The Pass (Smart Jocks #5) - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,47
shake of her head, she gets on the other side.
It took all of five seconds for Jonah to figure out things had changed between us. I’m actually surprised he didn’t notice the other night at his party, but I guess that’s because he was focused on Richard.
“That’s fucking precious.” Jonah stands on the side of the pool and holds up his phone like he’s going to take a picture.
I lean over and take Sydney by surprise when I press my mouth to hers. We spent all morning lying in bed kissing. My lips are chapped and I’m more frustrated than I’ve been in my entire life, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
“So,” Ollie says as he swims over to us with a giant, mocking smile. “What’s date number three?”
I look from him to Jonah to Sydney. “What? How? You told them?”
She shrugs and tries to look sweet and innocent.
“Don’t hold out on us,” Ollie begs.
“Holding out is sort of your new thing, huh?” Jonah jumps in. He runs a hand through his wet hair, slicking back the dark red strands.
“You told them that?!”
Sydney grimaces and looks over at me with apologetic brown eyes. “I thought you’d already told them.”
Playing both sides to get more information. I should have known. Classic Jonah.
“Tell us! What’s date number three? I’ve got my money on karaoke.” Ollie looks so certain and I have no clue where he’d get such an idea.
Jonah laughs. “No way. I’ve heard Shaw sing. I’m going with the movies. Sharing a bowl of popcorn, their fingers touch in the dark…”
“No,” Sydney pipes in. Three heads swivel to her. “You’re both wrong. It’s something more romantic like a candlelight dinner on the boat or a picnic, also with candles.”
“So, your guess is he planned candles?” Jonah asks with a smirk. “Shaw? Which one is it?”
“I do like candles.” I kick my foot along the water sending a spray of water at Jonah. “I’m not telling.”
“Come on!” The three of them take turns whining and trying to get me to tell them.
“We should do a double date. Nay, a triple date.” Ollie elbows Jonah. “You could invite Richard and maybe Jade?”
“Oh no, if you didn’t close that last weekend, then you’re on your own, but I would love to see this date. Come on, Shaw, let us crash.”
“A group date could be fun.” Sydney smiles. That smile makes me want to give her anything she asks for. “Does that work for what you had planned? If not, we could do another bonus date.”
I don’t answer right away, torn between admitting the truth and making up something on the spot.
“Well?” Ollie asks. “What’s date three?”
“Movie theater,” I grumble.
Jonah and Sydney crack up and I hide behind my shades.
“Good call. Someplace you can’t talk too much and screw it up.” Ollie nods in understanding. “Plus, popcorn.”
We go to the late show and I must admit that going with a group was more fun than I expected.
“Where’s Richard tonight?” I ask Jonah. Sydney and Ollie are walking ahead of us as we head to the ice cream place next door to the theater.
“He and the band are in California for some festival.”
“Is he coming back?”
“Maybe.” Jonah shrugs his big shoulders, hands in his pocket.
“Sorry, man.”
“It’s cool.”
I’m not convinced, but I leave it alone.
“Why five dates?”
I was waiting for him to give me shit for this. Surprised it took this long.
“When we first met, she’d been burned by this guy and had a rule that she wouldn’t sleep with a guy until they’d been on five dates.”
“And you weren’t willing to wait? That doesn’t seem like you.”
“No. I was, I did, but I wasn’t clear about it. We hung out real casual and I assumed that was enough. I was so used to girls just throwing themselves at me that I guess I didn’t take it all that seriously. The more time that went by, the more I liked her. I was waiting for some sort of sign that she was ready, that I’d put in enough time for her to trust me, all the while she was waiting for me to make a move. Eventually she started dating other people, and I realized I fucked-up, but it was too late, the moment had passed.”
“Brutal.”
“Yeah.” I look ahead where Sydney’s smiling at Ollie, the two of them are carrying on like old friends.
“Five real dates to make up for the ones you didn’t take her on two years ago. That’s pretty romantic, Shaw.”