Fumbling Perfect (Raymere Grove Series Book 1)

by Nikki Kwiatkowski

“What do you want,” Lilah huffed.

  “Wow. For finally being asked on a date, someone isn’t in a pleasant mood.”

  The comment only made Lilah even more frustrated. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “Mom seems more excited than you. Apparently, this Campbell guy is going to Brown next year, or so I heard, through eavesdropping on her call.”

  Lilah honestly didn’t know, which only made her question her choices for the evening. Volunteering at the shelter had gone so well. Her day could not have gone more perfectly. Now, getting ready for her first real date, dread was all she felt. She wanted to feel happy and giddy, but instead she felt annoyed. She plopped on her bed and sighed. What was wrong with her?

  Footsteps drew closer and once the corner of the bed sank a bit, Lilah realized Rover had no intention of simply passing by her room.

  “What’s up?”

  “Nothing,” she quickly answered. “I’m just tired.” That was a lie. She was on cloud nine since she left the shelter and was even more eager to talk to someone about it. If anything, she’d rather be going to a movie with Alice and Jolee.

  “Then cancel.”

  “I can’t do that. I’m meeting him in an hour. That’s just rude.”

  Rover shook his head and laughed. “First of all, since when do you care if you’re rude?”

  Lilah shot up from the bed and glared at her brother.

  “Okay, okay. Secondly, why go out with someone who you’re clearly not into?”

  “Simon is great,” Lilah pointed out. Although, as she said that, she realized that she really didn’t know much about him at all, or even what made him great, but that was the whole point of their date. Right? “He’s at the top of our class. His parents are upstanding members of society. I mean, his dad is a lawyer and his mom dresses celebrities; that’s something. Not to mention–”

  Rover flailed his hands for her to stop. “Wow. I can’t believe you right now. That sounds like garbage that mom and dad would say. There’s a word you so deserve to be called right now, but I know you’ll tell mom and then I’ll get grounded from video games, so I won’t say it. I’m just hoping you’re still smart enough to read between the lines, but in case not, it rhymes with witch.”

  He was right. Lilah knew that. Maybe at one time those reasons would have been good enough for her to date someone, but right now, they made her seem exactly like that word that her brother was thinking of. A part of her wondered what other language was in his vocabulary that didn’t need to be there. She’d chalk it up to public school, at least that’s what their dad always said.

  “I guess I just thought, since recently of course, you’d look for other things,” Rover said with a shrug.

  “Like what,” Lilah cried out in disbelief, not knowing where her brother was going with that statement or how he thought he knew what she was looking for.

  “I don’t know. Like…if he has a dog? If he can throw a game winning touchdown? If he makes your face turn as red as a tomato? If he–”

  Lilah threw a decorative floral pillow straight into Rover’s face, silencing his words, but not so much his laughter.

  “Get out.”

  “Fine, fine,” Rover managed through a fit of giggles as he rose from the bed. “Not that I give two shi–” Lilah’s glare caused him to stop and seek different wording. “Not that I care about fashion or your choices, but if you want my advice, don’t wear the red. It makes your skin extra pale,” he concluded with a shrug as he exited her room and lightly pulled the door behind him, not completely closing it.

  Lilah looked at the red dress on her bed. Rover was right. She hated it too. It was some awful designer thing her mother had bought her. It still had the price tag on it. $489. She rolled her eyes. At one point that might have meant something, but now the first thing that came to her mind was how much she could sell it for. Whatever the amount, it would make a great donation to the animal shelter.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Simon glanced around uncomfortably as the waitress sat their drinks down. Within ten minutes of walking in, the place seemed to have gotten much louder than he expected.

  “I’ll be back in a couple minutes to take your order,” the waitress said, not bothering to ask if they were ready. She noticed that the young guy at the table was staring at the menu in contemplation with a disgusted look on his face.

  “So,” Lilah cautiously began, noticing immediately that Simon didn’t appear too pleased with the place. If she was being honest, it was a little out of her comfort zone; perhaps her mind had been elsewhere when she suggested it. She had already noticed several other people from their school enter. “How was volunteering today,” she asked, twirling the straw in her soda and taking a sip.

  “I had a shift with Sophie,” Simon groaned. “She talks a lot. I swear she went on and on about her five-year plan. After that, she began speculating for a ten-year one. I really wished you would have signed up for the hospital.”

  Lilah smiled at the compliment. At least, she thought it was a compliment. She was a little disappointed that Simon didn’t ask about her day, but when he stopped talking, she decided to share anyway. “I honestly was so scared to volunteer at the shelter.”

  “Then why did you?”

  “I just felt like it was something I needed to do. I love animals, and I think the reason I’ve never wanted to go to that place is because I know I’ll feel guilty and sad,” she admitted.

  Simon looked at her like she was talking nonsense. “Seriously,” he laughed. “Why?”

  She hesitated. “Well, I guess I wish I could help them all, and I feel bad that we have such a big house and yard, and we don’t.”

  “Even if they’re trained, they make such a mess. Dogs dig and get all dirty. They always smell. Even if you give them a bath, they still have this funk. Then there are the cats.” He shuddered. “They claw up all your furniture and jump on everything. My aunt has one that gets all over the place in the kitchen. I refuse to eat anything that she bakes for our holiday get-togethers.”

  Lilah swallowed heavily. She was aware that Simon probably wasn’t an animal person, but she had no idea to the degree. If she married him, she’d never have a dog. Okay, so she wasn’t thinking that her first date would end in marriage; however, for some reason, his feelings about animals made anything more than the date at that moment seem unlikely.

  Thankfully, Lilah was saved in the form of the waitress who really needed to be wearing a nametag. “Are you ready to order?”

  “I guess so,” Simon sighed, as though there was something on the menu that he could manage to deal with for just once.

  The waitress turned to Lilah, “What can I–”

  “I’ll have the grilled shrimp salad, with the dressing on the side of course, and a crab cake.”

  The waitress raised her brows as she wrote down his order. She always asked the ladies first, and only rarely had she run into a man that decided his request was more important.

  “And for you,” she began, addressing Lilah once again.

  “I’ll have a double cheeseburger, with…” Lilah paused and contemplated between the greasy goodness of curly or crinkle fries. “An order of curly fries,” she finally decided.

  “Awesome. How do you want your meat cooked?”

  Lilah hadn’t thought about that. Looking to Simon for advice was pointless, and she found that she was gradually wishing that someone else was with her more and more as the evening went on. Sadly, the date had only begun.

  Sensing her lack of knowledge. “Let’s do medium. That way it won’t be too dry,” the waitress said with a wink.

  “Medium means that the meat is still raw,” Simon piped up once the waitress left. “I’d be careful eating that.”

  Lilah could not believe him. Was he always like this? Had she just never noticed what a snob he was?

  Somewhere deep down inside, she blamed Kyler. If she had never spent time with him, never gotten to know him, never kissed him,
she wouldn’t be thinking about how wrong Simon was. She felt bad for even thinking that. Simon had so many qualities that were right, on paper; however, at the end of the day, she really wished that she was at a cold park picnic table instead.

  Chapter 31

  “You do realize that this is borderline stalking,” Miles pointed out as he walked through the parking lot with Kyler. He shot off a group text to Dawson and Gavin to let them know that they were at Flip’s.

  “We come here all the time. I’ve always come here,” Kyler shrugged.

  Miles could sense the tension in his friend and took a seat outside of the restaurant, hoping that Kyler would do the same. All he got was a confused look.

  “They’ve only been in there half an hour. As busy as it is, they probably don’t even have food yet. Sit down,” Miles insisted.

  Kyler sighed but did as was asked.

  “I thought you would have been too tired to go out tonight,” Miles stated bluntly.

  Kyler scoffed. “Why would you think that?”

  “Between classwork, football, and…your job?”

  Kyler froze at the mentioning of the word. Miles tilted the corner of his mouth, knowing that his suspicions were true.

  “My little sister messed up her wrist the other day,” he began with a shrug. “My mom saw you there when they went in to have it checked.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence as Kyler thought of how to best address the truth.

  “It’s cool. I wish you would have at least kept me in the loop,” Miles interjected before any words came from Kyler. He could clearly tell that Kyler didn’t want to talk about it.

  “It’s not like that,” Kyler sighed. His shoulders sank and his hands dangled between his legs. “I’m just trying to help my mom and sister out.”

  “It’s about your dad, isn’t it? It’s why you never talk about him? I noticed how you clam up when people bring him up. I just never wanted to ask too much because…guys and all that feeling crap.”

  Kyler laughed for a brief moment. “Something like that.” He then turned pensive and serious. “He didn’t die some war hero,” he admitted.

  Miles already figured as much. Most people, in time, would have bragged or been proud and honored losing a member in such a heroic way, fighting for and dying for America. Kyler, however, never talked about his father, just that he was in the military and had passed before he and his family moved to Raymere Grove.

  “He really was an awesome dad, but whatever happened over there changed him,” Kyler cautiously began, referring to the Middle East. “Within two years we had financially lost everything, and my mom is still trying to recover, all while trying to provide the best for me and Krista. I didn’t realize things were still pretty bad, and Raymere Grove isn’t exactly the most affordable place to live.”

  Miles shook his head, understanding a lot now. “Maybe not, but it gets you seen by scouts.”

  Kyler gave a sincere laugh this time. “Thank goodness for last year, because this season sucked.”

  Miles began to laugh as well. It was still a sore subject, but they’d have to laugh it off eventually. Apparently today was that day.

  “It’s cool that you’re helping your mom and sister out,” Miles finally said, returning to the initial conversation.

  “Thanks. Can you just maybe not–”

  “No problem,” Miles quickly interrupted. “It’s just between us.” He glanced to Kyler and watched as his eyes lowered to the ground and darted from left to right. With a chuckle, “And Lilah?”

  Kyler groaned, bringing his hand up to rake through his tousled hair. “We happened to have an encounter when she was doing volunteer work.”

  “Wow. You’re sharing all these personal details with your tutor, and now following her on a date,” Miles began to tease.

  “Okay, fine. I like her, a lot,” Kyler finally admitted aloud. He could feel the heat burning through his face and his stomach flipped a couple of times. However, at the moment, he had to remind himself that she was on a date with another guy.

  “Then will you do us all a favor?”

  “What?”

  Miles made his next words quick, as Dawson and Gavin were approaching them from the other end of the parking lot. “Tell her already!”

  Like he hadn’t thought about that. It was one of those things that was easier said than done. He didn’t think his ego could take whatever lashing Lilah could give if what he said wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

  “I mean, seriously,” Miles continued more quietly. “What are you even expecting with whatever this is?”

  Kyler shook his head. “I don’t know. Hoping to see her having a miserable time?”

  “By you not saying anything sooner, you practically let her fall into the arms of someone who’s kind of perfect for her.” Miles gave him a friendly pat, knowing his words caused the tick in Kyler’s jaw.

  Kyler hated that word. More than that, he hated how true it was. Simon was like a male clone of Lilah, or at least the Lilah he knew at first. As time went on, that Lilah he met in the library that first day seemed to change. He only hoped it wasn’t just his imagination.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  As soon as he stepped through the door, Lilah couldn’t help but draw her attention from Simon. She was absolutely livid. Of all the nights, he chose this one to hang out with his buddies.

  Something foreign raced inside her. Did she pick this place hoping to run into Kyler? Hoping to show him that she wasn’t some ditz for him to string along? That there were guys who genuinely wanted to date her and only her?

  She shook her head at the thoughts running through her head. Kyler would never think all those things. He was just some dumb jock who thought he was a gift to the female population. That’s what she continued to tell herself ever since Sarah’s little bathroom rant.

  After noticing a slight change in Lilah, “Is everything okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, of course.” It wasn’t. For some awful reason, she couldn’t control the pounding of her chest when she saw Kyler walk in.

  While Lilah chugged her soda, Simon glanced back to see what had taken her attention away from the conversation, not that she had been the best at conversation that evening.

  “Ah. This is where they all hang out,” he scoffed. Turning to Lilah, “Don’t you tutor them for extracurricular credit?”

  Lilah shook her head and swallowed. “Just Kyler,” she said through clenched teeth. “But that’s over now.” She still couldn’t believe he lied to her.

  Simon laughed. “I bet. I heard their season sucked after the first couple games.”

  Lilah tried changing the subject to anything else. Kyler consumed enough of her thoughts, she didn’t want him consuming her date as well; however, as soon as he walked in, an ominous feeling rose in her.

  She tried not to look anywhere beyond her own table. One part of her was terrified to look up and meet Kyler’s eyes, especially after the way they left things between them. Another part was even more afraid to look up and find him having a wonderful time, completely unaware that she was within a ten-mile radius of him.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Kyler couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked nervous and uncomfortable. Did Simon make her nervous? Was it a good nervous or a bad? If she said yes to a date, it had to be a good nervous.

  She looked beautiful in a bright blue sweater dress, leggings, and dainty boots that didn’t go too far past her calves. However, he also preferred her in jeans and a t-shirt. He honestly didn’t care what she wore. He didn’t know for how long, but lately he had become very much aware that he found her beautiful all the time, period.

  Kyler finally brought his attention back to four sets of eyes staring at him, the waitress waiting as he was the only one who had not ordered.

  “Oh. Sorry. I zoned out for a second.” Miles pretended to choke on his drink and held a smug look on his face. Kyler ignored him and focused on the waitress. “Double cheeseburger, med
ium coke, and curly fries.”

  When the waitress finally left, “Aside from grabbing a bite to eat, what exactly are we doing here,” Gavin asked, nodding his head in Lilah’s direction. Everyone was aware as to the situation.

  Kyler sighed. “I honestly have no idea.”

  Miles chimed in. “He’s too much of a sissy to talk to a girl, so instead he’s being a weirdo. I swear, if something doesn’t come of tonight, I’m telling her for you.”

  “As long as it means he won’t be so grumpy anymore,” Gavin added, talking to Miles like Kyler wasn’t there.

  “I’m not grumpy,” Kyler said quite grumpily.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Lilah welcomed Simon’s idea of playing a game of pool after they had eaten. While her burger was extremely delicious, Simon barely touched a good portion of his food. He didn’t even bother giving it a chance; it’s like he rolled his nose up at it as soon as it came to the table.

  Not only that, but he always came across as such a gentleman; however, when the check came, he asked her if she wanted to split it. Lilah could have found several different ways that he could have hinted about it, but no. His exact words were, “Are we splitting this?” She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to tell him off. He was the one who invited her on this date, and so far, he seemed nothing like the guy she expected.

  While she didn’t want to be rude and end it abruptly, thankfully pool would at least mean that they were occupied with something other than the bland conversation, which, by the way, she found out she had very little in common with him after all.

  Surprisingly pool was one thing they did have in common. While he wasn’t very good, he was definitely more of a challenge than Sean.

  Keeping her attention on the game of pool became difficult as there had to have been every college in the country playing on the numerous screens throughout the place. She looked to the bar area, noticing a lot of older adults now gathering and screaming.

  Simon missed his shot and groaned in frustration. “Could they be any louder?”

  Lilah watched the screen wondering what the commotion was. “The defense had two players called on holding. The other team is going to get a first down they never should have gotten otherwise,” she mumbled to herself.