Page 15 of Anytime I Want

“What is Nathan doing here?” Julia asks.

“Well, I needed a little help pulling this off and he graciously agreed to be your fairy godmother.”

Julia's eyes sparkle at me as she opens the door.

“Wait! Let me. Don’t forget, this is a date.” I jump out of the truck and run around the front to open her door.

“You didn’t have to do that, but thanks. I’ve always loved how my dad opens the door for my mom. It’s sweet.” The sound of a car door opening makes us break eye contact. Julia glances over her shoulder.

“Fairy Godmother! It’s so nice of you to come.”

“Yeah, don’t call me that. Are you ready? Let’s do this. I have my headphones, a snack, and a soda. I’m good to go.” Nathan shakes a grocery sack at us.

“Cool. Come help me take the tarp off the back of the truck.”

“Tarp?” Julia says. “I didn’t even notice one. What’s under there?”

“A whole new world.” I wink at her as I pull the tarp off with a flourish.

***

Julia

The back of the truck has an old queen size mattress crammed into it, covered in what looks to be the rug that used to be in the Kealoha’s front entrance. On top of that, there are two folded blankets, a bunch of random throw pillows, and a stuffed monkey. As I stand there, trying to process what Graham has done for me, tears spring to my eyes, and my jaw drops in shock. I cover my mouth with my hands and turn to Graham.

“A magic carpet ride?” I whisper. I knew that it was on the list. I knew that he was going to try and complete the list. But I had entirely underestimated him and how much time and energy he was willing to put into this. Graham shoves his hands in his front pockets and shrugs sheepishly. It is a little out of character for him to be bashful, but he should do it more often. So, so cute.

“It was on your list. Oh, and this.” He grabs the stuffed monkey from the bed of the truck and a lollipop out of its shirt pocket. “Shall we?” I take the lollipop out of his hand and he hands me the cups of hot cocoa before vaulting himself onto the mattress.Geez, that was attractive.Graham leans towards me, holding out one hand, a small smile on his face. “Do you trust me?”

I laugh a little, passing him one of the cups. He takes my hand and pulls me into the truck bed. I lean back on the pillows and watch him get comfortable while I make a decision. I’m going to do it—lean into the date. I promised Chloe, but I’m doing it because I want to. So for tonight, I won’t fight it.

He glances over at me, double taking before giving me a curious look. “What? Is everything okay? Do I have something on my face?” Graham starts wiping frantically at his face.

“No, no, you look great,” I reassure him. He drops his hands and a smirk grows on his lips.

“How great?”

“Oh geez.” I shove his shoulder and he drapes his arm around me. I let myself relax into his side, breathing deeply. His scent tickles my nose in the best way and I find myself burrowing a little deeper. He squeezes my shoulder and smiles at me with a look of hope and maybe a touch of confusion in his eyes.

“Okay. Let’s do this?” He squeezes me and knocks on the back window. Nathan starts the car and “A Whole New World” from Aladdin starts playing. I smile to myself and take a sip of my hot cocoa.

“Not bad, Kealoha. Not bad at all,” I whisper.

Graham squeezes my shoulders again—who knew I really like that?—and lets me go. He leans back, putting his hands on the back of his head, and smiles at the night sky. I start humming along with the song, wishing I was confident enough to sing out loud.

“Ooh! Are we singing?” Graham sits up tall in excitement and belts out the lyrics. Horribly. I’ve heard him sing before. I know he’s good at it—well at least notthisbad, so this is hilarious to me.

“Oh my gosh! Stop! Just stop. That’s so bad.” I cover his mouth with my hands and feel a jolt of electricity. Graham’s dark brown eyes flick toward my lips and back up to meet my eyes, a question obvious. I let my eyes linger for a minute before looking away. Out of the corner of my eye, a light flashes through the sky.

“What was that?”

Graham looks towards the sky. “Hmm. What could it be?” he asks with an exaggerated curious expression. I spent the next20 seconds glancing between Graham and the sky, excitement building in my chest.

“It was a meteor. There’s a shower tonight, and we lucked out with a mostly clear sky.” Graham leans forward, pointing. “Look, there’s another one.”

I whip my head around, staring intently at the sky. The song ends, another Disney song starts up, and Nathan keeps driving around the field for about thirty minutes. I only see a few more meteors, but every time I do, I smile and point them out, asking Graham if he saw them. Each time, he smiles a little and says yes, but I feel his gaze on me the whole time. A cloud moves over the majority of the sky, and I turn to hug Graham.

“Thank you so much! That was so cool! What a fun coincidence!”

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