by Lane Hart
“Hello?”
“Is this Kate?” he asked, knowing it was me.
“Nope, sorry. You’ve got the wrong number,” I told him and watched as he laughed.
“Are you hungry?”
“No. I mean yes. I don’t know.” What the hell was wrong with me?
“Would you want to head across the street and grab some dinner with me?” He nodded toward Smith’s Diner on the other side of the road. I would do anything he asked if it meant I got to spend more time with him. Oh shit, he’s still waiting for my answer.
“Sure,” I was finally able to choke out, and I swear even from across the parking lot it looked like he exhaled and his shoulders relaxed.
“I’ll try and answer any other questions you think of,” he said, like he was still trying to convince me to accept his invitation. He didn’t know that he’d had me at “Would you”.
“Thanks. I’ll meet you there,” I told him then hung up.
I walked over to his car, which was closer to the road. Together we walked the rest of the way to the grassy shoulder of the busy street to look both ways, both of us with smiles that wouldn’t seem to go away. There was still a lot of traffic across the four lane road since it was a Friday night, and there wasn’t a single crossing light within walking distance.
We stood there in silence as we watched traffic whiz by us. I couldn’t help but glance over at him.
“What?” he asked when I looked up at him.
“You’re really tall,” I admitted, then blushed when I realized it was such an obvious and really stupid thing to say.
“Is that a bad thing?” he asked smirking as he looked back at the traffic.
“No, of course not.”
“You’re really small,” he teased. I couldn’t resist throwing his question back at him.
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.
“No, of course not,” he said with a big smile. “I like that you’re so small I could pick you up and throw you over my shoulder whenever I wanted to.”
My mouth dropped open. Was he flirting with me? He had asked if I’d go on a date with him, and thinking about him doing that to me knocked my mind way off track.
While I was standing there developing that mental picture, traffic had cleared and Sam was now standing on the median.
“Are you coming, or do you want me to come back and give you a demonstration?” he hollered, as he laughed at me, and I couldn’t help but smile in return.
I looked to my left and since traffic was still momentarily clear I made the dash across. By the time I got to where he was, we were stuck waiting for more cars coming from the right.
My brain was still trying to catch up when Sam reached down and grasped my hand, intertwining his fingers through mine. His hand was massive compared to my small one, and it felt comfortingly warm, with a strength behind it that made me feel like he could protect me from anything. His thumb lightly grazed back and forth over the Band-Aid he’d put on me that morning, and I’d been wearing unnecessarily all day. The unexpected gentleness of his touch sent tingles all the way through me.
“Safety first. I’d really hate for you to get run over. Your blood would spill, the consequences of which would be devastating,” he said, still grinning while watching traffic.
“Of course,” I responded giving his hand a squeeze and letting him know I didn’t mind, and that I liked his hand in mine. Just that small insignificant thing caught him off guard. I laughed when there was a break in cars and I had to pull him the rest of the way across the road while he was looking at me. When we got to the sidewalk he didn’t let go, so neither did I until we got up to the diner doors.
The hostess led us to one of the red leather booths against the wall of windows that looked out over the road. The place was emptying out since they were only opened for another hour tonight, and I really hoped Sam and I would close them down.
I still couldn’t stop smiling as I looked over the plastic, and somewhat sticky, menu. “Shit!” I exclaimed when I suddenly remembered I’d left my purse all the way across the four lane road in my car. My face burned when the few remaining customers and staff turned to look at me.
“Sorry,” I said mortified.
Sam laughed. “What’s wrong?”
“I, um, left my purse in my car. I’ll be right back,” I told him as I slid out of my side of the booth.
Without looking up Sam reached across the table with this long arm and grabbed my shoulder, gently pushing me back down into the seat.
“No, you won’t. You barely made it across the road in one piece last time. Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” he smiled as he kept his eyes on the menu.
I relaxed in the booth but I still felt bad.
I guess he’d decided what he wanted because he closed his menu then used it to cover his smirk. “You’re funny. You’re the only person I know that can make curse words sound cute.”
My face flamed bright again. Thank goodness I was saved from a response when the middle aged waitress appeared.
“You ready to order?” she asked as she looked from me to Sam, then focused her attention on him.
“Are you ready?” he asked me.
“Um, yeah, but you go ahead.” I had no idea what to get. I’d been too distracted by him.
“Let me get a coke, double cheeseburger, plain, and a double order of fries,” he told her as he handed over the menu.
The waitress finally turned back to me. “I just want a diet coke and an order of fries,” I said handing her the menu before she sauntered away.
“That’s all you’re eating?” Sam asked losing all his previous humor.
“Yes.”
“Have you already had dinner?”
“No.”
“Are you sure that’s all you want?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, but just so you know I would have insisted on paying anyway,” he said with a half-smile, finally letting it go.
“Thanks,” I told him honestly.
“Seriously, it’s nothing. So, have you thought of any more questions? Just be careful,” he said as he looked around and lowered his voice.
“So, um, there are not many of us are there?”
“No,” he said as he clenched his jaw.
“Because of my dad’s employer?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“So, what does it mean to be one?” I wanted to know what made me different from a human. And was I only half witch since my dad was human?
He sighed and looked around again. “From what I’ve heard, they can stir things, spells,” he barely spoke the last word.
“That do what exactly?”
He shrugged and smiled. “Probably anything you can think of, which is why your father’s employer is so damn determined to get rid of them all. Although, it’s not as easy as it used to be, since most of those types of books were burned. The few of those people still around do them mostly from memory, and are probably too scared to write them down for others.”
“I can understand that,” I replied. I could tell Sam was uncomfortable talking about the current topic so I tried to think of another subject. Fortunately, he saved me.
“So what are you majoring in at Madison?” I was relieved that we could talk about something lighter. I didn’t want him to think too much about the whole witch issue and decide he didn’t want to be around me anymore.
“Nursing for now, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be changing it after today,” I said as I glanced up at him.
“Why are you going to change it?”
“I don’t think I can be around the needles,” I explained with a shudder.
“Don’t feel bad. A lot of people feel that way.”
“So, how do you do it? How long have you worked with the blood bank?”
“Eight years, and it’s never really bothered me,” he said with a shrug. Eight years? Damn, he’s older than I thought.
“So, how old are you?”
He hesitate
d and looked away. “Um, twenty-six.” When I didn’t say anything he raised a blonde eyebrow and smiled as he asked, “Why? How old are you?”
Oh crap. He’s going to freak out. I gulped. “Eighteen.”
His eyes widened. “Eighteen! Wow, you’re even younger than I thought, and barely even legal,” he said the last part softly as he rubbed his hand through his long hair.
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked hoping he’d lighten up on the age difference.
It worked and he smiled again. “No,” he said shaking his head.
“But what do you mean ‘barely even legal’?” Now I was old enough to vote? Then I realized his meaning after the words had already left my mouth.
“Oh, um, just that you’re really young and I’m old, much older than you. So if we had been ah, together last year it would have been illegal, but now it’s legal, you know, if we wanted to, yeah,” he trailed off and hesitated. “Eighteen is the age of consent.” He was actually starting to blush as he avoided eye contact with me so I definitely wasn’t going to let him off the hook. But then I wondered if he’d actually thought about sleeping with me.
“Consent?” I asked and had to work really hard at keeping a straight face.
“Well, yeah. A seventeen year old can’t, um, consent to, you know, be with someone several years older.” Yep, this man looked embarrassed as I made him explain this to me, which I found hilarious for some reason.
“Oh, so the age to consent for sex is eighteen in North Carolina? It’s only sixteen in Ohio,” I told him, feeling bolder because of his awkwardness. I was even more proud of myself when I didn’t blush. Sam’s mouth fell open for a second before he caught himself, then smiled.
“You knew exactly what I was talking about and just wanted to make me suffer through explaining it, didn’t you?”
“It was pretty funny, and did your cheeks turn a little red?” I asked.
Sam laughed. “I’d never admit it if they had, but it’s your fault for being so young I feel like I shouldn’t think about having sex with you. I mean talk about having sex with you. Or just talk about sex with you, is what I meant.”
As he became more flustered I tried really hard to keep my mouth from falling open. Was he thinking about having sex with me? I really hoped he didn’t see me as just a little girl.
“So did you move here from Ohio to go to school?” he asked changing the subject and making me smile.
“Yeah, I live just outside of Cincinnati. Where are you from?”
“I’ve always lived around here, but I was actually born and raised in Eden, a small town about an hour from here.”
“Is that where your family still lives?”
“Um, no. That’s where they lived, but my parents passed away a long time ago. Younger brother too,” he said as he looked away.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Like I said, it was a long time ago. My parents had a farm that’d been in the family for years. I grew up basically poor because mostly we just lived off what we grew and raised there. Anyway, I moved out on my own after I graduated from high school. My brother stayed to help my parents. None of them ever went to the doctor or hospital for anything. They were all too damn stubborn and worried about money. My parents both died within a few months of each other from cancer, my brother a few years later from untreated pneumonia.”
“Oh, wow, that’s awful Sam,” I wasn’t sure what else I could say to that.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all depressing and shit on you. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone all that before.”
That surprised me, but made me feel good that he felt that comfortable with me, even though we’d just met.
“So, you don’t have any family left?” I asked, then felt bad for prying.
He looked down and shook his head. “Nope. Just me.” I wasn’t surprised when he changed the subject back to me. “So do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope. Only child. Well, no brothers and sisters that I know of. My dad wasn’t married to my mom and has never told me anything about her. All I know is that she died when I was a baby. You’ve helped me figure out more about her today than he has ever told me.”
“I’m sure he had his own reasons, but maybe he’ll tell you more now that you know.”
I had already decided that I wasn’t going to tell my dad I knew. He was hardcore D.R.A., and right now I wasn’t sure I could trust him that much, which was really freaking depressing. I felt like I could trust the man sitting in front of me more than my own father.
Dammit! I felt my eyes start to water so I reached up to quickly sweep the tear away before Sam noticed.
“Oh, Kate. I’m sorry. You’re not going to tell him you know, are you?” Sam asked, surprising me when he understood why I was upset.
I just shook my head. I couldn’t look at him, and was beyond embarrassed that I was crying in front of him.
“But he has to know that your mother was …” When Sam suddenly paused in mid-sentence I looked back up at him. His brow creased as he looked me over while rubbing his chin. “Your mother, she wasn’t from here in Greensboro was she?”
That was a strange and random question. “No, not that I know of, but my dad has never talked about her.”
“I would almost swear that I … never mind. So how did you end up at Madison?” Sam asked and I was glad to change the subject.
“Scholarship, and because it’s a convent.”
“A convent?” he asked grinning.
“Yes, I didn’t know that before I came down here, but I’m certain my father did,” I told him exasperatedly.
“So not many guys around campus?”
“I think you may be the first straight guy I’ve seen in three weeks.”
“Good to know I’m that obvious,” he said with a chuckle. “So, you didn’t leave a boyfriend back in Ohio?” He’d only ask that if he was interested, right?
“Nope, no boyfriend. What about you?” I asked before I lost the nerve.
“No boyfriend,” he joked. “And no girlfriend either.”
Thank goodness. Then a sudden thought hit me. He was old enough to have been married before and/or have kids.
“Have you ever been, um, married?” I asked quietly.
Sam’s mouth dropped open. “Why would you ask me that? Because I’m old?” he laughed before he answered. “No, I’ve never been married, and I don’t have any baby’s mamas either, just in case you’re wondering.”
“Good to know,” I said as the waitress brought our drinks and sat them down in front of us. I was so thirsty, all the smiling was making my mouth dry. Peeling back the paper wrapper and putting my straw in, I drank half of the cup in one gulp.
“Any other burning questions you want to ask me?” he asked.
I shook my head. Sam’s intense green eyes stayed on me so long it made me squirm as I continued to drink the rest of my diet coke.
Finally he broke the silence. “So, what do you think of college life?”
I shrugged. “So far it’s just been boring.”
“Boring? It’s supposed to be the best time of your life. Wild and crazy.”
“Nope. Just boring. I go to class, come home, and that’s the extent of my wild and crazy college life.”
“What?” his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Yep. I live off-campus and don’t have any roommates. No one has really talked to me.”
“Oh, Kate, I’m sorry,” he said making me feel bad, and like an even bigger loser.
“Yeah, I’m surprised you’ve been sitting here with me for this long,” I told him, then cringed, instantly regretting the painful honesty.
“Kate, the problem is not you. College girls can be jealous bitches. That don’t like to be friends with girls who are hotter than they are, and if the school had more guys, well straight guys, they’d be standing in line to talk to you. But then that would suck for me because with all those options you wouldn’t be sitting here wi
th me on a Friday night.”
Wow. Was he saying he thought I was hot? And I was pretty sure there was no guy on the planet that could possibly compare to him. I was inexperienced, but not dumb, or blind.
“Sam, even if there was a line a mile long I’d still be sitting here with you.”
Chapter Five
Sam
The waitress brought our food out just after Kate blindsided me with her comment. I was starting to think she may have just been here with me tonight because I was better than nothing, but maybe she actually liked me.
I had an evil idea. I’d give her the opportunity she deserved as a college freshman and see what happened. Maybe she’d stick with me and maybe not, but it would be good to know before I started falling even harder for her. I didn’t want to just be convenient.
Neither of us had said anything after her comment as we ate, both of us mostly pushing our food around.
“You do know there are four other colleges in this town all with much higher male populations than Madison, right?” I asked her.
She paused as if she was trying to figure out what I meant. “Yeah.”
“Have you been to any of the college clubs downtown?”
Her beautiful innocent eyes widened, and she shook her head. Did I really want to corrupt this nice girl? It was just dancing. Really sexy dancing. And she was of legal age, although barely.
“If you want, I’ll take you to one of them tonight.” Please God let her say yes.
“Really?” she asked smiling as she pushed her fries away, then she suddenly frowned and looked away. “But I don’t know how to dance, and I’ve never been to a club before.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun and you’ll figure it out in no time.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “Should I change?” she asked as she looked down at her t-shirt and jeans.
I shrugged. “If you want. A lot of girls wear dresses. Short dresses or skirts,” I added for my benefit.
“Yeah, I think I’ll go home and change.”
I was so evil.
“Me too,” I said looking down at my wrinkled t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Yeah, they wouldn’t let me in wearing this.