Page 68 of Little Gray Dress

“Jack, I can’t have sex with you on your sister’s single bed.” I scrunch my face up in disgust.

“God, no, I’m glad you feel that way. But that wasn’t what I was going to say.” A nervous laugh escapes his lips. “I asked you to come here so you could meet my family because I wanted to take things to the next step.”

Oh my God. This is it. He’s going to propose in a hot-pink fourteen-year-old girl’s bedroom. Not exactly how I pictured it, but oh well.

“OK,” I say, through the butterflies swirling in my chest.

“We’ve been together now for six months and it’s been the best six months ever.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” He stops and takes a deep breath. “I am falling in love with you, Emi, and from here on I don’t want to see anyone but you. I think you could be the one.”

Has he been seeing other people until now? No, Emi, stop. That’s not what he’s saying. He just said he loves you. Why did I think he was proposing?

“Did you hear me?”

“Yes, yes. Me too.” My heart flutters in my chest. I wish I had more of a way with words that could maybe impress him just a tad more.

“You too?”

“I mean… I think you’re the one too. I fell in love with you before I even officially met you.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, I know this is so romantic but I’m so nervous about being here with your family. I don’t want to ruin this.”

“You’re not going to ruin it.” He pulls me off the bed with him. “Come on, you can meet Hannah then we’ll go relax.”

I follow Jack out to the pool and see a tall blonde wearing a pink tiny bikini, lying next to the pool. She’s perfect: her hair, her skin, her designer swimsuit. She’s completely the opposite of me.

“Hannah… I want you to meet someone.”

We both watch her turn her head in our direction and prop herself up on her elbows, looking me over through her mirrored lenses.

“So, you must be the infamous Emi?” She lifts her sunglasses and lays her magazine on her chair. The way she says it I can already tell she’s not impressed. I’ve been here less than thirty minutes and so far this is the worst trip of my life, even though the man of my dreams just basically told me he’s falling for me.

“I am. It’s nice to meet you too, Hannah.”

“I’m sure it is.” She pats the chair next to her and flashes a million-dollar smile at me. “Come sit, I can’t wait to get to know you.”

I glance at Jack, who looks as nervous as I am about me having a private chat with Hannah. She has a quality about her that screams I’m going to chew you up and spit you out. I’m a little scared, but I followed her command and sit down.

“So…” She starts talking but stops and looks over at Jack who is still standing off to the side of the patio watching us. She lifts her glasses “We’re fine, Jack. Go do whatever it is that you do.” She rolls her eyes, slides her glasses back on and then turns back to me.

I nervously chew on my lip. Hannah is intimidating, and I didn’t expect this. Jack and I haven’t talked much about Hannah other than that he has a younger sister whose dream is to be a southern California socialite. Not only is she gorgeous, she’s also perfect. She doesn’t have a single blemish on her skin. Her makeup is flawless, even in the sun. Her long blonde hair is perfect, even in the wind. She seems practically supernatural.

“So…” She pauses dramatically. “Tell me what you love the most about my brother.”

“He’s…” I pause, not the way she did, but to pick out just one thing that I love about him. Even though it’s only been six months, I’m more in love than I ever thought possible.

“Rich.” She interrupts my train of thought.

“What?”

“He’s rich.” Why do people keep saying this?

“OK.”

---