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“You’rewhat?” If I wasn’t so nervous, I’d laugh at my friends’ comical reactions. Amelia’s jaw hits the floor while Kate sits up so fast she almost knocks our tiny redhead right off the bed.
God, you'd think I'd just told them I was going to jail.
“Going on a date,” I repeat, enunciating each word sarcastically slowly as though I'm talking to very small children.
“Like a real date?” Kate blinks. “With Jackson?”
“No, a fake one with my imaginary friend.” I reach over to smack her upside the head. “Yes, a real date with Jackson.”
“Are we on Punk'd? Is Ashton Kutcher hiding in your closet?”
“What happened to 'relationships in college are as pointless as a circle?'”
“Yeah!” Kate harrumphs, pointing an accusing finger my way. “Do I get to give you the Great Disappointment Speech now you're shacking up?”
They’re kidding, I know they’re kidding, yet against my will, my temper sparks. “What, is it really so unbelievable that a guy would want to take me out on a date?”
Immediately, my friends sober.
“Not at all,” Amelia replies without hesitation, the shake of her head frantic. “It’s more the fact you’relettinga guy take you on a date.”
Kate hums her agreement, a playful smile on her lips and a sing-song quality to her voice. “Jackson must be pretty special.”
Yeah, I silently agree.That’s what I’m afraid of.
I must be wearing my thoughts all over my face because, slow and careful, Amelia rises. “It’s okay to be nervous,” she says, gripping my biceps and squeezing. “Just means you like him.”
She means well but I still, I grimace.
I like him but I don’t want to like him because liking him is scary. Liking him means breaking down the perfect wall around my heart that I've been building for twenty years, specifically designed to ward off men like Jackson. Good men with the potential to destroy me completely.
Kate sighs and nudges Amelia out of the way, spinning me around by my shoulders and taking an entirely different approach. “You are Luna Evans.” She shakes me slightly, her no-nonsense, narrow-eyed stare burning into me. “You are beautiful and smart and you make men go all weak at the knees. You don't get nervous. You make other people nervous. So snap out of it.”
I can’t help but smile. “You know, you’re really good at pep talks.”
“I know.” Kate pats my cheek, equally parts playful and loving. “Now, let’s get you ready for your first date, hm?”
17
LUNA
“If you're planningto murder me, you left two witnesses back at the apartment who know I'm with you.”
Jackson laughs but rumbling down a dark dirt road in the middle of nowhere doesn’t seem all that funny to me.
Nice, quiet boy murders the pretty, loud, loose blonde.Sounds like a true-crime podcast.
The hand resting on my thigh squeezes. “We're almost there.”
I open my mouth to ask where, exactly,thereis but I'm interrupted by the truck slowing. Jackson’s intent gaze heats the side of my face as my lips part in surprise, eyes wide as they take in the field lit up by strings of twinkling lights casting a dim glow, just bright enough to make out the neat rows of cars stretching towards a giant screen lit up with an old-fashioned film reel countdown.
To be honest, I didn’t know drive-in movies were still a thing.
But I like it.
I really like it, and as I lace my fingers through Jackson’s and turn to face him, I pray my huge grin conveys just how much. He hides his relieved smile by bringing our clasped hands to his lips, leaving them for a long moment as he steers the truck towards an empty spot. He parks in reverse and gestures for me to get out, leading me around to the back.
Undoing the tailgate, he clambers up, movements jerky and nervous. “I got your cushions,” he says, wearing a silly, nervous grin as he holds a hand out to me. “And blankets.”
