I opened my mouth, but Sarah held up a hand, stopping me from interrupting.
“It’s a fact. I know it and you know it.” She looked over at Megan, “And well, now she knows it too.” Megan tipped her head.
“And after the little display earlier, which by the way, came very close to needing an R-rating based on sexual tension alone”—she raised her eyebrows—“I don’t really think we’re the company you want tonight, though it was very nice of you to pretend otherwise.”
“Stop it. Of course I want to hang out with you.”
Sarah and Megan looked at each other, then both shook their heads and laughed. “Yeah, right. Anyway, consider this an ‘I owe you.’” Sarah smiled. “Em, I’m happy for you. Seriously. And what kind of friend would I be if I kept you from what you’ve waited for this long?”
A smile began to creep over my face and I bit my lip to try to hold it back.
“I saw you texting, and I have a pretty good idea who you’re talking to.” Sarah grinned. “For goodness sake, call him and tell him you want to see him tonight.”
I looked at both of my friends, trying to decide if they really meant it. I squealed. “Are you sure? I can’t help it, I just—”
“We know. And we’re sure.” Sarah pointed at me. “But this is a one-time only offer. We still stand by our hos over bros motto any other night.” She winked. “And I definitely want details later, got it?”
“Got it.” My huge grin broke through. I had the best friends in the world.
Sarah looked to Megan, “Well, looks like it’s just you and me tonight. We can go back to my house. After we get chocolate.” They laughed. “We’ll be in the store so you can call Prince Charming in private.” She made kissy noises before climbing out, still laughing.
I waited until they entered the store to dial Eli’s number. As it rang, I suddenly got nervous. What was I supposed to say? What if he didn’t want to hang out tonight? Was I being too pushy?
“Hello?” His voice washed over me like a warm summer rain.
I smiled into the phone. “Hey, it’s me.”
He laughed. “I know. What’s up? I thought you were hanging out with Sarah and Megan.”
I played with the strap of my bag. “I am. I was. I’m not anymore.” Oh geez, I couldn’t even complete a full sentence. Holding my breath, I waited to hear his response.
“Oh!” When he spoke again, his voice was warm, teasing. “So does this mean you’re now free tonight?”
I blushed and smiled like a little kid. Thank goodness he couldn’t see me. “Yes.”
“Well in that case…” The smile in his voice came through loud and clear. “Do you want to do something? With me?” He stumbled over the last words. He was so cute.
I beamed again. “I’d really like that.”
“We’re almost home. Kevin drove, so how about I come over for you as soon as I get back? Is that okay?”
“Sounds good. I’ll be home soon, too. We stopped at the store to grab a couple things, Sarah and Megan are inside.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon.”
“And Em? I’m really glad you called.”
“Me, too.” I paused. “Bye.”
“See you soon,” he repeated.
I disconnected the call, unable to stop the huge grin from spreading across my face. It was really, really happening. I was going out on a date…with Eli. I wanted to cheer aloud, settling instead for a little dance in the backseat. I couldn’t wait to see him again.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Eli
“So what was that all about?” Kevin shot me a look as he swung into my driveway.
I kind of regretted letting him drive in the first place. I’d listened to him grill me the entire ride home, and now that he heard the phone call, well, he obviously put two and two together.
“Dude, drop it.” I got that he thought he was looking out for me, but Kevin didn’t know Emma the way I did. He was convinced all females were out to use men and then drop us when they were through. Pretty hypocritical considering how he treated women. Then again, considering that his mom took off without a word when he was eight, I kind of understood why he was so jaded.
“Look, all I’m saying is—”
“I know what you’re saying. I get it, and I appreciate it. But this is something I have to do. Something I want to do.” I opened the car door and stepped out. I leaned down. “I get it man, but you’ve got to understand, Emma’s important to me. You’ve gotta respect that.”
He nodded. “I hope it works for you, bro.”
I shut the door and slapped his roof twice. “You and me both.”
She’d be home soon. I went in the house and called out, “I’m going over to Emma’s for a while.” Television sounded from the den. I didn’t wait for a response from my parents, they’d figure out where I was.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I ran up to the bathroom to brush my teeth. If there was any chance of actually kissing Emma tonight, it was not going to be with me having garlic and black olive breath. After rinsing with some mouthwash for good measure, I breathed into my palm. Good to go.
I grabbed a clean shirt and ripped the old one off. It felt kind of strange going through all of these motions to go to Emma’s. We’d seen each other sick with the flu, walking around in PJs when we were younger, and here I was primping like a girl. Dumb or not, I wanted her to think I looked nice. I swiped some deodorant on; hopefully she’d think I smelled okay too.
After running my fingers through my hair and staring at myself in the mirror a few seconds, I took a deep breath. Show time. I couldn’t help but break into a grin.
I crossed the yard to her house, and walked in. When I reached her bedroom, I gave my usual three-tap knock and opened the door.
And immediately froze.
All breath left my body. My heart may have stopped for a second, I’m not quite sure.
Emma stood about five feet away, arms up over her head tangled in some kind of shirt. But the shirt above her head wasn’t what held my attention. The fact that she was only wearing a bra with her jeans was what stopped me in my tracks.
You’d think for all the times I’d had my arm around her, or that we’d wrestled, I would have had a better idea what she had going on under her shirts. Because…wow. My mouth went dry and I couldn’t form a word. My eyes probably looked like those oversized kinds you see in cartoons.
Emma was…a knockout. Just the right amount of curves. The bra suited her, some pale pink thing with hints of lace that made me wonder what secrets it was hiding.
“Eli!” Her shocked scream broke me out of my trance, and her face turned a vivid shade of red.
She quickly crossed both arms over her chest, like that would help considering I’d already gotten a pretty good peek.
Her eyes were saucers.
My mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing came out.
“What…what are you doing here?” She seemed afraid to uncross her arms to pull the shirt on, like that might give me another free display.
It wasn’t like I’d tried to walk in on her getting dressed. I wasn’t some perv.
“I…I told you I was coming over,” I said defensively, and swallowed down the egg in my throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were changing.”
“Well, I am.” She blinked rapidly.
“Yeah, I see that.” My mouth twitched. I couldn’t help but start to see the humor in the situation.
Clearly, she hadn’t reached that point yet.
“Um…so do you mind? I’d like to finish getting dressed.” She was so cute when she blushed.
I took a step into the room. “By all means, don’t stop on my account.” I couldn’t resist teasing her. The twitching turned into a full-fledged grin.
“Eli!”
“Fine, I’ll turn around.”
“Would you just leave the room a minute?”
I spun away, facing the ha
lf-closed door. “I promise I won’t peek. Go ahead.” I so wanted to peek. I couldn’t get the image of her in that pink scrap of next to nothing out of my mind. But I kept my word.
Seconds later, she said, “You can turn around now.”
I turned back to face her, but before I could say anything, Emma held up a hand. “Don’t. Just don’t.” Her cheeks still matched the bra I knew she wore under the T-shirt. I fought back a grin.
“What? I wasn’t going to say a word!” I feigned innocence.
“Right.” She tugged at the hem of her shirt. “So, did you want to hang out here or go do something, or what?”
She was clearly embarrassed, so I decided to let her off the hook. For now. “Do you want to walk down to the Freeze and get some ice cream? Then we can come back here and watch a movie if you want.” I shrugged. “I figured it’s nice out and it’s still early.”
She nodded and forced an awkward smile. “That sounds like fun. Too bad miniature golf is still closed. I could kick your butt at that!”
I snorted. “Dream on.”
The image of her when I walked in still danced in my mind. Emma wasn’t fake beautiful, she was breathtaking in her own natural way. And she had absolutely no idea what she did to me.
I crossed the few steps to where she stood, and reached out to poke around her middle where I knew she was most ticklish. She swatted me away, laughing. “Knock it off, Eli. I mean it!”
But touching her, even teasing, felt too good. I stood behind her, wrapping my arms around her, running my fingers down her sides tickling her even more. Her hair smelled like strawberries and springtime rolled together. I wanted to do so much more than just tickle her, but it wasn’t the right time. Not yet.
I leaned in to whisper, “So, was that the bra you told me you were shopping for that night?” and snickered.
She jabbed me in the ribs. “Oh shut up.”
I laughed and released my hold. Emma made a show of striding over to the door with her chin raised, ignoring me, so I caught up and whispered again, “By the way, it was a nice choice, I liked it.”
She spun around. “Okay fine, so you saw me in my bra. You liked my choice. I got it, can we go now?” Her voice had risen.
I cleared my throat, trying to swallow.
“What?” she asked. “Not so funny now?” Her grin was teasing.
“I believe he’s trying to figure out a way to tell you that I’m standing behind you.”
Emma paled. After a heartbeat, she slowly turned to face her father, who stood just outside her partially opened door with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
“Dad! I…we…um…”
Her dad heard the whole bra comment. Things so didn’t look good. I stepped forward quickly, pulling the door open all the way and stammering, “Sir, it isn’t what it sounded like. Trust me.” I held up my hand like I was a boy scout, or taking an oath.
Her father raised his eyebrows even further.
“Dad, it was an accident. I didn’t realize he was coming over so soon, and I got toothpaste all over my shirt so I had to change, and then he walked in as I was putting my shirt on, that’s all, I swear.” Emma seemed to run out of breath trying to get the explanation out in one long sentence.
I was more interested in the fact that she’d been concerned about brushing her teeth, too.
Her dad pressed his lips together, but I swore he was also fighting back a laugh. “Well, I’d suggest you make sure to lock your door next time you’re getting dressed,” he finally said. “That way we won’t have something like this happen again.” He stared at us in turn. “Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, sir.” I nodded my head up and down emphatically. I wanted to crawl in a hole.
“All right, then.”
An uncomfortable silence ensued as we all tried to figure out what to say or do next. Her dad looked around the bedroom. “I thought your friends were staying over tonight?”
“They were, but there was…ah…a change in plans.” Emma smiled weakly.
The eyebrows went up again.
“We were headed out to the Freeze. Is that still okay?”
Mr. Kurtz looked at me for a long second, head cocked, before nodding slowly. “That’s fine.” He turned his gaze on Emma. “I want you home by ten. That still gives you”—he checked his watch—“almost two hours, which should be plenty of time to go for ice cream.”
I shuffled my feet, looking down, still feeling awkward with the entire situation.
As we stepped through the door, her dad moved out of the way to allow us to pass. “Oh, and kids?”
We both turned.
“Have fun.” He smiled, reaching out and ruffling Emma’s hair.
The breath whooshed out when I realized he believed us and wasn’t ticked, or banning me from their home.
“We will, thanks, Dad.” Emma smiled.
“Now get out of here.” He waved us off.
We made our way out of the house as quickly as we could. Once the front door closed behind us, I covered my face with my hand. “I will never be able to look your father in the eyes again, so help me God.”
She laughed and poked me. “Oh stop it. He’s fine. He knows it was an accident.”
“Yeah, but he’s a guy. He might be an old guy, but still. He knows that getting to see someone you like in a bra is never a bad thing.” My ears turned warm and I cleared my throat. “Ah…anyway…”
“Why don’t we just start over?” She smiled. “Thanks for asking me to go tonight.”
I grinned. “My pleasure.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Emma
I’d taken these exact same steps a thousand times with Eli next to me, but it felt totally different right then. The air around us turned electric.
We continued walking along the quiet street. Twilight turned the sky a gorgeous reddish-blue, although storm clouds were beginning to roll in overhead.
“Do you think we should have taken my car? It looks like it’s going to rain.”
I glanced up. “It’s not that far. Hopefully we’ll be okay.”
The playground came into view to our left. The swings moved slightly, as if ghost children played quietly. Smiling wistfully, I said, “I used to love those as a kid.”
“I remember.” He reached out for my hand, pulling me in that direction. “Come on.”
Stumbling a little, I ran with him, laughing. “Eli! What are you doing?”
“Giving you a ride on the swings. Do you remember how we’d play on these and have contests to see who could go up the highest?”
“Yes, and you always won. I was too chicken to go that high.”
We stepped around the teeter-totter to get to the large metal swing-set. Our footsteps made light cracking noises as we stepped on the wood shavings covering the ground.
“Here, sit down,” he said.
I obliged, feeling a little silly, but still loving it.
Grasping the thick steel chains on either side of me, I began to pump my legs to get going. “Aren’t you going to swing, too?”
He moved to stand behind me. “Nope. I’m gonna push you.” Instead of placing his hands on my back, he reached down and gripped both sides of my waist. Shocks tingled through my body at his unexpected touch. When he leaned in, his breath wove through my hair as he whispered, “Hold on.”
Suddenly, he was pulling me back toward him. When he released, I leaned back, looking up at the heavy clouds. He pushed me several more times, laughing at my shrieks and squeals.
After about five minutes, when I leaned back, slightly out of breath, fat raindrops slowly plopped on my face. “Oh no, it’s starting to rain.”
Eli tilted his head back. “Maybe it’s just a shower and it’ll blow right over. We’re fine.” He helped me slow down, and we headed over to the merry-go-round.
Sitting down, we used our feet to make it spin lazily as we sat hip to hip on the old wooden structure. Small puffs of dust appeared
around our ankles as we moved in slow, wide circles.
He lightly tapped my toes with his sneaker. I did the same back to him, smiling.
Breathing in the rain-kissed air, the light in the sky dusky and mysterious, the feel of Eli so close…now I knew what heaven felt like. I leaned back, lying flat on the ride, my feet dangling off the edge.
Eli lay back too, joining me. Soft raindrops fell on my forehead and cheeks as I looked up into the darkening sky. The moon played peekaboo with the storm clouds.
“That was fun,” I whispered.
“Yeah, it was,” he whispered back. After a heartbeat, he reached over and took my hand where it lay between us. His fingers interlaced with mine. Tingles shot through my hand and traveled up my arm. I half expected sparks to shoot between our fingers. We didn’t feel a need to even speak for several minutes we simply shared the silence.
“I’m sorry I did all of that,” I whispered, turning to look at him.
He faced me, his eyes inches away. They looked deep green in the falling darkness, with flecks of gold showing. He shook his head slightly. “I’m not. I’m glad you did.” He squeezed my hand gently. “I was stupid. You were always there, and somehow, I needed that push to really see what I had right in front of me all along.” His thumb traced patterns on my hand and he smiled gently. “So please don’t be sorry.”
I smiled back. We fell silent again, just looking at each other, not needing words.
The light raindrops grew heavier, falling with quick, heavy plops. I squinted, trying to look up, but the rain falling in my eyes made it impossible. A quick clap of thunder, and the clouds broke open in earnest.
“Ah!” I yelled, attempting to cover my head with my arms as I sat up.
Eli stood, reaching to help me up, his dark hair already plastered to his head and face. “Come on,” he called, yelling slightly so I could hear him over the sudden downpour.
His wet shirt clung to his chest and shoulders like a second skin. “Em! Come on!” he repeated.
I shook my head, trying not to stare at him standing there all wet and completely gorgeous. I took his offered hand and allowed him to pull me up. Any attempts to block the rain from soaking me by holding an arm over the top of my head were ineffective. Ribbons of water slid down my chest from the long curls sticking to my face and neck.
The Girlfriend Request Page 16