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He reaches over and pats my hand. We’re both silent as we drink our coffee, glancing up occasionally to see the action onWalker, Texas Rangeron the television. I’m thinking about the offer Dylan’s boss made, which is definitely generous, but that’s not the reason I’m about to accept it. I want the challenge, the thrill of doing a job that’s going to be hard, yet rewarding.
And I can’t wait to tell Cricket about my decision.
“So,” Grandpa says, pushing his cup to the center of the table and leveling his gaze directly on me. “Tell me about this girl.”
Chapter Fifteen
Cricket
“I really liked them,” I tell Rueben as we make our way north from Marion to Decatur.
“They really liked you too,” he says, glancing over and giving me a quick grin before returning his eyes to the road.
“Your grandma is a hoot.”
He snorts.
Glancing out the window, I say, “I lost count of how many times she called you Ruby.”
Rueben groans. “Of course you’d pick up on that.”
“Kinda hard not to when she said it no less than fifteen times, Ruby,” I tease, grinning from ear to ear.
He gasps and glances my way quickly before looking back at the interstate. “You promised!” he bellows in mock outrage.
Leaning closer, I drop my voice and whisper, “I guess you’ll just have to punish me later.”
I preen a little on the inside as he shifts his gaze to the road, his jaw tight. Rueben adjusts his pants, clearly having a little issue in the crotch area, which only makes me smile that much more.
The closer we get to Decatur, the more nervous I get. I haven’t brought a guy home since Danny, and even though I sent my mom a text message to let her know I was bringing a friend, I didn’t tell her who it was. Or the fact that my friend is a he. I’m not sure what they’re going to say when we arrive.
“You okay?” he asks, following my directions to get to my parents’ house.
“Yeah, fine. You?”
“I’m good,” he replies, offering me a reassuring grin.
“So, my parents,” I start, stammering a little bit on the words.
“Erin and Alan, right?”
It makes me happy that he remembered my parents’ names. I haven’t mentioned it since we made our plan to spend the next several days together, and he hasn’t asked. That means he recalls their names from more than a decade ago, and even then, they really only met twice. “Yeah, that’s right. Anyway, they’re expecting us,” I tell him, adjusting myself in my seat to find a more comfortable position, but with the nerves I feel, there really isn’t a position to help alleviate that.
“That’s good,” he says, focusing on the road.
“So… I may have mentioned I was bringing a friend, but I didn’t say who.”
He glances my way again. “Who did you tell them was coming?”
“I didn’t go into details, which means they may be a little shocked when we arrive. I don’t think it’ll be a problem, but since I called you my friend, you’re probably going to have to stay in my sister’s old room.”
He’s quiet for a few seconds, considering my words. “Okay, that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m sure I’ll survive sleeping in another room for a night,” he says, throwing me that sexy smirk of his as he pushes his glasses up on his nose.
“Right, I just didn’t want to get into…thiswith them.” Mostly because I don’t know whatthisis. I mean, we’re friends who are seeing each other for the next five days? That’s not exactly a text message type of conversation with Mom, you know?
“I get it. I mean, we just spent time with my grandparents and didn’t really define us,” he says.
“Right,” I confirm before telling him our turn is coming up. “But just so you know, your grandma did…ask me something.”
