so sweet.
I walk back to him, smiling. "I'm sorry, honey, but you're a little too young for me." I glance back at Keith. "And I already said I'd go on a date with Keith."
Josh shoots Keith an angry look. "You weren't supposed to!"
"I don't think I ever promised that," Keith says, trying not to laugh. "Besides, you already have Lucy. You can't be asking out another girl."
He sighs and looks down at the ground. "Yeah. I guess."
"Is Lucy here?" I ask.
He nods.
I grab another cookie from the box and hand it to him. "Give her this. And don't be asking out other girls if you already have one. One girl at a time, okay?"
He runs off.
"He's adorable," I say as I watch him run up to a girl with red hair. "But I'm a little concerned he's already trying to cheat on his girlfriend."
"I don't think they're that serious." Keith points to the redhead girl, who took her cookie and ran off, leaving poor Josh looking confused. He watches her go, then plops down on the ground and eats his cookie.
"Oh, to be young and in love," I say, laughing.
My phone rings. It's Grams. "Hey, Grams, did you need something?"
"Actually yes. I didn't realize we were out of butter. Would you mind stopping at the store?"
"Not at all. What else do you need?"
"That should be it. But I need it soon. Are you done at the fire station?"
"No. I need to arrange the cookies, but I'll do it fast. See ya soon." I put my phone away. "I need to hurry. My grandma needs me to stop and get stuff for dinner."
"Go ahead. I can take care of this."
"I thought you said you couldn't?"
"That was just an excuse to get you to stay long enough for me to convince you to go out with me."
"You could've just asked," I say with a grin.
"I could've, but I wasn't ready for you to leave. All week I've been wanting to talk to you but you always seem like you're in a hurry."
"I wasn't. I just didn't have any reason to stick around."
And I wanted to get home and hang out with Tyler. I've spent a lot of time with him this week. Probably too much. And when I'm not with him, I'm always thinking about him.
Going out with Keith will be good. It'll get my mind off Tyler and get me focusing on someone I could actually date.
Chapter Eleven
After a quick stop at the grocery store, I head home. When I get there, I'm greeted by the buttery rich aroma of Grams' famous dinner rolls. She's been making them for as long as I can remember. They're one of my all-time favorite foods.
"Did you make extra rolls?" I ask as I set the grocery sack down, "because I'll probably eat a dozen myself."
"I made two dozen so have as many as you'd like." She's racing around the kitchen, from the stove to the fridge to the pantry.
"Need some help?"
"I don't think so. Everything's almost ready." She takes the butter dish out of the cupboard.
"Here." I hand her the butter.
She glances at me. "Dear, why don't you go up and change? You can't wear that to dinner."
"What do you think I should wear?"
"A dress would be nice, but I know you don't like dresses so—"
"I'll wear a dress. I have one that's not too fancy. It'll be good for dinner. And then I can wear it for my date."
She stops unwrapping the butter and looks at me, concerned. "You and Tyler are dating?"
"Not Tyler. Keith. He's one of the volunteer firefighters. I met him when I dropped the cookies off today."
"And you're already going out with him?"
"Tonight after dinner. We're just going for dessert. I won't be out late."
"Faith, it seems too soon to be going out with this boy. If you just met him, you should get to know him better before going somewhere with him."
"But that's how you get to know a guy. By going out with him."
"I suppose." She takes the butter dish to the table. Although in my day, we only went out with people we knew either personally or by association of someone we knew and trusted, such as a friend of a friend. It's safer that way."
"I'm not worried about Keith. He's not dangerous. He's a volunteer firefighter. He helps people and doesn't even get paid for it. And kids seem to like him. That's always a good sign."
She goes to the oven and opens the door