Page 101 of Take My Heart
‘And do what?’
‘It’s Saturday night. We’ll go out. You can try line dancing again.’
She laughs. ‘Oh God, I was so bad.’
‘You just need to practice. I suck at dancing, but I figured it out. It just took going there a few times and practicing.’
‘Okay! I’m up to trying it again.’
The old Kate, the one I met a few weeks ago, would never line dance. She wouldn’t do anything that might embarrass her. She worried about what people thought of her and what theymight say. But the Kate I know now doesn’t care. She’s really changed, just like I have.
‘Are we going to dinner first?’ she asks.
‘Yeah, and you get to pick where we go since this is your last Saturday in Haydon Falls.’
Her smile drops to a frown.
‘What’s wrong?’ I go up to her.
‘What you said about this being my last Saturday. It’s sad. I’m not ready to go.’
‘But you have to, right? You have to go back to your job.’
She nods. ‘Yeah.’
The doorbell rings.
‘It’s probably one of my brothers.’ I leave the bedroom and head to the door. ‘Can’t you text first?’ I open the door, but it’s not one of my brothers standing there. It’s Talia, dressed in a short white dress with a leather jacket over it. She’s wearing way too much makeup and her blonde hair is much lighter than I remember, almost white. I don’t find her even a little attractive, but I used to. What’s changed? Is it her or me?
‘Hey, babe.’ Talia reaches up and plants a kiss on me before pushing past me into the house.
‘What are you doing here?’ I shut the door.
‘We’re going to the party.’ She looks at me in my ripped jeans and t-shirt, which are both covered in paint. ‘Why aren’t you dressed?’
Kate appears from the hallway, her eyes on Talia.
‘Kate, this is Talia,’ I say.
Talia comes over to me and puts her arm around mine. ‘I’m Brody’s girlfriend. Who are you?’
‘She’s helping me with the house,’ I say to Talia. ‘And you’re not my girlfriend. I haven’t heard from you in weeks.’
‘Because you kept turning me down when I wanted to go out. I had to make you miss me. Anyway, Julie’s party is at eight so we need to get going.’
‘What are you talking about?’
She shoves me away. ‘Brody, don’t you dare back out on me now! I’m not showing up there without a date.’
‘I never agreed to go to Julie’s party with you.’
‘Yeah, actually you did. It was that night we went to Chad’s place. We were drunk and Chad had to take us home. Then we came back here and—’
‘Yeah, got it,’ I say, not wanting her to say what we did that night. ‘I don’t remember saying I’d go. I was really drunk that night.’
‘You definitely said it, and you’re going, so get ready so we can leave.’
There’s no way in hell I’m giving up a night with Kate to go to a party with Talia. I’m still not convinced I agreed to it. It wouldn’t surprise me if Talia made it up to guilt me into going.
