Page 5 of Tequila & Lace
“I’m Tony, sweetheart.”
Chapter Two
Paul
Two years prior…
The bell rang, so I hurried to my locker to grab my history book for fourth period. When I opened it, a familiar piece of paper was sticking out of the top of the book and I smiled. Vanessa knew my schedule inside out. I had just kissed her during out fifteen minute break before third period, but it didn’t matter; we’d sent each other notes between periods every school day since we started dating a year and half ago.
I stuffed the note in my pocket and the book in my backpack and then hurried to my next class before I was late. I made it to class before the bell and then pulled the folded note from my pocket. It was a note that we’d been writing back and forth on the same piece of binder paper.
“You.
Me.
Lunch.”
The smile that was plastered across my face wouldn’t have budged even if you’d punched me as hard as you could square in the jaw. I didn’t know what she meant, but whatever it was, I liked the “you and me” part. I didn’t even care if I didn’t eat. I’d scarf down my food in fifth period if I had to.
After class, I went back to my locker to find Vanessa leaning against it. She was talking to people as they passed and when she saw me approach, she grabbed my hand and tugged me behind her.
“Wait, sunshine. I need to put my book in my locker.”
She sighed. “Hurry and grab your econ book too.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “We won’t be coming back before fifth period?”
“Nope.” She smiled and shook her head.
I eyed her curiously. “You have me intrigued.”
She lifted up on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear, “And you have me horny.”
I was tearing my backpack opened so fast I thought for sure the zipper would break, but it didn’t. I threw my history book in my locker, switched it out with my econ book, and slammed the metal door shut with enough force to cause every girl within a twenty foot radius to jump and the dudes to turn and look at us. From an outsider’s perspective, you might think we were fighting, I was only excited about getting a nooner and tempted to shout the news down the hall.
Vanessa giggled as I grabbed her hand and led her to my car so I could drive us to a nearby park forlunch.
Game day.
One of my favorite days.
I loved the rush I got from the energy of the crowd as I drove the football into the end zone. We all had our passions and football was mine. I practiced every day and I stayed focused because I had my future all mapped out—my future with Vanessa.
We sat on the grass under a tree with the rest of our group of friends during lunch. Today there would be no nooner and I couldn’t skip eating because I had to make sure I was fueled up and ready for tonight.
She sat between my legs, leaning against my chest and wearing my teal and black Letterman jacket to stay warm. “Tomorrow after practice do you want to see a movie?” she asked, looking up at me.
I tilted my head down a little and kissed her forehead. “Yeah, sunshine, whatever you want to do.”
“What if we go check out some of the apartments next to UCLA and see what they’re like?”
“Oh, so now you want to live with me?” I teased. After we graduated, I was going to go to the University of California Los Angeles and Vanessa would get into modeling. She’d already modeled for a few catalogs and had been featured in an orange juice commercial when she was younger, but she wanted to be the next Cindy Crawford and I knew she could be.
She sat up, then turned around on her knees and grabbed my cheeks with both her hands playfully. Our mouths were inches apart as she looked directly into my eyes. “Wouldn’t it be better if we lived together, rather than you being tired all the time in class?”
I cracked a smile. “And why would I be tired all the time?”
“Oh my God, if you two don’t go get a room—”
