Just One Kiss (8 page)

Shaking my head, I tell him, “You were never a creepy old
man, Brayden. Creepy, maybe. But ‘old man?’ Not yet.”

His jaw drops as he scoffs. “I am not creepy!” he objects,
mock offended. I raise my eyebrows as he pouts and crosses his arms, repeating
“I am definitely not creepy,” again under his breath.

“Okay, you’re not creepy,” I tell him in the voice I use
with small children.

He looks up at me and we both start laughing, hard. It takes
a while to calm down and we continue to eat as we talk about random things.
When we’re both taking our last few bites, Brayden asks me, “Would you be
willing to do me a favor?” He looks nervous.

“Maybe?” I’m not going to agree until he tells me what it
is.

“Well, my dad’s a surgeon and the hospital is having this
huge benefit dinner thing. It’s basically a bunch of rich snobs coming together
to outdo one another by donating a ridiculous amount of money to the hospital.
There’s dinner and dancing and an auction and stuff. Anyway, I was wondering if
you’d be my date.”

Before I can respond, he quickly continues. “Not like a
date, date. Unless you wanted that. But my parents bought an extra ticket for
me to bring somebody with me and you’re the only person I want to take.” He
looks almost terrified.

“Okay,” I say.

“Okay?” he asks, looking as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard me
correctly.

I nod. “Yeah. I’ll go with you. When is it and what should I
wear?”

He looks visibly relieved. “Thank you! Awesome! It’s this
weekend.” He beams.

My jaw drops and I’m about to yell him about giving me such
short notice but he covers my mouth with his hand. “I know, I know. But I was
going to ask you before, only then you told me about last year and the timing
just didn’t seem right. Then, I was a dick and wasn’t able to call you or
anything for the past few days so this is the only chance I’ve had.”

I narrow my eyes at him before darting my tongue out and
licking his palm. Instead of pulling back in disgust like I planned, he gets a
smirk on his face. “Kinky.” I stop immediately and pull his hand away.

“You still haven’t told me what to wear.”

“Well, it’s kind of a black tie affair.”

I glare at him again.

“But whatever you choose will be fine.”

“So if I wear sweatpants and a tank top, I’ll fit right in?”
I ask sarcastically.

He grins. “Okay, maybe that wouldn’t be fine. But you’ll
look beautiful in anything you wear.”

Does he always need to make me blush? “I’ll figure it out,”
I mumble, already thinking about what I have in my closet that could pass as “black
tie” material.

“Thank you, Anna,” he says, smiling gratefully at me as we
stand and go outside.

Brayden walks me to my car and hugs me as he says “I’ll call
you with the details and stuff.” I nod, quickly leaning up to kiss his cheek.
He looks shocked as I pull away.

I shrug. “If you’re going to wait for me, or whatever, I
might as well give you something to look forward to.”

A huge smile takes over his face as I get in my car and pull
away.

Belle of the Ball

“Are you sure this is appropriate to wear to an event like
this?” I ask, looking doubtfully at the dress in my hands as Ro adds the
finishing touches to my makeup and hair.

She’s spent the last hour and a half curling my locks, with
the top half pinned back and the rest falling in graceful spirals past my
shoulders. It was almost painful having to sit still long enough for her to
apply eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, blush, and lipstick but it was all in the
name of “perfection,” as she says.

Ro hasn’t let me look in the mirror yet and I have a sinking
feeling that, when I do, I’ll look horrible and need to take another shower and
start over. I’d taken one this morning, only to take a second when Ro arrived
so she could have a clean slate to work with. I did as she said, figuring it
was better not to argue. “Just put it on,” she urges, pulling me up.

“But it’s so revealing,” I whine, stepping into it
nonetheless. She zips the side of it closed, making the fabric cling to my
body.

“Yes, it’s revealing, but it’s not inappropriate. It
seriously accentuates your curves in the sexiest way I’ve ever seen. In fact,
at this moment, I’d totes do you. If I was into girls, that is.”

Even though I’m aware that she’s joking, I still blush. I’m
definitely not used to people telling me they’re interested in me like that.
Now I have Brayden implying it and Ro saying it outright.

“You’re going to have every woman in the room jealous of
you, and every guy jealous of Brayden. It’s perfect. Turn and see.” She’s
grinning as she spins me toward the mirror.

I gasp at what I see. The frumpy, ugly, girl I expect is
long gone and in her place is a woman. A beautiful woman at that. Ro’s right,
it fits my curves perfectly. We got the dress a few months ago when I was
clearly not thinking straight. I’d never normally buy something like this, but
Ro was in one of her “don’t tell me no” moods. The dress is tight across the
bodice until it reaches my waist, where it flairs out a bit and ends somewhere
around mid thigh. It’s a silky fabric with mostly blacks, reds, oranges, blues,
and a bit of cream mixed into geometric angles. Kind of an Aztec print.

I’ve matched the dress with a chunky necklace that matches
the bit of gold in the fabric. I’m also wearing a pair of flats that are an off-gold
color with beads along the edges. I’ve never been one for much jewelry, so
there are no other accessories. I figured that, between my hair, makeup, and
necklace, I’d be fine without anything else.

“Wow,” I whisper, taking it all in. “Not too bad . . .”

“Now all you have to do is name your firstborn child after
me and we’re even,” Ro says proudly.

I laugh and nod my head. “I’d expect nothing less,” I assure
her with a smile.

Downstairs, there’s a knock on the door. I turn to Ro with
wide eyes; Brayden’s about ten minutes early. I really didn’t want him to meet
my parents—well, my mom at least. I think my dad will be fine—he’s never been
one to embarrass me. I’m just worried that my mother will make some comment
that offends or embarrasses us. I quickly grab my pink coat, which is the only
nice jacket I own, and run downstairs. Brayden is being greeted by my sister
and father. They all turn to see me making my less-than-grand entrance, and I
watch as all three jaws drop.

“Shut up,” I snap, even though nobody said anything.

Dad smiles and says, “Banana, you look gorgeous.” I smile
softly and shuffle closer to Brayden.

“Yeah, I mean, who knew you were beautiful?” Lena smirks. I
know she really didn’t mean it as rudely as it sounded, but it stung anyway.

“I did,” Brayden says sincerely, sending me his amazing
smile that makes me warm inside, no matter what the temperature is. He steps
forward and helps me with my jacket as I blush and say “Thank you.”

I’m about to lead Brayden out when Mom comes running in,
camera in hand. “Mom, what are you doing?” I groan. I knew she’d do something.

“I need to take a picture of this. I mean, I never thought
you’d go on a date!” she babbles as she gets the camera ready.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Brayden asks, sort of scowling. I nudge
him, shaking my head.

“Well, Anna’s always just been so introverted. Plus, after
what happened last year, I never figured she’d open herself to somebody like
you.”

Brayden puts a protective arm around me and, before he can
respond, I quickly mutter, “How about that picture now?”

Leaning down, he whispers in my ear as my mother lifts the
camera, “Make a stupid face.”

Right as her finger is about to press down, I part my lips,
showing both rows of teeth like I would to check for leftover food in a mirror.
I also squeeze my eyes shut. Brayden’s hand quickly moves from my back and in
the next second, a flash practically blinds me, even though my eyes were shut.

“Time to go,” I grin, pulling Brayden out the door.

We’re both laughing hysterically as he opens my door for me.
“I have been waiting years for something like that. Mom feels the need to
document everything with that damned camera. I hate it.” I shake my head with a
smile.

“I think most moms are like that, Cutie. I didn’t like her
saying she never expected you to be with somebody like me. I mean, what’s wrong
with me? I’m amazing,” he finishes with a wink.

I giggle a bit at that, thinking how amazing he truly is.
“Well, I think that’s why. You’re out of my league. Anyway you’ve met the
parents now and you know they’re crazy. We also just made some beautiful
Christmas card material.” I start laughing again. “I think this evening is off
to a wonderful start.” I climb into the truck and I can see my mom in the
rearview mirror opening the door to try to call us back for a real picture. We
are long gone.

The way I feel for Brayden is indescribable. I really want
to be the person who makes him smile, whom he kisses goodnight, and whom he
gets to hug when he needs it. But I just can’t. I don’t even know what’s
blocking me, but it’s there. I feel like a completely different person around
him, but I can’t act on any of my feelings. It’s like, subconsciously, I’m
always expecting him to be like “Ha-ha, you thought I was actually interested
in you?” I know he would never really do that, but I can’t stop feeling that
way. I don’t want to start something with him only to pull away. I want to give
him my all, but I can’t right now. I’d be too insecure. I am too insecure. I
mean, why is a nearly twenty-one-year-old guy interested in a shy, insecure,
girl like me, anyway? It’s probably just a self-punishing phase.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks me. I blink a few
times, coming back to reality. I give him a fake smile and shrug dismissively.
“Just stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” he muses.

I roll my eyes and smile. “Girl stuff,” I tease back.

“What kind of girl stuff?” he probes.

“The kind that guys know naught of.” I laugh at his
disappointed look. Like hell I’m telling him what I was actually thinking
about. It’d just make him feel bad.

We sit in silence for a few minutes until Brayden starts
speaking again, “You really do look beautiful tonight, Cutie.”

I blush, “You can thank Ro for that; she’s got magical hands,”
I laugh.

Brayden shakes his head as his thumb begins running back and
forth over my knuckles. “It’s not magic; you’re beautiful without all the
makeup and styled hair. You look gorgeous all the time.”

“Flatterer,” I laugh, making light of the butterflies now
fluttering in my stomach. He could seriously make a girl melt.

Instead of answering, he just smiles widely, reminding me a
bit of Zander. It’s clear that Brayden still has his boyish charm, which is
really one of the biggest reasons I like him so much. He’s simple. There’s no
drama when I’m with him. He makes everything seem better. I don’t have to worry
about looking okay, like I do at school. I don’t need to think about his
motives; he’s too kind to be cruel.

About twenty minutes later, we pull up to a fancy-looking
building and rush inside. There are twinkling lights lining the entire
ballroom, making everything shimmer. The area I’m assuming is a dance floor is
made up of whitish tile that’s made to look marbled. The rest of the area is
carpeted and has tables scattered across it.

We make our way to the table that’s reserved for his family.
I see Adrienne and Paul talking with another couple. Landon and Evie are trying
to get Nora to stop crying while Zander is running around the table at full
speed with his toy airplane.

“Zander, sit down!” Evie demands. Zander ignores her. As he
continues to run around, she turns an evil eye to Landon. “I told you not to
let him bring that damned toy.”

Landon shrugs. “He’s a kid, Evie. Nobody’s getting hurt, let
him play.”

“This is not the type of place for a little boy to play like
that,” Evie snaps.

Instead of arguing further, Landon leans in and gives her a
long, gentle kiss on her lips, calming her down. I can totally see why they’re
so perfect for each other. They’re completely in love. Just then, Zander turns
toward us and runs to me.

“Annie!” he screams, making everybody look over at us,
including the strangers near the table. I react quickly as he jumps into my
arms and rest him on my hip, not even caring if my dress gets wrinkles.

“Hey, Zand,” I say with a smile.

“I miss you dis much!” he beams, opening his arms to the
fullest extent.

My eyes widen. “You did?” I ask, sounding surprised. “That’s
so much! I missed you even more though!” I tell him. He looks doubtfully at me,
but I nod and assure him it’s true.

“Wow,” he whispers solemnly, as though he can’t imagine
missing anybody more than his three-foot arm span.

“Frickin’ a, man,” Brayden says with a hand on his hip. I
laugh at his substitute for swearing. “Do you even love me anymore?” he pouts
at Zander.

“Of cose, Unco Bway. Always,” he says adamantly, making me “aww”
at them. They’re truly like peanut butter and jelly. Zander’s adorable speech
impediment makes his admission even more adorable. I’m going to be very
disappointed when he learns the right way to pronounce things.

“Good,” Brayden says, pulling Zander from my arms. They
cuddle and I “aww” again, unable to stop myself. They’re just too cute.

From behind us, I hear, “Jeez Bray, I heard you got yourself
a girlfriend, but I didn’t expect this.”

We both turn to see a stunning girl with long, brown hair
standing behind us.

“Ashley!” Brayden turns, smiling even bigger.

Friends with Feelings

“Hey, big brother.” The girl, who I’m now assuming is
Brayden’s younger sister, steps forward to hug him.