“Not me.”
“Why?” My mouth is dry. “Why would you want that? Want me?”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Carter says, “I like you. And the thought of being the first man to touch you, the first man to be inside you, the first man to make you come…” His voice drops to barely a whisper. “Thinking about that makes me harder than you can even imagine.”
My face is in a full blown flush and I don’t know what to do with myself. Half of me wants to run away, and the other half of me wants to pull him into the locker room and let him take me right now. I try to lighten what seems to have gotten so serious. “Buy a girl dinner first. You barely know me.”
“I’d like to,” he says without hesitation. “Buy you dinner and get to know you. I’ll take you out tonight if you’ll let me.”
Butterflies dance in my stomach. I thought that might throw him off—having to work for something he so clearly wants, but he didn’t even flinch. I mean…it’s just dinner, right? People have dinner with professors sometimes, and since he correctly pointed out that he isn’t a professor, I figure it’ll be fine. Maybe. Though I don’t know what’s going to stop us from just doing this when we’re even more alone, tangling with each other until we’re both breathless. Do I want something to stop us?
“Okay, I’ll go,” I say, just as I hear Kara calling me and asking if I’m ready to go.
“Perfect. Meet me at the South Gate at seven.”
I slip out of the alcove and grab my bag right before Kara comes around the corner. My heart pounds in my chest with the sudden surge of adrenaline. That was close. Way too close. What the hell am I doing?
8
Outside the day is warm, but not oppressive, and I can’t help thinking that it will be perfect weather for a date with Carter. A date. This is absolutely insane.
“What did Coach want?” Kara asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Huh?”
She hitches her backpack up higher on her shoulder. “I saw you talking to Coach Carter. Just wondering what he was talking to you about.”
“Oh,” I say, and I stare at her for a second, trying to think of an explanation for why we were speaking. Then I realize that I’ve already been silent for way too long. “He was just complimenting me on my form.”
Kara raises an eyebrow at me. “Really? Seemed like it was more than that.”
“No, that’s it.”
“Okay,” she says, in a tone of voice that tells me she doesn’t believe me at all, but she’s going to let it go for the moment. “We should do something tonight since we skipped out last night. Maybe pizza and binging that show you’ve wanted to start?”
Both of us were exhausted yesterday after try-outs were finished, and we still had homework. We had our celebratory smoothie, but it didn’t really feel like a celebration since we worked the rest of the evening and went straight to bed. I should have known that Kara would want to plan something for tonight, but I already said yes to Carter. Damn.
“I wish I could,” I say. “I…I have plans.”
“Oh. That’s okay, with who?”
There’s really no way for me to say this without sounding like a liar, and if there’s one thing I don’t want to do to Kara, it’s lie. More than I already am. “I have a date.”
Kara’s face lights up. “Really? With who?”
She knows that I haven’t dated many people, and that going out with someone here so quickly is weird. “Just someone,” I try to be coy. It’s not lying.
“Well, don’t forget the pact,” she says, unlocking the door to our dorm. “Definitely don’t have the lobster.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s a dinner date, Kara. He’s not going to throw me on the table and take me in the middle of the restaurant.”
“Well…no.” Her face goes bright red, and I feel a little bad for embarrassing her. Saying things like that always makes her blush. She grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and flops down into one of the chairs. “Are you sure you can’t tell me who it is?” Her smile is conspiratorial.
“Umm…well…” There’s a knot of anxiety in my stomach, and in a second I imagine the worst: that Kara will disown me and stop being my friend because I’m going on a date with our coach. “It’s Coach Carter.”
Water flies across the kitchen as Kara spits out every drop of the sip she just took. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah.” I try not fidget, uncomfortable with the way she’s studying me.
Kara bursts out laughing, “Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why is the coach of the cheerleading team asking out someone on the squad?”
I shrug, ignoring the memories of his lips on mine. “He said he wanted to get to know me.” Not a lie.
“That actually makes me feel a lot better. No way the coach is going to sleep with a student, so I guess you’re in the clear.”
I’m filled with a sudden annoyance at her, at why my status as a virgin is so important to her. But that’s only going to lead to a fight I don’t want to have. I know that she’s just trying to look out for me, even if she’s deeply wrong about his intentions and whether or not he’d sleep with a student.
The rest of the day seems to pass in a blur. I do some homework that’s due tomorrow. I shower. I put on a dress that I really love—it’s a deep blue that makes my skin look great but isn’t too formal. Carter didn’t say where he wanted to take me, and I’m not exactly sure what to wear. This dress can fit in at most places, I think. I add a pair of heels, because Carter is tall and I want to be able to hold my own with him.
The closer it gets to the time I’m supposed to leave, the more nervous butterflies I get in my stomach. After two weeks of doing nothing but thinking about him, I finally get the chance to be with him. Sit with him, talk with him, maybe even touch him. Even though we’re walking a fine line—and we are, in spite of what he thinks—I’m excited. If Carter and I had met under different circumstances, if he’d still been the assistant coach or just someone who lived in town, no one would blink an eye at this date. I just have to hope that no one will blink an eye now.
I put the finishing touches on my make-up and grab my bag, hoping that I can sneak past Kara without her seeing. But of course, she spots me as soon as I step out of our room. “Let me see!” She makes me do a turn. “Very pretty and tasteful,” she adds with a wink.
“Thanks. I’ll see you later?”
“Maybe.” She waves. “I want to get an early run in so I may be asleep when you get back. Have fun!”
“I will.”
I hope I will. I know I will.
9
The South Gate to campus is beautiful. An old brick arch that curves over the road, leading off campus to the older part of the city filled with shops and restaurants. It makes sense to meet him here—there are plenty of places to eat in walking distance and we’ll blend in with the crowd of other couples on dates.
I shake my head. I’ve got to stop thinking of this as some kind of secret mission where if we get caught the world ends. Right now, this is just a date. Nothing more, nothing less. There’s nothing wrong with that.
From the direction I’m walking, I can see Carter before he sees me. The sight freezes me in my tracks, and I suck in a breath. He’s wearing a suit that’s tailored perfectly. No tie, but the crisp white shirt under his jacket has a button open at the top leaving a tempting glimpse of skin. The setting sun is hitting him in such a way, like he’s stepped out of a picture. Perfect, gorgeous, and for the night, mine.
Stepping out onto the path, my movement draws his eyes to me, and I see the same reaction in him. He stills, taking me in, and then there’s that devastating smile. “Wow,” he says as I get close enough to hear. “You look amazing.”
“I could say the same thing to you.”
We stand there for a moment staring at each other awkwardly, and I see Carter move towards me like he’s going to kiss me again. Oh, I want him to. But he pul
ls back as another couple walks past us to the gate. Right. Probably shouldn’t do that here. I’m guessing most people wouldn’t recognize Carter on sight as the cheer coach yet, but there are those that would.
“Shall we?” he gestures towards the gate.
We walk side-by-side, close enough that our arms and hands are brushing, and I get little electric shocks every time our skin makes contact. It takes all my willpower not to just reach out and weave my fingers through his. It wouldn’t be hard. Why is something that should be so simple so complicated?
The walk is silent but not uncomfortably. The chittering of the cicadas fills the air, and I know I was right earlier: it really is the perfect evening to go on a date.