Page 128 of To Love or to Lose
“You’re going to be one hell of a lawyer, Genova.” He sounds genuine as he grabs my hand out of view from everyone else. “And Columbia is lucky to have you.”
“Thank you.” A slow smile creeps onto my face. “Oxford is lucky to have you, Jameson.”
February
Chapter Thirty-Four
111 days until graduation
There are some moments that even me, a certifiable genius, would never come to expect, and it is safe to say that going on a date with Jameson Beaumont is one of them.
“You cannot tell anyone about this,” I grit through my teeth as I point a finger at Gwen.
We’re standing by the front door, waiting for Jameson’s Uber to get here. Occasionally, Gwen or I will peek out of the windows before quickly retreating.
Our mom has even caught glimpses of the spectacle and is waiting in the kitchen for me to leave.
“Why not?” She asks. “It’s not like any of your friends would care. They’d probably love this.”
“That doesn’t matter,” I respond as I look through my bag—the Chanel one Logan got me for my birthday last year—making sure that I have everything. “The only reason you found out was because you saw me standing here, and I couldn’t come up with a lie quick enough.”A weak moment in the Genevieve Alderidge secret dating handbook.
“And because your bedroom walls are not thick enough for me not to hear the two of you talking on the phone every night,” she points out mischievously. “By the way, if you ever think of doinganything elsein your bedroom with him, please take the thin walls into consideration.”
I grimace. “Sure, I’ll keep that in mind, Gwen.”
“Oh! Oh!” She points toward the floors of the entryway that are being illuminated by headlights through the window. “He’s here!”
Every muscle in my body goes rigid, and the only feeling coursing through my body is a slight twinge of worry.
“I have nothing to worry about, right?” I look toward my mom, who has just reemerged from the kitchen.
I’m not sure why I even ask her. She barely knows Jameson.
She walks over and begins quickly smoothing her hands over my hair as she says, “No, of course not. He already likes you, Genny.”
I let out a calming sigh as I watch the shadow of Jameson’s frame approach the door. “You’re right.”
“Okay, let’s go to the kitchen,” Mom says, leaving the entryway with Gwen.
I mouth a quick‘thank you’right as the doorbell rings through the house. I wait a beat before opening the door.
“Well, don’t you look dapper.” I grin as I step onto the porch. Jameson’s wearing black slacks and a white button down, with the top few buttons undone and the sleeves rolled to his elbows.
“As do you, love.” He hands me the bouquet of tulips he was holding, which I hold up against my chest as we walk back down the driveway toward the Uber.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I pry as Jameson opens the car door.
“We may need to update your brain’s definition of the word surprise,” he says simply before shutting my door and walking to the other side of the car.
“Right, I might need a factory reset,” I joke.
We’re sitting in the backseat, me more toward the middle so our thighs are touching. Jameson has my hand on his lap almost the entire ride, toying with my fingers.
While I’d never openly admit it, the idea of a boyfriend has always scared me. I grew up with parents who were never around for long periods of time and put me on the backburner, which caused me to spend a lot of my childhood worried that I drove people away.
The theory was proven over and over again; every boy who ever saw me as anything more than an uptight authoritarian usually went running for the hills within a few weeks of talking.
Then I lost my virginity, thinking I was giving it to a boy who was different, one who cared. He left just like everyone else, but not without inflicting a series of blows on his way out.
