Page 24 of The Perfect Catch

My mind scrolled through the things I’d wanted to be for past Halloweens. Only a handful of my costumes were actually something I wanted to wear. My mom had gone through a phase where she wanted to dress Zane and me in identical or matching outfits, meaning neither of us got to choose.

“I mean, I wanted to be a unicorn when I was five,” I said, grinning.

Dax grimaced and nodded. He waved his hands. “If that’s what you want to do, then I’m sure we can rig the lights to make it look like that.”

I laughed, slapping the table once. “No, I wouldn’t do that to you. I hadn’t thought of making something fun out of the lights. I’ve always enjoyed art, so maybe something that showed that?”

Dax chuckled, sitting back. He had his head tilted somewhat as he stared at me, that adorable grin on his face. “Okay, I’m liking this idea much better than rainbows and horns, but it’s still kind of broad. What can we do to dress up like art?” He tapped his lips several times, his gaze bouncing around the restaurant while I couldn’t take my eyes from him.

An idea hit me, sending a charge of excitement through my body. I loved that he wanted to make things interesting. “What if we put some lights on a painting pallet? Then we could dress you up as the canvas with lights going around the outside of it to highlight.”

“Please tell me you’re not going to turn me into the Mona Lisa?” He stuck out his lower lip, and I burst out laughing.

Why he wanted to cover up this side of him all the time, I wouldn’t know. The Dax sitting in front of me was more real than any guy I’d ever known, more relatable too. As I got to know him, I wanted to spend more time with him, and my feelings of attraction spiked.

“What if we buck the famous part and do something a little different?” I asked, stirring the remnants of my shake with my straw.

“Wow, Kate Adams wanting to think outside the box on her own dance theme? I take a girl out for a milkshake to break curfew, and she surprises me.” Dax raised his eyebrows like he was a little kid waiting for cake.

Trying to avoid his gaze, I slurped my milkshake through the straw and then gave him a small smile. He finished the last two bites of his brownie sundae and slid the bowl to the middle of the table.

I tried to think of all the options we had for our costumes and how we were going to assemble them before the dance tomorrow. That’s when the phone rang, the tone I’d set for my mother blasting through. I pulled it out of my purse and saw the time was 10:01.

I glanced up at Dax, who’d already pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and dropped it on the table. He reached his hand over and helped me from the seat.

“Let’s go, Cinderella. I’d rather my car not turn into a pumpkin on the drive to your house.”

I smiled wide, surprised by his humor but also trying to ease the knot of tension in my stomach. I was going to be in major trouble, but for some reason, being with Dax lessened the worry quite a bit.

It wasn’t like I’d always been like this, just since my mom married my stepdad; I wanted her to be happy. But that was going to have to change and soon. My sanity depended on it.

Chapter 17

Dax

Iprobably should’ve taken Kate right home after the game. With the way she sat next to me on the way back to her house, stiff and staring out the front window, I hoped she wouldn’t be grounded into next week. My father had only grounded me once, way back when I was maybe twelve, after I hit a ball through one of the neighbors’ trailer windows. From the way Kate’s mom had looked at me earlier that night when I picked her up, like I was prey and she was a large animal, I started to worry for Kate.

She waved goodbye and slipped into the house, the lights all ablaze. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. 10:06 pm. Not bad. I’d driven through a shortcut I knew and sped as fast as I could to get her home. Hopefully her mother would forgive six minutes.

I made my way home and parked the car, turning it off. Sitting in the silence, I pulled out my phone and opened up a new text message.

I hope you’re not in too much trouble.

A few minutes ticked by, and I waited, hoping she’d text me back. I could’ve gone inside, but I knew the sound of the message would probably wake up one of my siblings, even though one of the lights was on through the trailer window.

I’ll survive.

My breath hitched, and I worried that I’d ruined things with her. Since when had I gone from telling myself I couldn’t be with Kate to hoping there would be more time spent together?

My fingers tapped out a few words, but another message came from her.

Thanks for taking me with you tonight. I had a lot of fun. And I owe you for the shake.

I chuckled a moment before the words hit me. Did she mean that because she didn’t want me to get the wrong impression that it was somehow a date? Or because I’d said that to her about buying all of Bree’s dance clothes?

I thought through it a few minutes, trying to figure out what to text her that wouldn’t make things awkward.

You’re fine. I owe you a lot more for all those clothes you bought Bree.

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