AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She laughs and nearly spills her wine. “What?”
I smirk. “Me and my girlfriend at the time, we got off of the Haunted Mansion coaster when it slowed down, and then we um…had a good time in a dark, recessed corner away from everyone, until a pimply faced teenager came and arrested us and took us to Disney jail. At least it’s a clean jail. We were in there with a pair of girls who had flashed the Splash Mountain cameras.”
“Oh, my god.” She giggles behind her hand.
“Not my best idea.” I sip my wine. “Not my worst, either.”
“What was your worst?”
“Oh no. That’s not a first date conversation. That’s stuff for a second date at least.”
“You’re a tease, huh?”
I laugh. “First time I’ve been called that.”
“I remember the first time a boy called me a tease.” She smirks and shakes her head.
“What happened?”
“It was high school, senior year. We had gone to the movies and when I wouldn’t give him a handy, he called me a tease, so I dumped my soda on his head and left.”
I smile. “Good for you.”
“Not so good for my parents, though. He was the mayor’s son, so he annoyed them legally for all kinds of things at the winery.” She rolls her eyes. “It was a real pain for about a year until my dad ran for mayor.”
“Did he leave him alone after that?”
“Well, he kind of had to. When you lose the race, you don’t have that kind of authority anymore.”
“Your dad is a mayor?”
“Oh, didn’t I mention it?”
I shake my head. “I would have remembered.”
She goes on, but as much as she can rattle off one interesting story after another, things don’t fit between us. It’s not her fault, but there’s no spark. No fire. No urge to take her to the bathroom and have my way with her. She’s just not Autumn. But I have to put that thought out of my mind. It’s too dangerous.
“…and so the parrot says, ‘No, she’smywife!’”
I laugh with her and ask, “How have you done so much?”
“Well, it helps to be open to new experiences. Like, for instance, I was married for a few days.”
“A few days? Vegas?”
“Mexico. Spring Break.” She shrugs. “You weren’t the only one who did some silly things in college. Thankfully, all I needed was an annulment. How did you get out of Disney jail, anyway?”
“I have a lot of lawyers in my family.” As the night wears on and I try to be affable and charming, I wonder why I’m making the effort at all.
When I’m with Autumn, I can just be myself. She’s the one person who gets me. The phone in my pocket is weighed down by thoughts of calling her, and it gets heavier by the minute.
20
Autumn
“Tell me everything,” Trevor says before he sips his soda. Our window table at Marco’s is nice, but it’s not fancy like Saltwater Kitchen. Which is good. I was tiring of all the hoity toity places Rowan likes to take me. Too stuffy. Luxury quickly becomes overkill. Doesn’t it?
Trevor is not like that. Despite his moneyed background, he seems down to Earth these days. He has friendly green eyes that smile before his lips do. His sandy brown hair is tousled, and there’s a hint of sauce at his chin, but unlike a certain someone, I don’t have the urge to lick it off him. I hardly know him anymore. And even if I did…doesn’t matter.Pay attention, woman. We are having an actual date for once in a long time.
