“Oh yeah… I distracted you with ice cream.”
“I didn’t just come over to see your pretty face and eat ice cream,” I tell him. “I wanted to know if you could free yourself later tonight for dinner and also the whole evening, and tomorrow morning?”
He cocks a brow, mulling it over. “Probably… why?” he asks, intrigued.
“It’s a surprise,” I tell him cheerfully. “I don’t have the final details locked down yet, but it’s just a matter of a few taps on my phone.”
He smiles. “I’m intrigued.”
“You’ll love it.”
“What do I need to do?” he asks, excited.
I finish off my cone. “Wear something nice for dinner, and bring an overnight bag. That’s it.”
He studies me suspiciously, wondering what I’m up to. “What time?”
“Meet at my place at four o’clock?”
“Sure,” he says. “I’ll be there. I look forward to it, whatever it is.”
He shoots me a quick wave goodbye. “Just gotta take care of a few things first,” he says. “I’ll see you.”
I practically bounce back home, like a giddy junior high school girl who’s just experienced her first kiss. Something’s different. I ponder it for a second as I walk up the stairs of my porch. For the first time in a long time, Blake and I have had a conversation without conflict. It feels kind of strange.
I settle comfortably on Momma’s old couch with my phone and get right to work.
* * *
Blake takes my breath away.He looks super handsome in grey slim-fit pants, a navy shirt, and brown suede fall jacket. He’s even wearing fashionable shoes, and has a brown oversized satchel over his arm. He hasn’t shaved or combed his hair, but he still looks amazing.
I swallow hard as he nears closer. “Wow, you look nice.”
“Thank you,” he says. “Is this okay?” he asks, gesturing to himself.
My gaze travels the length of his body. “It’s perfect.”
His eyes study me intensely as they trace my curves slowly, down the length of my pink pea coat and black skirt, over my legs, down to my red Mary Janes, and back up again. “You look really nice too.”
At this rate, we’ll be fucking in my back seat in the next two minutes, but that’s not what I planned for today. Today is supposed to be sweet and romantic.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
He grins playfully. “Ready for anything.”
I tilt my head in momma’s car’s direction. “Hop in. I’m taking you on an adventure.”
He smiles and eagerly settles into the passenger seat. I hop in and start the engine. “I have drinks here in the console,” I tell him. “It’s about an hour away.”
“You won’t tell me where we’re going?”
“I told you… it’s a surprise,” I say, giddy – this is fun. “It’s nothing super exciting but I’m sure we’ll both enjoy it.”
The conversation flows surprisingly well on the way there. We chat about old times, about what everyone’s up to. Blake is still in contact with everyone, and he tells me all about who got married to whom.
“I can’t believe Mary Turner married Josh Baily,” I say in shock. “They used to hate each other.”
“I guess they had a whole love hate thing going,” he says. “Kind of like us,” he adds with a wink.
