Page 96 of The Pinkie Pact

His breath caught, and he didn't say anything for a long moment while he stared at me. Clearing his throat, he finally spoke, "I—I was going to take you out to dinner, but can we, um, just get something delivered later?"

"Sounds good to me."

He looked relieved. "Thank God. I need to get home as soon as possible."

Laughing, I took pity on him and grabbed his hand. "Let's go, baby."

"I'm, uh, parked over there." He pointed to the other side of the block.

Our fingers laced together, we walked to his car quickly, dodging people on the crowded sidewalks filled with students and business people. I felt my phone buzz as Kieran opened the door for me. He seemed kind of in a hurry, making me smile to myself when he rushed around to his seat and jumped in.

Pulling out my phone, I saw it was from Kara. "Hey, just talked to my mom," she wrote. "They want us all to come to dinner at their condo soon."

Whoa. I thought back to when I'd first met the senator and how she'd mentioned something about having me over for a meal. She was true to her word and actually remembered.

"Everything okay?" Kieran asked as he pulled away from the curb.

"Yeah. Just Kara says your mom wants to have me over for dinner."

"Great. Maybe we can tell them about us."

Nerves exploded from my stomach at the thought... for several reasons, I realized. One, I was desperate to make a good impression because I really wanted the senator to like me. And two, I dreaded interacting with Mr. Emerson, but there was no way I could tell either Kieran or Kara that. So chewing my lip, I decided to keep it to myself.

At a stoplight, Kieran glanced at me. "I mean, if you want to tell them then too?"

I nodded quickly. "Sure, sure. We can do that."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You don't sound so sure."

What could I say? Maybe I could tell him part of the truth. "I'm just nervous. That's all. It's scary to meet the parents, you know?"

With a smile, he reached over to put a warm hand on my knee. "I know. But they've met you several times before, and you already made a great first impression. And the biggest thing is they know how much you've helped Kara."

God, he was so sweet. "Thank you. But..."

The light changed and he took off. "But what?" he asked.

"But they know me as Kara's roommate, and it's a whole other thing to know me as Kieran's girlfriend."

"Right. I get that. But I can guarantee you they'll be thrilled."

"How on earth can you know that?" I asked, still skeptical.

"I just know. I know them. I know you."

I wasn't sure how that meant anything, but it was super kind of him to try to reassure me anyway. My phone buzzed again, and I could practically feel Kara's impatience.

"She wants to know when," I said after reading her text.

"I'm pretty much free any night," Kieran said. "My only plans are you."

Laughing, I answered, "Me, huh? Well, same here."

Kara and I went back and forth a few times and ended up settling on Sunday night. It was so soon, but I tried not to think about it. I'd deal with it when it came closer. For now, I wanted to focus on Kieran and the evening ahead of us.

"Please, babe," I said, "tell me you have more than one condom."

Kieran burst out in laughter. "I have a whole drawer full."

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