Chapter Four
CHARLIE
September 2012
“Are you sure we’re allowed to be here?” I ask, taking a seat on the surprisingly comfortable patio couch.
“Don’t worry,” Jeremy replies, taking a seat next to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “It’s going to be okay.”
“But we look like shit,” I say back, causing Jeremy to bark out a laugh.
“Pretty girl, I doubt you’ve ever looked like shit in your entire life.”
I blush slightly and tuck my legs up onto the couch, leaning into Jeremy’s chest to hide my face.
“Oooooh, are we suddenly shy?” he says, playfully, tugging me back to look at me.
I can’t help the smile that takes over my face. “Hush,” I respond, then curl back into him.
When Jeremy told me we were still going to take advantage of our dinner reservation, I’m pretty sure the look on my face said it all. It wouldn’t matter where the reservation was. Our post-plunge outfits weren’t exactly restaurant material. I can say with everything I am that a Davenport has never gone out to dinner looking like I do right now.
But he insisted, so I went along with it, certain we would be turned away. But apparently Jeremy is friends with the manager of this rooftop bar in Venice Beach. After Greg got a good laugh at our clothes, he took us up to the top.
Where my breath was immediately stolen from my lungs.
I’ve never seen such a breathtaking view. Ocean and beach as far as I can see, with the last remnants of beach-goers dotting the sand as they gather their beach towels and chairs and wrangle their children. Endless palm trees and green grass, basketball courts and people on roller-skates and skateboards.
The patio we’re currently sitting on is filled with outdoor couches and tables, with small fireplaces scattered around, creating an intimate setting for a date.
And I can’t help the jump that my heart does every time he looks at me.
Jeremy.
This hot-as-sin man is very quickly becoming someone I want to spend more time with. I’ve never had a boyfriend before – not that Jeremy would be my boyfriend – but I’ve always wondered what it would be like. I used to play it down in my head. Why just have the attention of one man when you can have the attention of many? It’s an adrenaline rush for sure.
But nothing compared to how I feel when he looks at me.
And I’m 100% okay with it.
“So, the original plan was dinner here, but I think you’re feeling a bit self conscious about how we’re dressed,” he says, tugging lightly on my still-damp ponytail. “So I thought we could watch the sunset here, which should be in about,” he glances at his phone, “fifteen minutes.” He leans forward and drops his phone on the table in front of us, then settles back against the couch. There’s a big pause, before he adds, “Then maybe we can grab some take-out and head to the next place?”
“Next place?” I ask. When he only nods, I add, “How many phases are there to this date?”
“Awww, pretty girl. You trying to get rid of me?” he asks, smiling. But if I’m totally honest, he looks a little bewildered.
I can’t help my own crooked grin. “I’m having too good of a time to call it a night, mister. I just wish I had more comfortable shoes on. And that my underwear wasn’t damp and slowly seeping through the butt of these sweats.”
He laughs, rubbing his free hand against his face. “I’m never gonna live it down, huh?”
I shake my head. “Not ever. A Davenport never goes out looking anything but perfect.”
I immediately regret it as soon as I let it slip, especially when Jeremy gives me a confused expression.
I wave my hand in front of me to say it’s no big deal. “Just my mother’s thought process. She’s quite the darling in our little town. Always so put together. It’s why I’m enjoying the freedom of college so much,” I finish with a laugh.
“She sounds… interesting,” he finally says, and I laugh again at his choice of word to describe my mother.
“Interesting is one way to put it,” I say, leaning forward to take a sip of my soda. “I like to use the term ‘indefinitely disappointed.’ I mean, she has her good points too. She was really supportive about the things that made sense to her. She grew up in a really stuffy household – like, when we visited her parents in Connecticut, we weren’t allowed to touchanything. I don’t think she imagined a life where she ended up in Nebraska, so she does everything she can to make her life in Kilburn feel like it did growing up.”
