Page 58 of Old Acquaintances

“Elijah?”

He flinched when I said his name. He grumbled, “I don’t know.”

I imagined Tucker on dates all the time. I considered that he did everything he did with me - touch them, tell them they’re beautiful, lean in a little too close. He projected confidence all of the time.

I crossed the space between us, asking, “Do you want it to be a date?”

Tucker searched my face. “I just don’t want to mess it up.”

My stomach swooped. Even if that wasn’tyes, it was something near to it. It wasn’tno. I wouldn’t have saidno, either. In fact, he looked so handsome in his suit, his face so innocent and nervous, that I found myself saying, “We could try it out.”

He blinked. “Try what?”

I muttered, “A date.”

His chest heaved and his spine straightened, his eyebrows knitting together, his eyes trying to read every line on my face as though I might be joking or tricking him. “Is that what you want?”

“Well, if it makes things easier between us.” I shrugged. “I guess we could give it a try. Do you want to?”

“Yes,” he said immediately. “My mom’s going to be really glad I have all those rubbers.”

“Stop it!” I pushed his smirking face away. My cheeks turned pink. “Our food is here.”

Tucker glanced back at the table. His face fell. “We can’t let Johnny see.”

“Good thing he doesn’t know you’vealreadykissed me.” I tried to laugh it off, but it was the wrong time to bring that up. Tucker stared at my mouth. I remembered what his hands felt like. We hadn’t talked about it.

I took a step back. “Um, if we were on a date that we were keeping secret from our best friend, what would happen next?”

He leaned his forehead against mine, smiling, and my breath hitched. He wove his fingers into mine. “Come on.”

Tucker led me back to the table. He sat down after me, Johnny’s eyes scrutinizing our steps. I gasped a little when Tucker scooted my chair closer to his. He relaxed his arm aroundthe back of my chair. As we ate dinner and joked easily with our friends, his thumb drew circles on my shoulder.

I tried to focus on my chicken and not think,I’m on a date with Elijah Tucker. I’m on a date with Elijah Tucker.

His hands ran down the length of my hair, brushing against my shoulder blades. He kept checking in with his eyes, raising a brow, asking if it was okay. My body was familiar with every move he made, but I had never put my hands on him, except to knee him in the groin or tackle him to the ground. I’d never been affectionate like he was with me.

My heart slammed into my chest. I put my right hand on his knee. He looked at me sidelong, and his fingers fell on my knuckles, caressing them. He turned my hand to gently trace the lines of my palm with feather-light touches, never removing his eyes from mine. Our hands pressed together. Our fingers twisted. If I looked down, I might not tell whose was whose. I felt dizzy and lightheaded. The rest of the table turned into a blur.

I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to push me up against a wall like he did on the cruise and drag his tongue through my mouth. I thought of how his hand moved inside my Sugar Plum costume, and how hard he breathed against my open back. If his hand had moved a little higher, he would have touched my boob.

I suddenly understood why our parents were so insistent about open doors and condoms.

The check came, Tucker paid for our food, and we went back to my dad’s car. I felt nervous now that we were alone and had no eyes watching us.

Before we left the parking lot, he asked, “Still good?”

I nodded.

Tucker reached his hand out, and I gave him mine. He brought my knuckles to his mouth and kissed them. He sighed, “God, Ella. Even your hands are perfect.”

I thought it should feel weird. I thought it would be strange, but it wasn’t, not any of it.

I thought:I’m so glad we’re not friends.

Chapter Seventeen

Today

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