Page 67 of Little Gray Dress

“Really? Cause this is important.”

“I know.” He nods his head, agreeing with me.

“I mean like… this is a we’re-in-a-serious-relationship kind of important.”

“I know.” He says again, with only a smile.

How is he not worried about this? We’ve never even talked about how serious we are or where the relationship is going. .

“So, what you’re saying is, that we’ve reached that point, the serious relationship point, even though we’ve never… you know?”

I watch him laugh before glancing around at the people walking past us. “Yes, I’m ready to hit that serious relationship mark. I actually wanted to… uh… talk to you about something this weekend.” He nervously runs his hand through his hair.

Oh my God, he’s going to propose. This is way too soon; we haven’t even slept together yet. Please don’t hyperventilate Ems, this is not the time or the place.

“Talk about something?” When it comes out all squeaky I know I’m not playing the cool card I’d intended to.

“It’s nothing bad. I promise.” He takes my hand in his. “Ready?”

No.

“Sure.”

I’m anything but ready, but I’m not telling him no.

The house is nothing short of spectacular. Even Barbie couldn’t compete. It’s a modern-style house sitting on a rock bluff overlooking the ocean. The deck surrounds an infinity pool and there’s a path from the back patio all the way to the beach.

“Hello, Jack, and you must be Emi?” We’re greeted by an older woman with dark hair pulled up into a perfect bun at the back of her head. Her face is pulled unnaturally tight, and made up like she just walked off Broadway. “Isn’t she just darling?” she asks Jack, as if I’m not standing right in front of her. “I’m Jack’s mother Amelia, and this…” She motions towards the next room at a man who’s sitting so still on the couch I didn’t even notice him. “This is Robert, Jack’s father.”

Robert glances in my direction with nothing more than a nod before going back to the paper sitting on the table in front of him. “It’s nice to meet you both.”

“How nice that you could join us. I’m sure Jack has spoken to you about the sleeping arrangements?”

“Sleeping arrangements?”

“Mom, we just walked in.”

“You will be sharing a room with Hannah, Jack’s sister. She’s out by the pool.”

Why the hell did I go to the trouble to buy lingerie in the preparation for our big night if I won’t even be sharing a room with Jack?

“You can bring your bag up. Jack will show you the way.”

I follow Jack up the stairs and into a room so pink that I feel like I just walked into a bottle of Pepto. “How old is Hannah?”

“Too old for pink.” He laughs. “She doesn’t come out here often so the room hasn’t been updated since she was about fourteen.” He laughs as he looks around the room. “Listen, I normally sleep out in the pool house so…” He glances towards the door. “I don’t expect you to stay in here. My parents never go out there so they’ll never know you’re there.”

“What about your sister?”

“She’s cool. She’ll cover.”

“What if she doesn’t like me?” I ask, worried his whole family will think I’m a complete whore if they find out I’m sneaking into Jack’s room at night.

“She doesn’t like anyone. But I’ll make sure she does this.”

“Oh.” I feel like I’m sixteen years old again and quietly creeping out of my house to meet a boy.

“I wasn’t going to say this right now, but I know this isn’t going exactly how you expected, so now is as good a time as any.” He sits on one of the pink twin beds and pulls me down with him.

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