist since you were young?”
A lot of people had asked that question of me or one of my sisters and sometimes it was asked with the sound of disdain behind the words. As if being a hairstylist wasn’t a perfectly fine job to have.
“Not exactly,” I told him honestly. “But both of my sisters were stylists and I could go to beauty school while I was still in high school which was ideal after I found out I was going to have Dylan.”
“That’s convenient. But you like it?”
I set my glass back down after taking another drink. At this rate, I’d need a refill before dinner arrived. “I do,” I told him. “I guess I always knew that I’d work in a salon and wasn’t always sure how I’d feel about it but it’s fun. Sometimes clients can be a pain but all in all, it’s always different.”
“Just like my job.”
I laughed loudly. “Not exactly. I don’t save anyone’s life. Maybe I save them from an embarrassment from cutting their own bangs.”
He shrugged my comment off. “But we both make a difference in people’s lives.”
“Fine. I’ll take that.”
The waitress reappeared with our dinners. Tegan had ordered garlic chicken and it smelled delicious. A baked potato and green beans on the side. The first bite of steak almost melted in my mouth. Probably the best steak I’d ever eaten and I took a moment with it, closing my eyes and savoring that flavor. Holy crap, it was good.
“Good?” he asked with a smile.
“Probably the best I’ve ever tasted. Your chicken?”
“It’s extremely good.” He took another bite and as he chewed, I noticed him watching me. “What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing,” I responded quickly. “Why?”
T
egan set his fork and knife on the edge of his plate. “You seem off.”
“Off?”
“Different than you normally are.” His eyes narrowed. “Maybe on edge. Do I make you nervous?”
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. Tegan did make me a good kind of nervous, but no, that wasn’t what was going on with me. “You don’t make me nervous exactly.”
“Then what’s going on?”
Apparently, I’d been pretty obvious instead of cautious over what I was trying not to say. I did what any grown woman would do. I took a deep breath and decided to be honest.
“Rhian and Laney came over while I was getting ready.”
“What’d they say?” he asked as if it were a foregone conclusion that the two of them would be the reason I was acting… well, however I was acting.
“Rhian gave me a few pointers about you.”
“I’m going to have to kill her,” he said easily with a little humor playing around the edges of his words.
“Don’t kill her. She was just trying to be helpful. Keep me from messing up.”
“Was she?” he asked more seriously. “I think she’s fucking with us. Come on.” His fingers wiggled back and forth. “Out with it.”
I wet my lips quickly. “First, she said that you hated it when women mentioned your looks, which is why I didn’t return the compliment when you got to my apartment. She said to not ask about your job in Philadelphia because you don’t like to talk about it and also to never mention the word ‘chocolate.’ You don’t like it and it sets you off.” I took a breath. “Whatever that means.”
His loud chuckle took me by surprise. And annoyed me a little too. I’d been so careful not to hit any of his triggers and he was laughing. This had been uncomfortable for me from the start, but he was finding humor in it.
“Don’t look so irritated,” he said once his laughter faded.
“I’ve been on edge since you got to my house and you’re laughing.”
“OK.” He held his hands up in front of him briefly. “Sorry. But she thinks up the weirdest shit. My sister could be a genius, an evil genius but a genius none the less.”
“What does that mean?”
He leaned in, settling his arms on the table, his fingers brushing against each of my hands. “She was fucking with you. Gave you these weird, mostly benign, idiosyncrasies about me that you wouldn’t question. I will tell you everything about my job in Philadelphia if you want. I love chocolate cake and if you feel the need to comment on my looks, I don’t care. I don’t need it, but I don’t care.”
I couldn’t believe Rhian did that. Was she messing with me or with him? I kind of hoped it’d be him because she and I had become such good friends over the last year. “Are you kidding me?” I asked. “Why would she do that?”
“We used to prank each other all the time when we were kids. Apparently, now that we’re living together again, it’s back on. We’ll get her back.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. There had been so much stress over this date since talking to her, only to find out she’d been playing a prank. Rhian could’ve sidetracked this whole thing and I liked Tegan.
“Yeah. So you can relax now.”
Tegan sat back in his seat and began eating again. It took me longer, but I cut another small piece of steak. Didn’t want it to go to waste.
“It’s good you enjoy your job,” I finally told him.
“I’m glad you do, too.”
I nodded.
He swallowed then asked, “Why did your sisters become hairstylists? I mean, was it in the genes like us and science or do you all just love hair. I mean, I see why you went to beauty school but they went first. How come?”
“My oldest sister, Natalie, had a baby at fifteen. She finished school and got her cosmetology license at the same time. My parents took care of the baby. My next oldest sister, Emily, also became a hairdresser. My mom was a hairdresser but she quit to take care of us. It’s kind of what we do.” I took a deep breath. “Not a lot of people around here leave and go to college. There are like four that I can think of and that includes Laney.”
“But you still could if you wanted to.”
“I appreciate the encouragement, but no. I like what I do and it’s flexible with Dylan.”
He nodded along with my story. “That must’ve been hard. Having a kid so young. How old were you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Ouch.”
It was a normal reaction that most people had when they found out I was a teenage mom. “Yeah. But I love him and wouldn’t give him back even if I could.”
“Of course not.”
That was a first. The guys I’d dated had been surprised to find out I had a kid, if they didn’t already know, but at some point, it became clear they weren’t into it. Or they were annoyed by my time limitations.
This time I’d be on the lookout for signs of that with Tegan.
Once we’d cleared up the misunderstanding, the conversation flowed smoothly. We laughed a lot.
We finished our dinners. He basically cleaned his plate while I left a little behind. I hated to be wasteful but I also didn’t want my stomach to explode.
“How about that chocolate cake?” he asked when the waitress came to clear our plates.
I didn’t think I could eat a whole piece though. “What if we share a piece?”
He blinked a total of three times then said, “A woman willing to share her chocolate cake?”
I burst out into a laugh. He had a point. “I just don’t think I could eat it all myself.”
“I’ll bring that right out,” the waitress told us then left us alone again.
He thanked her and once she was gone he reached across the table and threaded our fingers together. “What’s your favorite dessert?”
“I’m honestly not picky when it comes to sweets. Ice cream is always a winner but I love brownies and chocolate cake is up top. Oh.” I snapped my fingers as if I’d just remembered what I loved. “Not really a dessert but I love a regular old chocolate bar. What about you?”
He sighed. “I’m not much of a sweet eater.”
“But we just ordered cake.”
“Obviously I’m eating some tonight but in general.”
“Oh right. The eating healthy thing. I get it.”
The waitress came back then making me pull my hands away from his to make room for our dessert. We each grabbed a fork and dove in. I moaned as the deliciousness hit my tongue. It tasted as good as it looked with its rich chocolate cake and a toe-curling chocolate frosting.
“That’s so good,” I told him.
“Sounds like it.”
We both picked at the cake until I put my fork down, unable to take in one more bite. We talked the entire time. I told him about how awesome my parents were even when two of their three kids ended up as teenage parents. He told me about how his tried to be controlling though I’d heard a lot about them from Rhian over the past year.
“Now that they know we’re both going to do whatever the hell we want, they’re changing their tune a little,” he told me as he slipped a card in the holder to pay.
“Trying to make amends?”
He snorted. “I wouldn’t go that far. So, movie. What do you like?” He was already scrolling through his phone, I assumed to look at movie times.
“Well, I’m female so rom-coms are a pretty safe bet but Laney and I grew up with Porter and Zac so that means we also love a kick-ass comedy, action, or thriller. I’m kind of flexible that way.”
“OK, there is a new comedy, Boys’ Night, just came out today.”
“That looks hilarious,” I said right away.
“Starts in twenty minutes.”
“We better go then.”
He snaked his credit card out of the holder and scribbled his name on the receipt but I noticed he didn’t take his copy. Then we hustled out of the restaurant and practically jogged to his car. We weren’t far from the theater but still, opening weekend of
most movies was jam-packed. Since we’d just eaten, I told him in the car that I didn’t want anything from concessions and he didn’t either.
Tegan got us the tickets then we rushed inside to find a seat. We settled in just as the previews started. He slid his arm around me as we laughed through the entire thing. It was such a guy movie but hilarious just the same. But honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered what we watched as long as we were hanging out, I was happy.
Once the movie ended, Tegan held my hand as we slowly walked back to the car and discussed our favorite parts of the movie. He took it again inside the car as he drove me home. Being inside the confined space of the car meant that the aroma of his soap and something earthy, maybe aftershave, surrounded me and I wanted to take it home with me.
“Thanks for tonight,” I told him as he walked me to the door. “Sorry it got off to such a weird start.”
His great smile reappeared. I’d been seeing it all night and couldn’t get enough.
“You’re welcome, Maddie. I’d like to do it again when you’re available.”
I wet my lips while looking up at him. He was so much taller than me. “I’d like that.”
The corners of his mouth turned up, then one of his hands came up to cup my cheek. This first kiss anticipation was the best. On one hand, I wanted his lips on mine as quickly as possible. On the other, holding out meant it’d be even better.
When his soft lips met mine, my entire body melted into his. He moved against me and if I didn’t keep my wits about me, I’d climb him like a tree.
Far too soon, he pulled back and said, “Goodnight, Maddie.”
“Goodnight.”
I fell asleep with the memory of that kiss still on my mind. If I was lucky, I’d dream about it and if the universe had any kindness left in it, I’d experience that kiss again.
Chapter Nine
Saturday morning, I woke to a text from Zac asking if I’d mind letting Dylan spend the entire weekend with them. I replied telling him I didn’t mind. I probably could’ve predicted that would happen when Zac had picked Dylan up Friday night. Zac and I were hoping that once Dylan was a little older, we could start to share parenting time fifty-fifty.
Hard to Say Yes (The Fallout Series Book 3) Page 7