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SEVEN
Hendrix
I always thoughtit was weird that the guys in movies or TV shows were nervous when they were getting ready to go out on a date. I mean, you already asked the girl out, and she said yes, so, she must be into you, too, right? What’s there to be nervous about?
Now I finally get it.
It feels like my whole future with Locklyn is riding on tonight. There’s so much pressure to make this the best date of her life, so she wants to do it again. And then again over and over again until she’s got my ring on her finger.
“Why are you sweating so much?” Kade asks around a bite of bagel.
“Shut up,” I grumble, and Thorne peeks around the bathroom door, grinning when he sees that I am indeed sweating.
“What do you have planned for tonight?” he asks.
“Dinner and then maybe a bar or something downtown,” I tell them.
“Hmm,” Thorne says, and my anxiety spikes.
“What does that mean? Is that a bad hmm?”
He seems surprised by my concern and blinks.
“No, I mean, this is Sequoia. There aren’t a lot of options. As long as you aren’t hitting up a drive-through for dinner, you should be good, man.”
I nod, my shoulders relaxing slightly. I know that he’s right. Sequoia is a small town, and the romantic venues are limited to Bella Italia and The Capital Grille. I chose The Capital Grill since they seemed to have more options.
“You better get going,” Kade says, and my heart feels like it lodges in my throat as I push past them and head for the front door.
“Call if you need any tips!” Kade says, and I roll my eyes.
“You don’t date either. What tips are the two of you going to give me?” I retort.
“I’ll have you know that Thorne had a steady girlfriend for years. We’re a wealth of knowledge,” Kade says.
I can see the moment that it hits him, and we both wince as we turn to Thorne. He’s staring off into space, something that he’s been doing a lot of lately, and my stomach sinks.
He’s been acting so strange ever since he ran into Elodie again. I know he’s tried to talk to her at least twice, but she keeps ducking away. He’s close to snapping, though. He needs to talk to her to find some kind of closure, I guess. I wouldn’t know. He refuses to talk to Kade and me about what happened back then or even what’s happening between them right now.
Thorne clears his throat, and I grab my keys off the entryway table.
“Don’t wait up,” I say, trying to lighten the mood, and both guys roll their eyes and head into the living room.
I jog down the apartment steps and slide behind the wheel of my car. Locklyn offered just to meet me at the restaurant, but I wanted to pick her up. I want to open her doors for her and be the perfect gentleman. I want to spend as much time as I can with her. I want to show her that I can take care of her.
Her apartment building is only a few streets over, so it only takes me minutes to get there. I park in an empty spot by the door and climb out. I had grabbed her flowers after class, but they got a little wilted in the car so I shove them into the backseat of my Mustang and head for the front door.
She lives on the third floor, and I take the stairs, needing a little time to give myself a pep talk.
She likes you. This date is going to be fine and you’ll have plans for a second one before you drop her off at the end of the night. Everything is going to work out.
I’m not sure that I fully believe that, but it will have to do because I’m in front of her door.
I knock and try to calm my racing heart as I hear movement inside the apartment. A moment later, the door swings open and my mouth drops.
“Whoa,” I whisper, and Locklyn grins.
“Thanks,” she says.
