How It Rolls (10 page)

             
“Spit it out bird boy!” It was none other than Nellie. 

             
He rolled his eyes but somehow her joking around helped him ground himself.  He cleared his throat and started again.

             
“Reed, you’re breathtaking, truly.”  He smiled at me and at the sound of those three words I became a goner.  No one in my life had ever spoken such compelling words so sincerely to me. 

             
He took my hand and led me through the back to his truck.  He opened the passenger side and as I slid in, he shut the door behind me.  He seemed absolutely petrified with nerves and I couldn’t for the life of me comprehend why.  His walk around the front of the truck was filled with clenching and unclenching of fists.  He got in the driver’s side, started up the truck and let out an extravagant exhale.

             
“Falcon, look at me.” I didn’t necessarily mean to, but my hand reached his at the moment I spoke. He looked out the windshield for a few moments and then to me. 

             
“It’s just me, okay?  Breathe.” I let out a light laugh hoping to calm him a little like Nellie had done earlier.  He scrubbed his hands over his face and then smiled sheepishly.

             
“Sorry, I’m just nervous as all Hell.”

             
“No, no, no,” I said it all with a smile on my face “You can’t apologize before the date’s even started. You’re not proving anything here, Falcon.  I already like you.  Let’s just go have fun.” 

             
“Yeah, I can do that.” He picked my hand up and placed the sweetest kiss on my knuckles. 

Chapter 13

Falcon

Whoever first dubbed the phrase ‘butterflies in your stomach’ was a dumbass.  ‘Cause what I felt was more like little tiny Napoleon
Bonapartes shooting assault rifles into my gut. Not cool little weird dictator, not cool.

              When I said ‘breathtaking’ I wasn’t exaggerating.  There’s something about seeing a person in a new style of clothes that throws you off a little bit.  And Reed just threw me into next week.

             
Nellie and Owen told me that my idea was cheesy.  But girls liked cheese, right?  And honestly, I thought it would be something quiet to do where we could talk.  I drove towards our destination slowly, mostly so I could get ahold of myself, I was a freakin’ wreck.  I’ve never been this nervous around a girl.  But who was I kidding?  This was far from any old girl.

             
We parked at the theatre, and I expected a negative response after the flack I got from Nellie about taking her here.  She put her hand on the handle of the door and I wasn’t going to stand for it.

             
“Let me,” I got out and walked around to her side and opened the door for her. 

             
“I’ve never been here before.  What are they showing?” 

             
“It’s some kind of Barrier reef movie, in 3D.” 
Well didn’t that just prove my nerdhood. 

             
“Oooh, I bet that’s gonna be good.  Thank you.  This is awesome.”

             
We went inside and I bought her popcorn and a drink even though she protested.  We got our 3D glasses and entered the theatre. 

             
“There’s nobody here.” She looked at me shocked.

             
“Yeah, um, that’s kinda what I paid for.” I cringed.  I wasn’t trying to flaunt my money at her but at the same time I wanted to spend this time alone with her, not in a crowd of people.

             
“You reserved the whole theatre?” She wasn’t looking at me.

             
“Yeah, it wasn’t that much.  We don’t have to stay if you’re not comfortable.  I just…” 
Shit, now I’d gone and done it—and on the first date.  That’s a new record.  Alert the Guinness Book.

             
“It’s perfect Falcon, really.  I just didn’t expect it.  It’s really great.  So go ahead, pick us some seats.”

             
I led her to seats in the exact middle of the theatre.  I looked at my watch at the exact time the lights were dimmed and the show began.  She gasped next to me as the movie began.  The apples of her cheeks rose as the first of her many smiles took shape.  I’d seen this show before, so I paid more attention to the theatrics next to me.   They were infinitely more interesting and beautiful than anything the Great Barrier Reef had to offer. 

             
I felt like a pre-pubescent moron as I analyzed and pondered whether or not to hold her hand.  I had held her hand before, but it always had a purpose other than me needing to touch her.  But sitting here next to her, there was no reason, other than my body itching to make contact with hers.  The sensation was unrestrainable. 

             
But she beat me to it.  Still facing the screen, her arm moved to lie across my thigh and she grabbed my hand.  It didn’t even belong to me anymore.  Everything I was and had was hers already.  I turned my head to look at her and she was waggling her 3D glasses up and down and smiling like I’d bought her favorite cookies. 

             
The movie ended and I truly hoped she didn’t ask me anything about it because I didn’t have a clue and I’d have to recall something random from the time I’d seen it before.  We left the theatre and I brought her to my favorite place to eat.  But no one knew that because the moment word got to Mom about me liking another restaurant, well, she’d probably beat me with one of my own appendages. 

             
Reed looked like she was pre-occupied.  I thought back to my earlier assumption that she had a boyfriend when I saw her leave the dorms.  But certainly she wouldn’t go out with me and confirm that she was interested if that was true.  I must be wrong.  But, of course, I had to test that theory. 

             
“So, the other day I saw you coming out of the dorms.  I forgot to tell you.” She blew out a breath that made her cheeks puff out. 

             
“Yeah, I, um, was visiting a friend.”  She didn’t say boyfriend.

             
“Ah, and here I thought you were going to see your boyfriend.  I was all huffed up and jealous.”  I wanted to rip my Mohawk off of my head and stab myself with it.  What an absurd thing to say.

             
“You were, huh?” She laughed facing the window.

             
“Mmmhmmm.” I said and parked in the closest spot I could find. 

             
“Oh, jealousy is so cute on you. But trust me, there’s no one for you to be jealous of,” she started to open her door and then stopped herself.

             
I walked around the back of the truck and opened her door. 

             
“Your Mom makes the best food I’ve ever tasted and this is where we’re eating. Oooohhh, I’m telling her.”

             
“Don’t you dare.  She’d kill me.  But seriously, this place has the best sandwiches you’ve ever had. One of them is stuffed with macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.  Come on.” I took her hand and we ordered two huge sandwiches and cut them in half and exchanged with each other.  She laughed at me when most of mine fell apart and I had to finish it with a fork. 

             
She threw her fork down and pushed the plate away from her. 

             
“I’m done.  It was so good though. So, what are you doing with Nellie tomorrow?”

             
“Oh, we’re going shopping.  She needs some new skate stuff and she’s going to help me get some new stuff for my apartment.  They say it’s pathetic.  And I hate shopping, so she’s basically going to pick everything out and I’m gonna pay.”

             
“Oh, I need to buy some new skates too.  Mine are road kill.  Plus I need a new panty if I’m gonna be a jammer since Nellie’s out. “

             
I choked hearing the word ‘panty’ come out of her mouth.  I nearly aspirated macaroni and cheese and had to stand up to stop coughing.  I had been around Nellie long enough to know that a ‘panty’ was the thing that jammers wore on their helmets with a star on it.  But it didn’t change the facts.  The girl just said panty. Maybe I wasn’t 40 on the inside after all. 

             
“Wait, Nellie won’t be skating.  Why does she need more skates?”  Oh crap.  The girl was quick.

             
“Skate stuff.  She wants a bunch of derby t shirts to wear over her belly.  She told Owen if she can’t skate, she’s going to have every derby shirt ever made.” 

             
“She’s great.”

             
“She really is.  I hope my mom didn’t grill you too much last night.  I swear she could make the CIA give her secret pictures of Marilyn Monroe.”

             
“Um, no, actually for some reason I just blurted out my whole life story.  There was no coercion whatsoever.” Then her face turned white as a sheet and I knew immediately what she was thinking.

             
“Don’t worry, if she told you that she won’t tell me, then she won’t.  Believe me; once Sylvia Black decides to keep a secret, she’s like the Pentagon.”

             
She breathed out her relief.  “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you.  It’s just that I’m not ready for you to hear about all of my baggage.  I just want to get to know you before I lay all of that on the table.”  Thank God.  I wasn’t ready to blab about Kate or admit to anyone how much it really killed me for her to say those things to me.

             
“I’m not asking you to.” The restaurant showed telltale signs of closing so I took our trays and emptied them and then we got back into my truck. 

              “What time do you work tomorrow?” What I didn’t want to tell her was that I already knew. 

             
“I work ten to seven tomorrow.  The new schedule for the derby season starts tomorrow.”  I knew that schedule by heart.

             
“Tuesday, Thursday practices, Friday night dinners, Saturday night bouts, right?” She smiled, I assumed at my derby knowledge. 

             
“Yeah, that’s right.  It’s kinda cool how much you know about derby even though you’re the Dues Nazi.”

             
“The what?”  I didn’t know what the hell she was calling me.

             
“The Dues Nazi.  The person who handles the money for the team.  Sorry, it’s not derogatory.  It’s just what that person is called, though usually it’s someone on the team from what I know.”

             
“Oh, well, that’s me.  The stiff with the money.” 

             
“That’s just what you look like.  You’re someone else completely.”

             
“If you say so.”

             
I drove and until I turned onto the bookstore’s street.  That’s when my heart dropped to my knees.  I didn’t want to bring her back.  I didn’t want her to step one foot out of my truck.  But she had to. But damn it, I didn’t have to like it one bit.

             
I pulled in next to her car and she gave me a tight lipped smile.  There were so many things I wanted to get out of her but tonight wasn’t the night.  I wanted to know why I saw her sleeping in her car.  I wanted to know why a visibly intelligent girl like her wasn’t in school.  I wanted to know about why a family would throw her out.  Then I wanted their address to show them the real meaning of throw someone somewhere.  Plus, the old fashioned man in me wanted to walk her to her doorstep and experience that first kiss with her.  Dropping her off here at her car went against everything that was in me.  But if this was the way I got to see her, then I would bend over backwards to do it.

Chapter 14

Reed

When I put my skates on I felt like Stuart from
MadTV.  “Look what I can do!”  And then I proceeded to spaz out.  And then when someone tried to help me I said, “Let me do it” with my arm out all stupid. All that was missing was a plaid shirt and a Speedo.

              I drove away and a couple of blocks over until I thought he was gone.  In an ideal world, scratch that, in a normal world, he would’ve driven me home and then he would’ve put those pouty lips to mine.  And tonight, he opened his mouth to take a bite of that enormous sandwich and I got a glimpse of two piercings on his tongue.  It was all I could do not to climb over the table, throw the food on the floor, grab him to me by his collar and get the full experience of those barbells for myself.  And what kind of guy reserves the entire theatre so he can spend the time with me?  With me? 

             
I parked behind that diner again, exhausted and still knowing that there was no way I was going to get a good night’s sleep.  Plus, if things weren’t bad enough, it was really getting cold outside.  Louisiana had a knack for getting really cold in late February and March.  And my car wasn’t the most insulated sleeping quarters.