Unraveling (Second Chances) - By Micalea Smeltzer Page 0,17
to get closer.
“Hey Katy,” his deep voice rumbled through my body, making me clench all over.
“Jared,” I answered.
“I thought you didn’t go out,” he grinned, standing there with his hands in his pockets.
“I said, I don’t date, not that I don’t go out. There’s a difference,” I looked up at him. Lord, he was tall.
“So, go out with me,” his lips lifted when he knew I was caught.
Darn him, I’d walked right into that one.
“Fine,” I grumbled, knowing he would never let it go until I conceded.
He chuckled and rubbed his chin. “Don’t sound so enthusiastic about it.”
I looked away.
“Come on, Katy,” he coaxed, “it might help you heal.”
I turned and glared up at him. “I already said I would go.”
“No, you just said, ‘fine,’” he did a poor imitation of my voice. “That doesn’t sound like someone that’s very enthusiastic to hang out with me. I promise that I don’t bite.”
“Yes, Jared, I will go out with you. Does that suffice as an answer?” I smiled and batted my eyelashes for dramatic affect.
“Why yes, yes it does,” he grinned at me.
“Would you like to inform me as to where we’ll be ‘going out’?” I put my fingers up in air quotes.
He smiled, a real genuine smile, not a cocky smirk. “For you kittycat, I’ll have to come up with something… creative.”
“Kittycat?” I raised a brow.
He chuckled. “Yep,” he leaned down so that we were face to face. In a low voice he said, “You’re a kittycat, because even though you look so sweet and innocent, you have claws and when they come out to play, someone always gets hurt.”
And just like that, he was gone.
I swear, he really had a knack for disappearing and leaving me completely frazzled in the process.
“Whoa, that was intense,” said Piper.
I shook my head and tried to focus on her. “Huh?”
“You two,” she motioned to me and then over my shoulder to where I presumed Jared was. “It was like you were in your own little bubble and no one could infiltrate it. You guys have some crazy chemistry going on,” she said; fiddling with the dyed, pink ends of her hair.
“We don’t have chemistry,” I shook my head vehemently.
Piper raised a brow and looked at me like I had lost my mind… or killed a puppy.
“You’re in denial, or else you’re delusional. When you two are together, because I noticed it at the coffee shop as well, you’re practically combustible,” she pointed her fork at me. When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “And the way he looks at you… damn girl, I want a man to look at me like that.”
“He doesn’t look at me any certain way,” I shrugged, before taking another bite of my burger.
Piper snorted and wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “Are you seriously that oblivious? He looks at you, like you’re a glass of water and he’s been stranded in the desert.”
I snorted. “Are you sure you’re not majoring in poetry?”
“I’m serious, Katy. You know… I guess, what I’m really trying to say is that he looks at you. He really sees you, Katy. He doesn’t look at you like he’s wondering how long it will take to get you out of your panties. Don’t push him away before you even give the guy a chance,” she pleaded.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Jared and his friend now sitting at the bar. He brought a beer to his lips, but just before it met, he suddenly turned and looked into my eyes. A smile broke out across his face and he winked.
A strange feeling filled my belly.
Were those… butterflies?
“Katy? Hello? Earth to Katy,” Piper waved her hand in front of my face. “You okay?” she asked once she had my attention.
“Uh-huh,” I nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I’m fine… just confused.”
“Confused? Why?”
“It’s nothing,” I mumbled, but the butterflies in my tummy were definitely something. I hadn’t felt something like that in two years.
How could this one man, that I didn’t even know, affect me so much?
Was there such a thing as fate and destiny?
I guess I was about to find out.
9
“WHAT’S UP WITH YOU?” Rollo asked as I opened the door to my condo to let him in.
“What do you mean?” I countered.
“You’ve got a strange look on your face,” he said, venturing into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of Diet Pepsi from the refrigerator.