Back To You (22 page)

Eric
quirked an eyebrow.
“How did he find out?”

“Olivia told Matt
and Matt told Spencer.”

Eric started to
reply, but was cut off when my dad came slowly around the corner. “Is this what
you two do all day?”

We froze, guilty
expressions on our faces.

“It sounds like an
episode of
The Young and the Restless
up
here!” He scolded. I could see the laughter in his eyes though, so I knew that
he wasn’t truly mad at us. “Get back to work, Eric.”

Eric nodded at my
dad and shot me a comically guilty grimace before quickly walking down the
hall.

“So,” Dad said,
approaching my ledge, “you and Spencer?”

I smiled. “Yeah.”

Without a word,
Dad shook his head with a strange smile. “I’ll be damned.”

“What?” I asked.

“His mother
predicted that, you know.”

“She did?”

“Yeah, just before
she died. She told Mike that you two were meant for each other. Your mother and
I always wondered if she was right.”

I couldn’t help
the goose bumps that rose up on my arms.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Spencer

Letting myself
into my dad’s house, I took a huge whiff of the strong scent of coffee coming
from the kitchen. I made my way in there first to grab a cup, and then set off
to find my dad. It was weird living in the barracks right down the street from
my own house. I had thought that maybe I would feel more grown up after I was
out of my dad’s house, but living in the barracks was like living in a frat
house with
camo
instead of Greek lettering. It was
kind of ridiculous. One major perk to being married was having your own place
out in town. I jokingly cursed my best friend and his townhouse every time a
bunch of idiots are playing war with broomsticks in the hallways of the
barracks.

I stood in the
doorway of my dad’s study. He was sitting at the computer with his back to me,
playing solitaire. He’d been retired from the Marine Corps for a couple of
years now, and apparently this was how he spent his Saturday mornings. I
cleared my throat. He turned around and actually had a bit of a smile for me.

“Hey kid.”

I waved a hand at
him and then stuck in my pocket. “Hey.”

“You’re up early.”

With a frown, I
studied my watch. “It’s 9:15.”

“That it is. But
pre-Marine Corps you wouldn’t have shown your face until noon on Saturday.”

I chuckled. He had
a point. But after getting up at the crack of dawn for the majority of my time
in the Corps, I couldn’t imagine sleeping until noon. I guessed my Friday night
partying habits had changed a bit due to recent events, too. That probably had
something to do with why it was so easy to get up early even on the weekends.

“Are you busy
today?” I shuffled my feet. After our last conversation I had decided to make
an effort to get to know my dad a bit better. I took it pretty hard when I found
out just how wrong I was about my family. Spending time with him now that I
knew everything seemed like a good way to repair some of the damage to our
relationship that I had caused.

He shook his head.
“No plans.”

“Well,” I
stammered, “since my unit is a training unit, we won’t be deploying. So, since
I’ll be in San Diego for the next few years, I was thinking about getting a
truck.”

“Okay.”

I shuffled my feet
again. “Do you want to come with me? And maybe co-sign for me, too?”

“I’d be glad to,
son.” I didn’t miss the happiness that shown in his eyes when I asked, and it
made my stomach tighten. I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed the
father/son thing. From the looks of it, he had been missing it too. I wondered
if my mom could see me trying to make an effort. All of this was just as much
for her benefit as his or mine. If she could see me, I hoped that she would be
proud. I hoped that it would make up for the way I so harshly judged her
without even knowing how she felt. In fact, knowing what I know now, I was
pretty embarrassed about the decisions I’d made in her name.

I let out a
breath. “Thanks, Dad.”

When we got to the
car dealership, the words of my recruiter when he first dropped me off came
back to me about how I shouldn’t get this big and flashy new truck right away.
That wasn’t what I wanted anyway. I was just looking for a cool, old truck.

My dad was awesome
about negotiating the price down on a black 1994 Chevrolet Silverado. It was
lifted and had tinted windows. I wasn’t looking for anything showy, so the
truck was perfect. To my shock and excitement, my dad even gave me a hefty down
payment. He said it was a belated graduation present. I couldn’t be more
grateful, since it wasn’t just about the money. It was the thought behind it.
We calculated that it would take me about a year to pay the rest of it off with
decently low payments, so by the time we were leaving the car lot I was
grinning from ear to ear.

When I pulled up
to Mills’ house, I honked the horn a few times. They came outside and I jumped
down from the cab of the truck. “Nice, huh?”

Mills hopped into
the driver’s seat and looked around. “Very nice. You’re such an asshole.”

Olivia laughed.
“Congrats, Spencer. Matt’s just pissed that I won’t let him get a truck because
he’s going to be gone so much this year.”

“Yeah,” Mills
confirmed as he played with the radio. “She’s making me drive her car or get
rides from her instead of getting my own. It sucks.”

I put my arm
companionably around Olivia’s shoulders. “Sorry, bro. Your woman has a point. I
wouldn’t have gotten this truck if I wasn’t in a training squadron.”

“Whatever. I’ll
just borrow it every now and then.”

I went over to the
open door and pretended to pull him down from the seat. “The Hell you will!”

He glared at me.
“You want to crash in my guest room whenever you want? Then you’ll let me use
your truck.”

“That’s low.”

“Okay, guys. Take
it easy,” Olivia joked. “Spence, we were just putting together the house a bit.
Can you help Matt put the TV up on the wall? He doesn’t trust me to lift it.”

I nodded. “Smart
man. Yeah, I’ll help. I need your advice on my plans for Ellie tonight anyway.”

Olivia let out a
girly squeal and clapped her hands. “I’m so glad that you guys are actually
going out! We’re going to get our nails done later so she’ll be all done up.”

“Ah, shit. I
probably shouldn’t talk you about it then. I know how you girls are when you
get your nails done. You get all gossipy. You’re just going to tell her
everything we talk about.”

Olivia huffed
indignantly but Mills hopped down from the truck and came to her rescue.
“Apparently, Olivia is more of a steel trap than we would have thought. Think
about how long it took for us to find out about Ellie and Eric breaking up.”

“Good point,” I
allowed. “Thanks again for that, by the way.”

“No comment.”
Olivia turned and headed toward the house, so I locked the truck and followed
her and Mills up the drive.

“What do you have
planned?” Olivia asked as she plopped down on the couch.

Mills and I
started to hang the TV on the wall as I answered. “Well, I’m going to pick her
up in my awesome new truck, and then we’re going to this hole-in-the-wall pizza
place that I heard about downtown.”

Olivia frowned.
“Seriously?”

I grunted under
the weight of the large flat screen. “What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t know, I
mean, you guys are finally going on an actual date and you picked a place that
you’re describing as ‘hole-in-the-wall?’ I just figured you’d take her
somewhere a little bit… nicer.”

“Look, I’m not
going to screw this up by being someone that I’m not. This is our kind of
place. I need to remind her of how great it was between us before it got so
complicated. This is the perfect place for that.”

“Just saying, The
Melting Pot wouldn’t be a bad choice either.”

We got the TV
securely fastened to the mount on the wall, and I faced Olivia. “This isn’t my
first rodeo. Trust me.”

“Fine. But where
are you going after dinner? And please don’t say a movie. That’d be super
lame.”

Mills rolled his
eyes. “Jesus, Olivia. Take it easy.”

“No, she’s right
about the movie.” I laughed and patted my friend on the back. “That would be
super lame. I guess you better remember that.”

Olivia waved her
hand with a smile. “No, he doesn’t have to remember that. We’re past that
point. I love going to movies with him. You and Ellie just have much too much
to talk about to waste time in a movie.”

“Girls are so
complicated.” Mills said. He moved into the dining room and began screwing the
legs of their dining room table on, so I followed him in there to help.

Olivia rose from
the couch and sat cross-legged in one of the dining room chairs. “Well, if not
a movie, where are you going after dinner?”

I took the
screwdriver from Mills’ toolbox and got to work. “I’m going to pick up some
firewood and put it in the back of the truck, and then after dinner I’m going
to take her to Fiesta Island.”

Olivia squealed
again and Mills shook his head with a laugh. “That is so romantic!”

“It’s a good thing
you bought the extended cab truck. It’d be pretty pointless if you didn’t have
a back seat.”

I shrugged.
“There’s always the truck bed.”

“Okay, stop right
there!” Olivia chuckled. “Have your guy talk when I leave! Besides, you’re not
actually considering doing it with Ellie for the first time in the back of your
truck.
”

Mills and I looked
at each other with matching expressions of confusion, and then looked at
Olivia. “Why wouldn’t I?”

She made an
exasperated noise and covered her face with her hands. “Ugh.”

I laughed.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ellie wanted to wait a while anyway. It’s
been kind of rocky so far, I don’t want to rush things if she’s not ready.”

Olivia hopped down
from the chair with a strange expression. “Well, that’s my cue to leave. Have
fun tonight.”

She started to
walk away, but Mills called out to her. “Wait!”

She turned, an
innocent expression on her face. “Yes, dear?”

“I know that face!
She’s hiding something!”

I looked between
Mills and his wife, waiting.

“Spill it!” He
ordered, pointing a finger at Olivia.

“All I’m saying
is, if things start heading in that direction, you have my full permission to
use the guest room instead of the back of your damn truck. I wouldn’t be a good
friend to Ellie if I didn’t offer.”

My mouth dropped
open as she turned on her heel and left the room. I had been pretty calm and
collected about this date so far, since I was under the impression that I
probably wouldn’t get laid. Now, as I swallowed the lump in my throat, I
realized that for the first time in my life I was nervous for a date. Even
weirder, I was nervous for what might
happen
after
the date.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

Ellie

I heard three
short beeps from outside, so I ran down the stairs and peered out the front
window. A shiny black truck was parked at the curb, not quite new, but not beat
up either. Spencer hopped down from the driver’s side and rounded the back of
the truck. He looked handsome in jeans and a flannel button up with the sleeves
rolled up to his elbows. I looked down at my short, black dress and heels.
Something told me I wasn’t exactly dressed for the same kind of date that he
was.

I opened the front
door and he grinned as he lowered the hand that was about to knock. “Hi.”

I smiled back at
him and held the door open wider. “Come on in.”

“Thanks.” He
scanned me from head to toe, and I could feel myself blush under his gaze. “I
hate to break it to you, E, but I think you might need to change.”

“I thought you
might say that.”

“You look
gorgeous, though,” he covered quickly, extending his palms out to me. “It’s
just that I don’t think you’ll be very comfortable later.”

Shaking my head, I
started to head up the stairs to change. He grabbed my arm and yanked me to
him, pressing his lips to mine. I leaned into him, relishing in the feel of his
hands on my back and in my hair. I knew I’d worn it down for a reason. Finally,
he drew away and touched his forehead to mine.

“Sorry, I just had
to do that. You really do look amazing.”

I swallowed and
managed a small smile. “Thanks. What do you suggest I wear? It’s kind of hard
to pick out an outfit when you don’t even know the plan, you know.”

He released his
hold on me and pursed his lips. “This is the kind of date for jeans and
flip-flops.”

Curious, I cocked
my head. “Alright then. Be right back.”

Back in my room, I
grabbed my favorite jeans out of my drawer and wriggled into them. I pulled on
a black tank top and slipped into my most comfortable black flip-flops.
Couldn’t get more basic than this. I wondered what had planned for us. It was
fitting that we’d be wearing such comfortable clothes on our first official
date though. There was no one on Earth that I was more comfortable with than
Spencer. Even after everything that had happened recently, he was still my
Spencer.

I studied myself
in the long mirror behind my door and sighed. Olivia had been pretty insistent
that we should just hurry up and
do
it already. She
thought the sexual tension between Spencer and me was getting to an almost
comical level. In my opinion, there was nothing funny about the way Spencer
affected me. The smell of his skin, the taste of his lips, the way his hands
had a way of always being in the right place at the right time. I shivered. If
we were actually going to hook up tonight, I needed to calm down. There was
nothing sexy about how jittery I was feeling.

Without allowing
another mental tangent to distract me, I shook it off and went back downstairs.
Spencer was standing with one foot on the bottom step and his hand on the rail.
I headed down and stopped when I was standing on the last step, inches from
him. The vibes between us were electric. How had we managed to stay platonic
friends for as long as we had? We stood there for a moment, just looking at
each other, until I heard my mom clear her throat from behind him.

Spencer turned and
faced my mom, hands in his pockets. “Hi, Carol. How are you?”

My mom narrowed
her eyes at him, but not without warmness. “I’m well, honey. It’s good to see
you back in San Diego.”

“Thank you, I’m
glad to be back.” He smiled easily at her, and then at me.

“Mom, we’re
actually going out. I might spend the night at Olivia’s later, so I’ll text you
if I’m not coming home.” I didn’t miss the sudden raise of Spencer’s eyebrows
when I told my mother that I might be out all night.

My mom nodded.
“Okay.
Be safe
.”

Her last two words
made me cringe inwardly as I grabbed Spencer’s hand and headed out the door. I
really hoped that the double meaning that I’d heard wasn’t intentional on her
part. Judging my the fact that Spencer silently followed me out of the house
instead of attempting to say goodbye to my mom, led me to think that he’d heard
the significance of what’d she’d said, too.

Spencer pulled
himself together and opened the truck door for me, but his smile was lopsided.
“Spending the night out, are you?”

I grabbed the
handle on the doorframe and hoisted myself into the truck. Feeling a sudden
burst of confidence, I winked. “That depends on if you play your cards right.”

He shut the door
and snickered, but I could tell that he was just as affected by me as I was by
him.

***

When Spencer found
a parking spot in the popular
Gaslamp
District of San
Diego, I had a moment of panic about my outfit. The majority of the shops and
restaurants in the area were upscale, so I wondered if he might have set me up
to be underdressed. I decided to keep it to myself, though. No sense in
pestering him about where we were going. When Spencer got it in his head to
plan out a date and surprise a girl, he was a steel trap until all phases were
executed. It was weird to think about that now. I was no longer his confidant
about all things relating to the girls he was seeing. I was one of those girls.
I peered over at him as he walked next to me along the bustling sidewalk. Did
he think of me as just another one of the girls he’d dated? I hoped not.

After a few
blocks, we stopped in front of what appeared to be Spencer’s choice of
restaurant. The bright fluorescent lights of the tiny pizza shop spilled out
onto the sidewalk from the wide windows. The interior was relatively busy for
such a small establishment. I grinned up at Spencer, meeting his searching
gaze. He was seeking my approval. It was almost as if his restaurant selection
had answered my earlier question about whether or not I was just another girl
to him. I wasn’t. This date was planned especially for me, as he wouldn’t take
just anyone to a place like this. This was
our
kind of place.

We went inside and
approached the counter. An older Italian woman appeared from the back and
beamed at us. “What’ll it
be
kids?”

I didn’t bother
looking at the menu, as I knew Spencer would know my order. He asked the woman
for two slices of combination pizza for himself and one slice of pepperoni for
me. My favorite part about these authentic New York pizza places was that the
slices were huge and thin, just how I liked it. He also ordered two drinks, both
of which would be filled with an ice cold Coca-Cola.

We took our pizza
and drinks to the bar seating along the windows. We were facing a busy section
of the
Gaslamp
District, so we could “people watch.”
That was another one of our favorite things to do. The date couldn’t have been
more perfect so far.

For the rest of
the meal, the conversation was light and flowed easily. It was almost as if
nothing had changed between us and we were still the same friends we’d always
been. Except for those brief moments when he would stop me mid-sentence with a
quick kiss. Not to mention the fact that once in a while our legs would brush
under the table and it felt like a shock ran through me.

As we headed back
to the truck, we strolled along the city streets hand-in-hand. We passed a lot
of people that were heading to the various bars and clubs in the area, and even
ran into a group of girls who apparently knew Spencer. Thankfully, they didn’t
say anything to him and he didn’t acknowledge them, but it was still pretty obvious
to me. How uncomfortable was I with the fact that he had slept around so much?
I knew from just being his friend that he’d always used a condom, so I wasn’t
worried about anything like that. But running into girls that he knew on an
intimate level was a pretty common occurrence.

“You seem pretty
deep in thought.” He squeezed my hand as he said the words, concern in his
voice. “Are you having a good time?”

I nodded swiftly.
“Yes! Definitely. This has been such a great date. Thank you.”

“It’s not over yet.
I have one more item on the to-do list.”

We had reached the
truck by then, and he gestured to the logs of firewood in the back of the
truck. Recognizing that they were there because we were going to Fiesta Island,
I squealed and clapped my hands.

Spencer rolled his
eyes at me and opened the truck door, offering me a hand up. “Girls.”

I tilted my head
at him. “What do you mean,
‘girls’?”

“When I told
Olivia what I had planned for tonight she had almost the exact same reaction. I
just thought it was funny.”

“Well,” I said,
smiling down at him from my seat, “that’s what you get for picking such a
romantic date spot.”

“No pressure or
anything.” He closed the door with a laugh and headed to his side of the cab.

The ride was brief
from downtown. We pulled onto the narrow road that wrapped around the island
and I stared out at the water to my right. Fiesta Island was small and only
consisted of a dog park, a running trail, and cement fire pits along the beach.
We’d come here every summer for the past five years or so, bringing a ton of
friends, good music, and food for barbeques. This would be the first time I’d
ever been here with just Spencer.

We pulled up to a
pit and he backed the truck up until the bed was in a good spot to sit on in
front of the fire. I kicked off my flip-flops and jumped onto the beach below.
Enjoying the feel of the sand between my toes, I came around the back, watching
as Spencer pulled logs out of the truck and tossed them into the pit. It would
be a few minutes until the fire was lit, so I figured we needed to get the
music started. I climbed back into the truck and found the country station
among his presets.

“Hey,” he stood at
my door holding some logs for the fire, “there’s a cooler in the back seat with
some sodas and stuff if you want anything.”

“Wow, you were
prepared.”

He winked. “Have I
ever come out here unprepared?”

I laughed and
reached into the cooler as he went back to work on the fire. He had a point, in
all the years we’d been coming out to the pits he’d always thought to bring
anything you’d need. Why would now be any different?

I could tell by
the amber glow illuminating the inside of the truck that the fire was starting
to get higher, so I got out and joined him on the beach. He was poking the fire
with a stick, trying to taunt the flames. I watched as the firelight danced
across his features. He was gorgeous. I felt like I was constantly berating
myself for never having seen what I was seeing now, but everything happened for
a reason. Maybe we weren’t supposed to get together sooner. But as I watched
him I knew that it didn’t matter how long it took us to get to this point, I
was just glad that we had.

“Perfect,” he
said, satisfied with the strength of the fire. Brushing his hands on his jeans,
he walked over to the back of the truck and dropped down the tailgate. In one
swift movement, he lifted me by the waist and placed me on it. With his height
and the slope of the beach, it put us face to face. He didn’t waste any time in
bringing his lips to mine, and I responded with just as much urgency.

He broke away when
we were both panting and jumped onto the tailgate next to me. I put my head on
his shoulder and snuggled closer when his arm came around my shoulders. We sat
like that in silence for a few moments, just staring out at the ocean or fire.
Again, I felt so comfortable with him that I felt like I could stay in that
spot forever.

“Best date ever?”
He asked.

I nodded.

“That’s because
I’m so amazing.”

“You are amazing,”
I confirmed, meaning it. “I can’t say I’m surprised by any of this, since you
practically wrote the book on fitting a date to the specific girl.”

He pulled back to
look down at me. “Hey, you know it’s different with you, E.”

I let his words
hang in the air. It was exactly what I’d wanted him to confirm for me, but now
that he’d said it I realized that I already knew it. When I really thought
about how much I knew Spencer, there was no denying that he was different with
me. If I’d seen him look at any girl the way he was looking at me now, I’d have
accused him of the impossible. I’d have thought he was in love.

“I know. But it’s
hard to shift gears to being your girlfriend when I’ve been the friend you’ve
always talked about your dates with.”

“So, you’re my
girlfriend now? A bit presumptuous don’t you think?”

I elbowed him in
gut.

“
Ow
! I was kidding! Of course you’re my girlfriend.”

“I guess I could
have let you ask me.”

He frowned. “Isn’t
that a little cheesy?”

“Well, it might
have been fine to just let things progress without labeling them… but we kind
of already tried that and apparently you didn’t get the memo on the whole
‘exclusivity’ thing. So maybe we should take the time for details.”

He whistled.
“Burn.”

“Too soon?”

“Just a bit.”

We both laughed
quietly, then fell into silence again.

“Ellie,” he started,
his tone light, “will you be my girlfriend?”

I grinned. “No.”

“Jesus, woman!” He
threw his hands up. “I just can’t win.”

Giggling, I pulled
him closer. “Of course I will.”

“Good.” He kissed
me firmly on the temple and then looked out at the fire again. “I’ve never been
out here without a big group of people before.”

My stomach did a
giddy flop as he confirmed yet another question in my mind about other girls
being his dates out here. “Yeah, me neither.”

“So, is there
anything else that we need to talk about before this goes any further?”