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Every week they have new flavors, and if you have a punch card, every tenth one is free. We started going before we were old enough to get into the bars. It’s a tradition Avery and I created our first quarter in college. After both of us finish our last final, we get a box filled with dumplings then go eat down by the river next to campus. Maybe it’s partially the sentiment, but they are undeniably good. They are also the perfect distraction right now.
I don't know what I expected when I was secretly hoping we would run into Dean, but I can tell you, it wasn't this. It’s weird to me he won’t make plans, but acts like he wants to see me when we are apart or when he happens to be around me. It’s been a yo-yo of butterflies in my stomach, and confusion in my brain. Now that both are mixed with whiskey, the only solution is dumplings.
I order 6 four cheese pizza dumplings to split with Avery and Miller, and we take a seat on the curb, inhaling them before we can decide what to do next. Avery pulls out her phone and starts scrolling through pictures of a house she and Miller like. They aren't ready to buy yet, but they have fun looking, and she shares a couple new links with me every day. That also means I need to figure out what I’m going to do with my life once I graduate. Anxiousness overwhelms me when I let thoughts invade my head.
“I’m tired, I’ll call an Uber. You two ready to go?” I stand.
“Yes!” Avery smiles as they stand together, and she leans into Miller. I can’t wait to have what they have. It’s sweet and wonderful. I sigh, and Avery catches it.
“What’s up, babe…” she trails off and her eyes widen a little.
I turn to follow her gaze to Dean standing behind me, confident and flawless, with one hand still holding the toothpick he's been chewing on, and the other stuffed into the front pocket of his jeans. “Hey, Maci, want to get out of here?”
Every reason I would have had ten seconds ago to turn him down floats out of my head as I stare back at him. I’m about to use Avery as an excuse until she speaks first.
“Yeah, she does, we are heading out anyway. Nice to meet you, Dean.” She pushes me toward him.
I turn to give her a look before turning back to Dean, trying again to find some reason why this is a bad idea. A smirk flashes across his face as he catches the glare I’ve directed at my best friend. He gets serious as he reaches for my arm, holding me in place before we go anywhere. “Sorry I had to take that call earlier. I didn’t plan to dip out, but I’m all yours for the rest of the night. Ooor I can give you a ride home if you don’t want to come over?”
“We can go to your house.” I appreciate him giving me an out, even if it was more out of courtesy than anything. I’m eager to spend time with him and see where he lives.
His hand guides me down the street. I look back at him for a second, and he gives me an unreadable look before slightly nodding his head and pointing his eyes to his truck, which just came into view.
I hop into the passenger seat, sending a quick “I’m nervous” text to Avery before he slides into the driver’s side. It’s not that I’m not happy to be spending time with Dean. It’s just that twice now we’ve had such a good time together, and then I leave wondering if I’ve slid over into an alternate reality where, based on his apparent inability to make future plans, he might not feel the same.
Since Taylor, Alexis and Kylie haven’t been in any serious relationships since I’ve known them, Avery has been the only person my age to give me an insider’s look into an adult relationship. Maybe she and Miller are an anomaly, but I love seeing how the two of them interact, how well they communicate and how much they love each other. I’m around them enough to have experienced arguments and watched them work through them. I’ve felt how much Miller cares from all the times he’s taken over my role as comforting best friend anytime Avery has been upset about something. The guy also moved back here simply because he couldn't stand to be away from her for a day, let alone a whole week. Knowing a relationship like that is possible makes me not want to settle for anything less.
Yet, here I am, in a truck with a guy who can very clearly spark a fire inside me, but I have no idea if he could or would ever put a literal fire out for me. He hasn’t given me a real reason to push him away, and something keeps telling me to push toward him until I figure out if he’s going to give me a reason or not.
Ugh. Get it together, Maci. It’s been like two weeks since we met. Just because your best friends and parents experienced “love at first sight,” doesn’t mean that’s normal. What is it about this guy that steals all my patience?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Afterabouttenminutesof driving, we pull into his long gravel driveway. I follow him to the front door that opens without him using a key. Down the hallway there’s a glow from a TV off to the right, and it occurs to me he might have a roommate. I’m relieved when I see the back of Marcus’ head.
“Hey, man,” Dean says, reaching to shake his shoulder.
“Hey. When you ditched me, I thought you’d be out later.” Marcus’ eyes stay glued to the TV, but there’s humor in his voice as he raises one hand off his video game controller to give a slight wave.
“Hiii,” I chime in, catching a glimpse of a smile on Dean’s face out of the corner of my eye. I’m not sure if it works the same way with guys, but the second Dean took to introduce himself to Avery and Miller earlier, even if he ended up ditching us, was a big deal to me. Some people don’t care enough about anyone else in the room. It’s something that’s always bothered me.
Pressing pause on the controller, Marcus turns around. “Oh hey, Maci. I didn’t know you were here!” He says it like he’s genuinely happy to see me, but I also catch the surprised look he throws Dean’s way.
“Yeah, well, I’ll end up anywhere someone asks me to go when I have dumplings in my system.” I laugh, wondering if that came out more creepy than I intended. I know Dean spent the night last week, and I practically told him I was down to have sex, but now that I’m in his space and we might actually do it, I’m so nervous I can hardly process my thoughts enough to form sentences.
“Dump City? I love that place! You know they are trying to open an actual restaurant?”
I’m about to answer, but my attention redirects to Dean whining at me from around the corner, “Maciiii!”
“As long as they keep their punch card, I fully support that! Have a good night, Marcus.” Somehow I know I won’t see him again tonight. He pushes play on his game again as he says goodnight, and I take off in the direction of the voice I’m pretty sure could lure me anywhere.
I walk through the kitchen, pushing on the slightly opened door on the other side of it. “Nice room,” I muse, my eyes wandering around his space. There’s hardly anything in here. There’s nothing on the walls and only a mattress on the floor, made lazily with a few pillows and a gray blanket thrown on top. It looks exactly like the room I’d expect from a college guy who moved out of a dorm room. “I don’t even need to make up a PG sleepover bed on the floor since that’s where you sleep already.”
His brown eyes flicker with amusement as he takes a step closer, close enough to touch me, although he doesn't. “Damn, I knew I should have sprung for the bed frame.”
“I don’t think a bed frame is a requirement to graduate from PG.”Holy shit.I can’t believe I said that. If he was trying to figure out what I hoped was going to happen between us tonight, I cleared it up for him.
He takes another step, closing the distance between us until his breath is on my cheek. “Is that where you see this night going?” he asks.
