Wait. Who was that? There was a car in my driveway, but it wasn’t until I pulled in that I recognized it as Joel’s. A smile tugged at my lips as I parked next to him.
“Hope you don’t mind,” he said as I climbed out. “I stopped by the Redmond bakery and picked you up a cream puff. Thought you’d be tired after practice.”
“Practice?” It took a second before I remembered that that was where I told him I’d be tonight. “Right,” I said quickly, closing my car door. “Yes. Practice was brutal.”
He nodded and held out a white paper bag. He looked handsome as usual. His brown hair was expertly tousled. His Pearl Jam T-shirt was fitted, one side of it tucked into his dark jeans.
“Thank you,” I said softly as I took the bag from him. Tired or not, I was happy to see him. He was like a breath of fresh non-cheating air. “Would you like to come inside?”
“Am I allowed?”
My father had been a little chilly toward Joel the other night at dinner. Not that my daddy was rude—he’d never dream of it. But he was just cautious about my new potential boyfriend. I probably shouldn’t have let him in on the fact that Joel was just recently (as in a few weeks ago) in love with Kira. It didn’t lend credibility to our situation.
“Parents are in Portland for a few days,” I said. “You can … watch a movie with me, maybe?”
Nervous prickles of heat rose on my cheeks. Fact was Joel and I still hadn’t kissed. The closest we’d gotten was in the bleachers when he pecked my cheek after homecoming, and that had been awkward. So now every day drew the moment out more, and the tension was becoming unbearable. We should just do it. If he were Aiden, I would just grab him and kiss—I stopped. He wasn’t Aiden. I needed not to think about him.
“Why, Tiny Crimson, are you trying to seduce me?” His mouth twitched with a smile.
I laughed and shook my head, embarrassed at his joke. “No. I just figured a movie with some popcorn would be a nice thank-you for the cream puff.”
“Sure,” he teased. “I know I’m hard to resist. But unfortunately I’ll need to take a rain check. My dad wants to go over my college apps tonight. Fun stuff, you know.”
“I understand.” I moved my foot, crunching some leaves under my sneaker. Joel cleared his throat, and I looked up to meet his eyes.
His smirk straightened just enough for me to take him seriously. Heat rushed over me as he wet his lips. I recognized that sign. Heavens to Betsy! Was he going to kiss me? I was so unprepared!
Joel leaned in, but as he got mere centimeters to my lips, I turned my head so that his mouth pressed against my cheek. He paused there, obviously surprised not to feel the cushion of my lips. I closed my eyes, disappointed that I just totally wussed out, but relieved that I didn’t have to commit to something I wasn’t ready for. Joel was still against my face when I pulled back and tried to smile encouragingly.
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow?” I asked, as if I hadn’t ruined our would-be first kiss.
“Okaaaay …” He looked perplexed. I felt confused. Why didn’t I just kiss him?
“I’m sorry,” I said, dropping my head. “I didn’t mean to—”
Joel reached up to put his hand over my mouth, stopping me from talking. “Don’t explain. I’m pretty sure it’ll only make it worse.” He smiled at me, his slightly crooked tooth poking out and reminding me how much I liked him. “This week I’m taking you out,” he said, still blocking my speech. “So get some rest.” He leaned over to kiss the top of my head and then paused to look at me again. “You know,” he began, “this is nice. We should conduct more conversations this way.”
I laughed and swatted his hand away from my mouth. “Good night, Joel.” He grinned and then got into his car and backed out of my driveway. I waved as he drove down the darkened street and considered my evening.
I’d just spent the last few hours spying on a cheating boyfriend. Then I got home to discover an amazing guy waiting for me. And yet, I had backed away at the last second! It was beyond bizarre. I might have to consult Leona on the matter. Although I could practically hear her answer in my head. It started with a capital A and ended with an n, and went something like, “If you don’t deal with your Aiden drama, you’ll never be happy.”
With a heavy sigh, I pushed her voice away. Right now, I just needed some sleep. The Blaze Harmon mission was draining my energy.
I walked into the kitchen and put the cream-puff bag in the fridge—to be honest, I didn’t much care for them. But I hadn’t wanted to hurt Joel’s feelings. My dad would surely devour it, and then maybe I could use it as a way to get them to like each other. Pastries are generally a good bonding tool.
My house phone rang, and I crossed to pick it up as I kicked off my sneakers. “Hello?”
“Don’t hang up.”
I froze at the sound of Aiden’s voice. He’d been sending me e-mails—nearly every day—and I knew he was in town this weekend. But I’d made sure to avoid anywhere I could bump into him. And now that it was Sunday, I’d expected him to be gone. What was I supposed to say to him? I mean, he slept with Mary Rudick.
Images filled my head. The day I saw her sneak away at the bookstore. The horrifying moment when I saw them kiss through the back window of his car. My eyes immediately watered, and I hung up the phone. My breath caught as I stared at it, half expecting it to ring again. But it didn’t. It didn’t.
From: Tessa Crimson <[email protected]>
To: Joel Fletcher <[email protected]>
Sent: Sun, October 6, 11:45 PM
Subject: I meant to tell you …
I really don’t think Kira is okay with us hanging out. I feel terrible! Am I a bad friend?
Tessa
From: Joel Fletcher <[email protected]>
To: Tessa Crimson <[email protected] >
Sent: Sun, October 6, 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: I meant to tell you …
Are you seriously up stressing about this? I’ve told you, Kira and I have talked. We didn’t break up because of you. Even though I’m completely (and excuse the bad pun) smitten with you, I wouldn’t do something like that to Kira. She knows this.
So can you please let it go? I think maybe you’re reading too much into it.