Page 18 of Give In

Brooks’ smile grew at my nervous babbling. “I knew what you meant.”

Once the hostess led us through the restaurant and we were sitting in a booth, Brooks asked, “Have you been here before?”

Yeah, I come here all the time with my copious amounts of spare cash and time.

I shook my head. “Have you?”

“A few times.” He paused before hurriedly adding, “Not with dates or anything. Usually I’m just having drinks with friends before going to the movies. Not that I drink a lot. I mean, I like to have fun, but—”

“I knew what you meant. Are you nervous, too?”

“Very,” he admitted with that refreshing honesty he had. “I was cool as a cucumber when we were having coffee. But now that it’s a date? Yeah, not so cool.”

“Same. So, since we’re both nervous, we should benotnervous. Right?”

His eyes dropped to my smiling mouth as he murmured, “Right.” Suddenly clearing his throat, his tone sounded overly cheery. “What’re you thinking of getting?”

Transitioning into typical first date conversation, I chose my answers carefully and deflected often.

I told him I worked as a server in a small place—not a total lie since I did deliver drinks sometimes.

He shared that he did odd jobs for extra money, but between his financial aid and the help from his parents, he was able to focus on school.

Forgetting my promise to enjoy the date, my shoulders went tight as I wondered what that would be like.

Don’t letthemdull your sparkle.

“I bet having job variety must be fun,” I said, getting myself on track.

The beer the server had dropped off helped, too.

“And there’s never a shortage, so I can work when I need.”

The server interrupted to take our order. When she left, the conversation stayed light, which let me relax.

Again, the beer helped.

Mostly, though, it was just good to feel normal. Day drinking with a cute boy before going to see a movie.

After we ate, the server brought the check, and I pulled out my wallet to pay half.

Brooks shook his head. “I asked you which means I pay.”

“So, if I ask you, I get to pay?”

“Nope.” His smile turned playful. “But I like that you’re thinking about asking me.”

Like Brooks, I didn’t bother to play it cool. I embraced my free day, ignored everything else, and just grinned as we stood.

I took a step, but was halted with a hand around my wrist. Turning back toward Brooks, my grin faded, and a questioning expression took its place.

His gaze moved from my mouth to meet mine. “I really want to kiss you. Can I?”

Pulling my lip between my teeth, I nodded.

Have to release the lip for him to kiss it, dummy.

Oh. Right.

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