Page 21 of Sunflowers and Surrender

Grace tilts her head as if she’s giving this serious thought.

“Plus, he is worried that if we did act on this now, Ainsley would retaliate.”

“Crap. I never thought of that. He’s right. She’s a witch.” She chomps down on her licorice vine once more. “So, are you going stag to the banquet? You better still be going. We’ve had dresses picked out for ages.” While Grace doesn’t volunteer at the rescue squad, she is friends with many of the people there and always manages to secure an invite from either a squad member or a firefighter.

I’ve given this a fair amount of thought since the debauchery in the bunk room. I’d never want to hurt Alex. But it took pushing the envelope with him to get him to respond to me. I’m sure plenty of people are afraid to take a risk on someone because of all the things that could go wrong. Yet, I’ve crushed on him for years. Watching him with other girls. I’m done waiting. “No. I want to find a date.” I say, chewing on my nail. “He needs to decide if I’m worth the risk once and for all.”

“Hot damn!” she squeals. “Well, I have just the date for you. Don’t you worry about a thing, Tuesday, my dear. I’ve got this handled.”

Uh oh.

It’sthe night of the squad and fire gala. I’ve probably second-guessed my decision to go with a date about a hundred times. But I’m not getting any younger. I haven’t heard much from Alex beyond a few generic texts to see how I’m doing. It’s as if he’s at war with himself. Well, I refuse to be a casualty. If he decides I’m not worth it, then at least I can say I went down swinging.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

“Hello.”

“Hey, chicka. We’re here. You ready?”

I peer out my window to the driveway below and see a black, shiny Ford Explorer belonging to Gunner, Grace’s date.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” I still don’t know anything about my date for the evening. Grace just said she found him through someone at college, and he’s a very hot, funny guy. I have no plans to separate from Grace this evening, so I feel safe attending the event tonight with a blind date. Even if it’s a tad unnerving knowing nothing about him except ‘he’s cute, and he’s always up for a good time.’

“Bye, Mom. Grace and I are crashing at Ricky’s tonight after the gala while he’s away.” My brother managed to receive two offers for medical school and is in Norfolk, trying to secure an apartment before school starts at Eastern in two months.

“Okay, dear. You girls have fun.”

As I approach the car, I see Grace waving from the front passenger seat when the door behind her swings open, and a tall, dark-haired man with deep blue eyes steps out to greet me. Holy hell. Where’d she find this guy? He’s muscular but lean, dressed in a dark gray suit with a crisp white button-up and silver tie completing the ensemble. I dare say, if I wasn’t already smitten with the man of my dreams, this guy would certainly have my undivided attention.

“Hi. You must be Tuesday. I’m Gavin.” He holds out his hand to me, and I actually feel a little flushed.

“Hi, Gavin. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for doing this.”

He gives me a deliberate look that starts from my heels and slowly drags up my body to my face. It feels as if he’s undressed me with his eyes on the way up. “The pleasure is all mine, beautiful.” Gavin extends his arm toward the open door, and I slide in, finding a corsage sitting where I assume he was moments ago.

“Is this for me?”

“Yes. Will you allow me to put it on?”

Is this guy for real? The most I’ve ever hoped for from guys I’ve dated at the rescue squad in the past was that their clothes didn’t reek of the girl’s perfume they dated before me.

We proceed to the venue, a downtown Richmond hotel, and I choose to remain quiet for now, watching the evening’s scenery pass by the window. I don’t want to use up all of my small talk with Gavin before we get there.

Once we park and take the skywalk from the garage to the hotel, Grace and I quickly check our coats and head into the ballroom. It’s set up as usual, with multiple large circular tables accommodating ten people placed throughout the large room. This year’s theme is black and gold, with the fire and EMS logos attached to decorative centerpieces on each table. EMTs and firefighters are mingling about in formalwear, waiting for dinner to be served. I’m a little sad that Ricky had to miss this. He always looks forward to these events, probably because he can always count on winning some award for responding to the most calls or the most volunteer hours logged.

I look about the space and don’t see Alex. I do see Ainsley, however. She’s all decked out in sequins, hanging on Curt’s arm. He’s a relatively new member to the rescue squad but already quite popular. He’s a shoo-in to get into medical school with his grades and charisma. I’m sure latching herself onto his star will benefit her in the long run. I could definitely see Ainsley parading around as a doctor’s wife.

An overhead announcement is made that dinner will begin shortly, followed by an awards ceremony, then dancing. In my few years attending, this is the usual routine.

Leaning into Gavin, I say, “This is going to get real boring, real quick.” I laugh.

“Yeah, most of these things are all the same.”

“Do you mind my asking how old you are?”

“I’m twenty. How about you?” he asks.

“I just turned twenty-one.” I would’ve guessed he was much older with the way he carries himself. “If I forget to say it later, thank you. It was really nice of you to come here with me. I really owe Grace one for this.”

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