I opened my mouth to decline then I closed it.
Quickly studying him so I didn’t delay in giving him an answer, I noted yet again he was very attractive. He was taller than me and I was, as usual, in heels. He had a very nice body. And he was not in the least like Boston Stone. Mickey’s smiles were frequent and genuine. His manner easygoing. He had confidence, not arrogance. Further, he had an obvious rapport with Ethan.
And last, he liked me and he did it in a way that felt nice.
“I’d enjoy that, Mickey,” I accepted.
“Excellent,” he said softly and I gave him a small smile. He dug his phone out of his back pocket and, still using his soft voice, requested, “What’s your number, honey?”
Another man who called me honey.
And another time I liked it.
I gave my number to him while he programmed it into his phone.
“I’ll call you later,” he told me, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “When’re you done lookin’ after Ethan?”
“Jake’s collecting him at seven thirty.”
“I’ll call you after that.”
“I’ll look forward to that,” I replied, and I found that I meant it.
He smiled at me again.
I smiled back.
Yes, he was very easy to look at and his smiles were genuine and I liked all that.
Alas, I had cream puffs to make
“I better go,” I said, sounding disappointed because I actually was. “Ethan and I are making cream puffs.”
When I uttered the words “cream puffs,” something else changed on his face and this was not difficult to read.
It also changed the way my legs were able to support me and that was to say, it made them feel shaky mostly because they were trembling in a way that felt too lovely when I was standing on a street in front of a firehouse.
“Save one for me,” he requested, his voice having lowered, and at his tone and the vision of him biting into a cream puff that suddenly filled my head, I forced myself not only to remain standing but also nod.
Then he turned and bellowed, “Eath! You got cream puffs to make!”
Seconds later, Ethan sprinted out of the firehouse. A second after that, Mickey approached me and took the bag from my hand, moved to Ethan’s bags, took one of his and he walked us to my Cayenne.
“Sweet ride, babe,” he stated after he’d stowed the groceries in the back.
“Thanks,” I replied, idiotically feeling pleased he liked it.
Ethan climbed in the front and Mickey walked me to my door, opening it for me and saying before he closed it, “See you Saturday night…and Sunday.”
“Yes, see you then,” I returned.
He gave me another smile and closed the door.
I found my breathing mildly affected as I turned on the car, pulled out of the spot and headed the Cayenne toward home.
“You goin’ to Dad and Mickey’s fights Saturday, Josie?” Ethan asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Awesome,” he decreed. “I usually go but Combat Raptor comes out tomorrow and I’m goin’ over to Josh’s on Saturday, we’re goin’ to the movie then I’m sleepin’ over and I can’t…freaking…wait.”
“Combat Raptor?” I queried.
“Yeah. The…coolest…movie of all time,” he declared.
“And you can make that assessment prior to viewing it?”
“Uh…Josie…it’s Combat Raptor,” he stressed the title to the movie in a way which couldn’t be mistaken. However, I still didn’t understand but I was also not an eight-year-old boy.
“It’s good you have such exciting plans for the weekend,” I told him.
“Yeah. It is. Totally. Josh and me have been waitin’ for this movie for-eh-ver.”
“And now it’s finally here,” I noted.
“Yep,” he agreed.
“Will Amber or Conner be going to your dad’s fight?” I asked.
“Amber, no way. She’s not grounded anymore so she’ll totally be on a date if Noah asks her out or she’ll be doin’ stuff with her friends as well as sulking if he doesn’t. Conner normally always goes but he’s scrapin’ off all his girlfriends so he’ll probably be breaking some chick’s heart Saturday night.”
I looked to Ethan in surprise then back to the road. “Conner’s breaking up with his girlfriends?”
“All but one,” he answered. “Dad laid down the law. Said he’d had his fun and it was time to pick one. I heard Con talkin’ to his bud on the phone. He hasn’t picked one but he already got rid of Shantay. Three more to go then we’ll know who made the cut.”
I heard his words and they weren’t great words as pertains to discussing the hearts of young women but I couldn’t get into that because Ethan said that Jake had “laid down the law.”
“Do you know when your father discussed this with Conner?” I asked quietly.
“No clue. But Shantay bit it over the phone on Sunday.”
And Jake and I had discussed Conner and his girlfriends Saturday night. Which meant Jake had discussed Conner and his girlfriends with Conner very quickly afterward.
I felt something strange, strange and miraculous and beautiful and strong budding inside me. Something I liked in a way I knew I could love. Not even love but adore. Worship.
Need.
“Anyway,” Ethan continued, breaking into my thoughts and, perhaps fortunately, taking my focus off that feeling, “I hope he picks Ellie. She’s not only the prettiest one, she’s the sweetest. She’s all shy and stuff and she never acts like she doesn’t want me around when she’s over like the other ones do. And it’s cool how she’s so pretty and so shy at the same time. No one that pretty should be shy but she is. I like her best.”
Just from his description, I liked her too.
“Well,” I started as I turned off Cross Road to take us toward the cliffs and Lavender House, “I just hope Conner chooses well and is sensitive as he goes about ending things with the others.”
“Conner is totally into his babes. He’ll be cool with them,” Ethan assured me.
That was a relief.
“Good,” I said softly.
“I hope you have a killer after school snack because I’m freaking starved,” Ethan proclaimed and I smiled.
He was frequently starved.
And I had a variety of killer after school snacks.
I also liked having a full refrigerator because I often had company over and people dining at one of my two tables.