The waitress brought the ticket and Jared scooped it up, placed his card in the pouch and handed it back to her. He looked as if he’d just won the lottery. I couldn’t believe that my enjoyment of some alternately flavored french fries had made him so cheerful.
He helped me with my coat. I wasn’t the type of girl to enjoy gallantry, but the casual way he went about it made me a tad giddy. I picked up my Urban Outfitters bag, and he followed me outside.
“You walked?” Jared asked.
“I walked.” I tucked my hair behind my ears and waited for him to be chivalrous again.
“It’s getting colder. Do you mind if I drive you?” he asked, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets.
The grin that swept across my face was uncontainable. “Do you remember where I live?”
“Andrews, right?” he said. I nodded, and he seemed pleased that he could give me the correct answer. “I’m this way,” he said, directing me down the street.
Jared parked beside the curb next to my dorm, and I subliminally willed him to ask for my number, for another date, anything. I didn’t want to have to wait so long this time before I saw him again.
“Thanks again,” I said, stalling.
He smiled, but it wasn’t as broad as it was during lunch. He seemed to be as disappointed as I was that our brief encounter was over.
“You’re welcome. Truly, the pleasure was mine.”
He stepped out and less than a second later, opened my door. I stood to face him and after a small pause, began making the walk to my dorm. A sense of urgency overcame my nervousness and I turned on my heels.
He hadn’t moved. Standing in front of his black Escalade, he looked exactly like a security guard. The glass was blacked out, and it looked more like a scene in the Middle East than on a quiet Providence street.
“Jared?” I pulled my cell phone from my purse to ask for his number, but the words left me. I gulped as his eyes pierced through mine. I didn’t know if the attraction was mutual, but on my end at least, it was intense.
“We’ll run into each other again,” he said, grinning. I started to argue, but what could I say? If I wondered aloud how soon that would be, I would sound more desperate than I wanted.
“It was good to see you again, Nina,” he said, before disappearing behind the dark tint of his windows.
I smiled and waved, then continued my trek to Andrews.
Chapter Two
Invitation(s)
“It’s raining again,” Kim grumbled. “That’s something new and different.” She lit her cigarette and jostled her knees back and forth to ward off the cold. I gave her a disapproving look. “What?” she asked.
“That’s really disgusting. My father smoked cigars. I just don’t get the appeal.”
She shrugged. “There is no appeal. I’m a non-conformist.”
“You’re a masochist,” I said, rolling my eyes.
We waited outside for Beth to finish her class, planning to kidnap her to the nearest coffee shop off campus. A group of students emerged in mass exodus, and I scanned each face. I noticed a shaggy-haired boy break away from the river of students and smile at Kim.
“Hey, Josh,” Kim said.
“Hey, Kimmie. Did you get the calculus homework finished?”
Kim shrugged. “I’ll do it before class.”
Josh’s friends meandered closer to us and talked among themselves.
“Nina, this is Josh. We went to high school together in Quincy. He wants to be me when he grows up,” Kim teased, playfully punching him in the arm.
Josh laughed and shook my hand. “Only if I get to wear a hat like that.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Josh.”
Josh pointed to each of his friends. “Tucker…Chad…Ryan.”
Tucker and Chad nodded in typical boy fashion, but Ryan reached his hand out, first to Kim and then to me.
“Hi… hi,” he said to each of us. His eyes lingered on me for a moment.
“So, we’re going to The Gate later for pizza if you want to come,” Josh said.
“We’ve already made plans with another girlfriend of ours, but maybe next time,” Kim said.
Josh nodded and Chad followed him as he left. Ryan stayed for just a moment and then trailed behind them.
Kim looked at me with her eyebrows raised. “Well. Who says there’s no such thing as love at first sight?”
“Quit it,” I murmured.
Beth joined us a few moments later.
“It’s about time! Gah!” Kim said in her typical dramatic fashion.
Beth laughed. “Who’s he?” she asked just as Ryan turned to look at us again.
“Ryan. Friend of a friend. Isn’t he dreamy?” Kim said as she nestled against Beth’s shoulder.
“You’re so…weird!” Beth giggled, pushing Kim away.
Beth and I huddled under an umbrella while Kim walked in the rain unaffected. We reached Kim’s elderly Sentra and climbed in, Beth taking the back seat. Kim pretended to say a little prayer and turned the ignition. After a few sickly whirring noises, the engine erupted and Beth clapped.
“Thank you. Thank you,” Kim said, ducking her head in little bows.
We crowded the counter and Beth and Kim both scanned the menu.
“I’ll have a Grande Café Misto, please.” I heard Kim sigh beside me. Unlike me, she refused to have the same drink twice.
I settled into my chair, cupping my drink with both hands. The wind and rain had picked up, and was intermittently beating against the large glass window. Just as Beth sat beside me, the bell above the door clanged and I automatically glanced up.
It was him.
Beth noticed me staring past her and she twisted to see Jared walking to the counter. “Are you okay, Nina?” she asked.
Kim sat down and traded glances with Beth, then pivoted in her seat to see what I couldn’t peel my eyes from.
The girl behind the counter cooed. “Well, if it isn’t Jared Ryel. Long time no see. How have you been?”
“Things are good, Katie. I’ll have the usual,” he replied, indifferent to her flirting.
By the time Jared casually turned our way all three of us were staring at him. I was expecting an uncomfortable expression at our gawking, but he smiled.
“Who is that?” Beth asked, clearly impressed.
“That’s Jared,” Kim said, leaning in and grinning from ear to ear.
“Jared. Who’s J —?” Beth whispered.
“Sssh!” I hissed.
“Nina?” Jared called. I thought I detected uncertainty in his voice.
As soon as his eyes met mine, I immediately felt lost. As usual, Kim saved me.
“You must be Jared,” Kim said with an impish grin.
“I am,” he confirmed, slowly walking the few feet to our table.
“I’m Kim,” she reached over and took his hand, shaking it vigorously and not at all lady-like.
“It’s…nice to meet you,” Jared said, glancing at her briefly before returning his eyes to mine. Confusion draped over his face, and he leaned his head a few inches to the side before speaking to me. “Is everything all right here?”
From my peripheral I could see Beth’s eyebrows press together and her eyes shift to me, confused by Jared’s behavior.
“Everything’s great,” I murmured, setting my cup on the table. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been…fine. Am I interrupting?”
Kim’s loud voice rose an octave. “Of course not! Would you like to join us?”
Jared looked at me for a moment and I smiled at him, waiting. I felt a strange adrenaline rush; afraid he would say yes and terrified he would say no.
He looked back to Kim and sighed. “I should be going.”
“Couldn’t you stay? Just for a minute?” I asked, hopeful.
Jared sighed with what sounded like relief. He looked around him and then pulled a chair to our table. I couldn’t contain the excitement I felt and my mouth instantly spread into a smi
le.
“How could I say no to that?” he asked. I felt my ears get hot.
“Yes, she’s very persuasive,” Kim said flatly, eyeing me.
I ignored her to introduce both of them properly. “Jared, Kim Pollock. Kim…Jared Ryel. And this is my roommate, Bethany Layne.”
Jared extended his hand across the table and briefly shook Beth’s hand.
She smiled. “It’s just Beth.”
Jared nodded. “Nice to meet you, Beth.”
“So…how do you know each other?” Beth asked.
“I got her a cab,” he said, smiling at me.
“He did. The night of Jack’s….we shared a cab,” I said, trying to keep the conversation on Jared instead of the circumstances.
“Oh,” Beth said. I could see the confusion on her face. It occurred to me that I would have quite a bit of explaining to do later.
“And we had lunch,” Jared added.
“You did?” Kim asked, turning to me for confirmation.
Jared chuckled. “I can see it was interesting enough to share.”
I fingered the lid of my coffee cup. “He introduced me to that Blaze place on Thayer. It was really good.”
“I think it was the company more than anything,” Jared said, his eyes softening.
“Sounds like you two had a great time,” Beth chirped. She had gotten over the fact that I hadn’t let her in on the news and had become slightly over-enthusiastic.
“We did,” he said, his eyes focused on mine. “It was good to see you again, Nina, but I have to get going.” He stood up and returned the chair to its proper place. I stiffened. I wanted to ask him when I would see him again, but couldn’t find the courage. I settled for relaying my feelings with a disappointed frown.
To my relief, he noticed.
“I’ll see you soon,” he reassured me, amused at my deflated expression.
“Good,” I nodded once.
He strode out just as marvelously as he came in, and I crumpled into the back of my chair. My muscles complained, I hadn’t noticed I was so tense. I sipped my coffee and took a deep, relaxing breath.
I had gone from never knowing he existed to inexplicably running into him. My life was suddenly full of these little miraculous surprises, moments I was finding so much happiness in that I was already wondering when the next one would come.
My friends’ eyes bored into me. I looked up, conscious of their burning curiosity.
“Yes?” I prompted, smiling innocently.
“Oh please, Nigh. Like you’re not swimming in your own freakily potent pheromones right now,” Kim said.
“He’s really cute,” Beth added.
“I guess…if you like the type,” I mused, trying to keep my cool.
“If…?” Beth cried. “You mean the well-dressed, gorgeous, movie-star type that is polite and interested in you? You mean that type?”
Kim laughed. “You are being ridiculously calm about this, considering while he was here you had the personality of a clam.”
“I did not!”
“She could have shot coffee out of her nose and he still would have stayed,” Beth giggled.
“He’s not cute. He’s angelic,” I sighed, dwelling on every detail of him.
Kim joined Beth’s giggling and all three of us erupted in laughter.
Over the next few days, every time I stepped off campus I watched for him. Beth and I went for coffee more than once, and I was shamefully preoccupied. I would answer when prompted and nod my head in the acceptable places of conversation, but we both knew I was anticipating my next moment with Jared.
I couldn’t believe how annoying I’d become over a man I barely knew. I was not one of those girls who became wrapped up in such things, and truth be told I lost patience easily with those that did. When I caught myself searching for him in every store, every restaurant and coffee shop I frequented, a scolding was in order.
Five days of this ridiculous behavior paid off.
The sun disappeared behind the horizon as Beth and I waited by pump four of Eastside Shell gas station. I yawned out of boredom, listening to the pump clicking with every dollar put in. Beth wrinkled her nose at the smell and I mirrored her expression.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing. I just love this smell and you look like you just took a whiff of an Oklahoma pig farm. Bringing back harsh memories?”
“Hilarious.” She looked up and a large grin spread across her face.
“And I thought you were going to be a poor sport,” I said, surprised at her expression.
“Hi, Jared,” Beth said, smug.
I flipped around and there he was, standing on the other side of the pump looking just as stunned and elated as I felt.
“This is getting spooky,” Jared said.
“Hi to you, too,” I said, letting my delight to see him show.
“How are classes going?” he asked.
“Good. How’s business?” I smiled. I’m getting better at this, thank God, I thought. I finally felt somewhat normal around him.
“It’s a good day,” he said, smiling his incredible smile. It absolutely was. “That’s a nice car,” he gestured with a nod.
“Thanks.”
One of the few grandiose things my father had purchased for me was my white BMW. He had bought it as a graduation present, and aside from the Peridot and diamond ring he had bought for my sixteenth birthday, it was my most prized possession. Normally I didn’t put much stock in the ostentatious things my father purchased, but this was special; it had been given with the proud-father expression that I relished.
“Going somewhere?” I asked.
“Why?” He cocked his head, confused at my question.
“You look like you’re headed to a hot date or something.”
He laughed. “No…no date. How about you? Anyone forcing strange cuisine on you this evening?”
“I don’t do that for just anyone,” I said, raising an eyebrow. I was impressed with how I sounded, so much braver than I felt.
He beamed. “Is that so?”
I pulled my receipt from the gas pump and looked at Beth, who pretended not to watch. He walked over to me, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“How would you like to put that to the test, then?” he asked.
“Is that a challenge or are you asking me to dinner?” I prompted, looking him square in the eye. I didn’t know where my sudden courage and sass came from, but it was less humiliating than the gaucheness I demonstrated the last two times I had seen him.
“Both,” he smiled. He leaned against my car, just inches from me. I tried to seem relaxed, although my heart was pounding in my chest over his proximity.
My face twisted into a frown as I realized my dilemma. “I have study group tonight.”
He didn’t look ruffled, to my chagrin. “Maybe next time.”
He walked back to his Escalade and left without another word. I flipped around to Beth and she ducked into the passenger side. The door slammed behind me as I sat next to her.
“What was that?” Beth asked.
“I don’t know.”
Beth’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You passed up a date with him for study group? You’ve wanted to run into him for a week!”
“I can’t just break my plans anytime he asks me out. How would that look?” I insisted, frowning at the thought of him thinking I was that accessible.
Beth shrugged. “Who cares?”
I started my car. “Beth! Be serious. He won’t give me his number,” I shoved my gear shift into drive and pulled forward, “and he just shows up out of nowhere and asks me out.”
“You’re nuts! You like him. He asks you out. You tell him no? There is something wrong with you, Nina!”
Back at Andrews, I had to deal with it from both sides.
“What is wrong with you?” Kim shrieked.
“Ugh! Not you, too!”
The smugness on Beth’s face radiated throughout the entire room. “I tol
d you.”
“I have to study. You two are studying tonight,” I reasoned, mostly to myself.
“I wouldn’t if I had a date,” Beth said, crossing her legs on her bed.
“I bet you would if said date asked you ninety minutes before study group,” I rebutted.
“Okay,” Kim said, spreading her arms between us. “Nigh’s right. Prose before bros.”
Beth rolled her eyes as she packed her various study items and I folded my notes and stuffed them into my coat pocket.
Kim snapped her fingers. “Let’s go, ladies. I don’t want to close The Rock down at 2 A.M. like last time.”
We headed to the John D. Rockefeller library, ducking our heads to hide from the bitter wind. Just as we crossed the street, the snow began to fall in large flakes. The dead grass crinkled under our feet as we cut across to save steps. Beth begged us to drive, but Kim insisted we walk so she could smoke.
Beth hooked her arm around mine. “Brown needs to generate some type of small transportation system to get us from here to there more easily. Like a trailer hitched to a four-wheeler.”
“Yes, Oklahoma, let’s hire a hay rack ride. Brown needs culture,” Kim deadpanned.
Beth narrowed her eyes at Kim. “It was just a suggestion. I’m freezing.”
“Don’t listen to Kim, she’s not even wearing a heavy coat,” I said, my teeth beginning to chatter.
“You two are babies, gah!” Kim groaned.
“It does sound like a hay ride,” Beth giggled.
When we arrived, our study group was already waiting on us. Carrie and Tracey — from the basketball team — sat on one couch. On the adjacent couch sat Kim’s friends Justin and Kristi. Lisa, a pre-med student, barely noticed our arrival, and beside her was someone I recognized right away.
Ryan had a head full of dark hair and he was barely taller than I. Because his t-shirt was a bit tight, I noticed his athletic build. His baseball cap was pulled low over his eyes, so I could see only his perfect, white smile, and a deep dimple on his left cheek. The other girls in the group seemed to appreciate his presence.
“Look at you, being all responsible!” Kim said.
“Josh was going to come, but he ended up going on a date,” Ryan explained, pulling up his cap to display his bright green eyes.
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