Sweetness

by Lindsay Paige

your mom?”

  “Just that she wouldn’t call me anymore. I hope he’s right.” Jake reached over and took a firm grasp of my hand, intertwining our fingers.

  I looked over at him brightly, “So, when is this date we are supposed to go on?”

  He grinned. “I was thinking about Friday.”

  I nodded and said, “Sounds good to me. I haven’t told my dad yet.”

  Jake looked over at me. “It’ll be fine. I can tell him if you want me to.”

  I shook my head and looked out the window. “Where are we going to go?”

  “It’s a surprise,” he said with a mischievous grin. I groaned, which made him laugh. “I’m glad you are excited. I, for one, can’t wait to have you to myself when it’s daylight. This thing at night is killing my beauty sleep.”

  I burst out laughing. “You do not need beauty sleep. You are a natural hottie,” I told him as we parked.

  He leaned over and looked at me with a smirk. “You think I’m a hottie, do you?” His perfect full lips were so close. A sigh leaked out and that just cracked Jake up. “C’mon. Dad and Drake are waiting,” I said getting out of the car and away from his oh-so-kissable lips.

  Dad and Drake were waiting by the door and Jake was right behind me. We walked in. The tiny space was packed for eight at night. “Honey, why don’t you and Drake find a seat and we’ll order,” dad said. “The usual, right?” I nodded, took Drake’s hand, and found a booth near a window.

  12

  Jake

  I ordered myself an Oreo Blizzard and a vanilla ice cream cone with sprinkles for Drake. Mike ordered Emily a banana split, her favorite, and a brownie sundae for himself. While we were waiting, Mike asked me a question. “So, what exactly is going on between you and my daughter? I saw that kiss and your arm around her waist at the game so don’t even think about giving me that look.”

  I gave him a sly smile and decided on the truth. Mike didn’t seem to me like the kind of guy who should have someone pulling his leg. “I really like her. She’s been opening up to me about her mom and stuff. I knew she called her last night and I told her that next time, she should just let you talk to her.”

  “She told you?” Mike was in disbelief.

  “Yeah, and every day during lunch, I try to make her more comfortable around people. I have her talk to me about anything and have her look at my eyelids.” Mike gave me a questioning look and I continued. “I close my eyes while she talks to me. Soon, she’ll have to look at them. Anyways, she’s doing pretty well. I asked her out on a date too.” Mike’s eyebrows shot up and he began to look a little uneasy. “She agreed,” I said before he could open his mouth. Then his expression turned to full fledged shock.

  He slowly started to talk. “I don’t know Jake. I don’t want her to get involved just when she’s coming out of her shell. If she gets hurt, she could easily go back to square one and then what if I can’t get her back out?”

  “It’s simple,” I said. “I don’t plan on hurting her.”

  “Just because you don’t plan on it, doesn’t mean you won’t.” He sighed. “Just please be careful with her. I don’t want to lose her again.” I nodded just as our ice cream was ready. We headed to the booth where Emily was cracking up over something Drake had said.

  I sat beside her leaving Mike to sit beside Drake. Ice creams were handed out and we dug in. Emily moaned, “It has been way too long since I’ve had one of these. Drake, you’re a genius.” Drake smiled and continued to lick his ice cream, getting sprinkles stuck to the side of his mouth. It would be useless for me to say something about it until he had finished.

  “I have another game tomorrow, are you guys coming?” I asked, looking over at Emily who glanced over at her dad who in turn shrugged.

  “I have some papers that are due Thursday and I haven’t done them yet. I was planning to do them tomorrow. Sorry Jake.”

  “It’s fine. What are our plans for Thursday?”

  Mike spoke up. “We’ll probably leave around five to be there by seven. That way we’ll have a little wiggle room for rush hour traffic. You can meet us at our house a little before five or we can pick you up. Either way is fine with me.”

  “I’ll meet you at your house. What do I owe you for the tickets?”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s on me. I’m just happy to take Drake to his first game.”

  “Mike, I can’t let you do that. Just tell me.”

  Emily put a hand on my shoulder. She looked at me (yes!) and said, “You might as well just let him. Once he has decided to pay for something, you can’t convince him otherwise. I can’t wait to go and see Crosby play again.”

  “She used to say that she was in love with him and that she would marry him one day,” Mike said with an evil grin.

  “Dad!”

  I looked over at Emily and tried not to laugh. “Emily Crosby, huh?”

  Drake chirped in before I could tease her more, “Emily and Sidney, sitting in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

  Her cheeks were a bright red. “You guys are horrible! Sidney Crosby has to be one of the hottest players and one of the best, especially for his age! There’s nothing wrong with liking him.”

  “You don’t like him, Emily. You love him,” I said laughing. She elbowed me in the ribs. “That hurt, Emily!” I was still laughing. Her expression was priceless.

  “Well, I’m sorry I have a thing for hockey players,” she burst out.

  Mike was laughing too. “Now that you mention it, I guess you do. Her previous boyfriends were hockey players…all of them. She’s attracted to them like a moth to the light.”

  I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow “How many boyfriends have you had?”

  “Just a few.”

  “Emily, don’t lie to the boy.”

  “Yeah, Emily. You aren’t supposed to lie!” Drake gives her a pointed look while I wait for an answer.

  “Six is a few. There was Gregory, Trey, Derek, Conrad, Aaron, and Zachary.”

  “Ah, yes, Conrad. That breakup was hard on you. They were inseparable,” Mike added.

  “You’ve had six boyfriends, Emily? I can’t even get one girlfriend,” Drake exclaimed and we all laughed.

  Six boyfriends? And she had been inseparable from one? Was that the bad break up she mentioned? Emily’s quiet demeanor returned for a second as if she was missing something. Or someone. A wave of jealously washed over me at the thought that she was missing Conrad. This was dangerous territory and I was ready for a subject change.

  “Jake hasn’t had that many girlfriends,” Drake laughed.

  I gave him an evil glare. “That you know of, little brother.”

  Emily chirped in, “Well, how many Jake? I had to spill, and so do you.”

  “Four. Mike, how many girlfriends did you have in high school?”

  He gave a hearty laugh and said, “Too many to count. I was what you kids call a player these days.” We all laughed.

  It was getting time to head home. “Drake, wipe your mouth. We should probably get going.”

  “Thanks, Drake. Ice cream was exactly what I needed,” Emily said as we were leaving, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

  “Next time, we should go to Cold Stone,” he said.

  A beautiful smile broke out on Emily’s face. “Cold Stone it is. Maybe we’ll go this weekend, if Jake says you can come with me.”

  I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said, “What? I don’t get to come?”

  She wrapped an arm around my waist and said, “Of course you can.” I grinned and kissed her forehead.

  We reached Mike’s car and he got in. I stopped Emily and told Drake to get in my car that was a few spots down. I leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Will I see you later?” She nodded. “I’ll come around eleven, okay?”

  She nodded again. “Bye, Jake.”

  I waved and headed for my car with a smile plastered across my face. I got in and headed home.

  “Ev
erything okay?” I asked after Drake had been quiet for a few minutes.

  “Are you and Emily dating?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Because you kissed her.”

  “Do you not want me to date her?”

  “No.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because if you break up with her then I won’t ever see her anymore! She’s my best friend in the whole world, Jake! If you date her and then break up, I lose my best friend! Why would you ruin that?”

  I was surprised by Drake’s outburst. I quickly collected myself and said, “Drake, if we break up, I promise you can still hang out with Emily. I’m sure she would still want to hang out with you.”

  “You promise?”

  “Cross my heart.” He seemed content with that.

  At home, I got Drake into the shower and went to my room to start on homework so I would be finished in time to go get Emily. Thankful that I didn’t have a bunch of work to do, I quickly got started.

  “Jake?” I looked up from my work and glanced at the clock. “It’s time for me to go to bed,” Drake continued.

  I got up and followed him to his room. “Did you have a good day today?”

  “Yeah. The ice cream was the best part,” he said as he climbed into bed.

  “I think so too,” I said. Once he was settled, I tucked him in and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight, Drake.”

  “Night.”

  I turned off the light and closed the door. I flopped onto my bed once and continued with my work. I finished just as eleven rolled around. I quietly made my way downstairs and checked to make sure Dad was in his room. He was passed out on his bed with an old home video of my Mom playing. I closed the door and made my way to Emily’s.

  After a few minutes, I texted her and let her know I was outside. Seconds later, she slipped out and walked towards me. I held out my hand and she took it. She gave me a quick peck on the lips and pulled me towards my house. “Anxious are you?”

  She giggled and said, “I’m just cold.” She broke off into a run, saying, “Race you!” I took off after her and soon I passed her. She was laughing and I heard her coming closer. “Ow!” I turned around to see her grasping her ankle. I ran back to her and knelt. As soon as I was down, she burst out laughing and took off. That sneaky girl! I ran after her, but she beat me to my house.

  I caught her around her waist and held her to me. “That was wrong,” I said, but I was unable to keep the laugh from escaping. She took my hand and led me up to my door with a smile. I opened the door and we snuck upstairs to my room.

  I checked on Drake and returned to my room where Emily was laying on my bed, feigning exhaustion. I plopped down beside her on my stomach with my torso on top of her and my elbows propped up on either side of her head. “You are a devious person, Emily.”

  She let out a soft giggle and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Well, I felt carefree and full of life. It’s been forever since I have, so I’ll take that comment with no problem.”

  I gave her a quick kiss and said, “Well, I’ll take it back then. Hey, about our date Friday…”

  I felt her tense under me as she asked, “What about it?”

  “I just wanted to tell you that your dad knows and that Drake knows too. He was upset at first.”

  “My dad knows? How? Why was Drake upset?”

  “Your dad asked me about us while we were ordering ice cream. And Drake asked me if we were because I kissed you on the forehead and he was upset because he thinks if we break up, he won’t see you anymore. He says you’re his best friend.” At that, she smiled. “I promised him that you would still hang out with him.”

  “Of course I would. You’ll pick Drake up tomorrow, right?”

  I nodded and I pushed a piece of hair away from her face. She locked eyes with me, but soon her eyes dropped to my lips. I loved it when she did that. I couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, you owe me, remember?”

  The girl who I’d come to learn was full of surprises despite her past pulled me down to her and kissed me. Her mouth was hot and her tongue slid into my mouth. Her