Page 10 of The Band Geek

I hold my arm out for her to take, and she reluctantly grabs it, following me to my car. I open the door for her and close it as soon as she sits in the passenger seat. She stares at me with a surprised look as she buckles her seat belt.

“So what's the plan? Fingering in a museum?” Rowan asks with faux excitement in her voice.

“You'd like that, wouldn't you?” She can't help but crack a smile. “We're going to Le Fleur, actually. I wouldn't count your blessings for fingering, though, this is a classy establishment. Sorry to disappoint.”

I put the car in drive and pull away from the curb, but she immediately looks back toward the dorm with a panicked look. “Wait, that place is super fancy. I can't go there like this.”

It's true, she definitely can't. It's one of the most high-end restaurants in the city, and she's wearing sweatpants and flip-flops.

“Sorry, I have reservations, and we’re already cutting it close,” I say, almost enjoying the pained look on her face. At least now she knows this is what happens when she tries to mess with me. Two can play at her little game.

The restaurant isn't far from campus, so we get there in a little less than ten minutes. I hop out of the car and run around to her side before she can open the door. She hesitates in the car for a moment, and I feel bad for bringing her here, knowing she feels self-conscious.

“It'll be fine, I promise,” I say and hold my hand out to her. She takes a deep breath and grasps it, walking with me toward the front door.

She doesn't let go when we walk inside and see a dining room packed with well-dressed diners. My face falls when I see that the hostess is Jessica. She smiles when she sees me, then looks at Rowan standing beside me, her eyes scanning her from the tip of her messy bun to her unpainted toenails.

“I'm so sorry, we actually have a dress code here,” Jessica says, walking around the podium to stare at the two of us. “Sawyer, if you would like to come to the table, I can take you there now. But you'll have to go, geek.”

Jessica smirks, twirling her hair between her fingers and staring at Rowan with contempt. I look at Rowan and see just how embarrassed she is. Her entire face turns red, and she looks like she might be on the verge of tears.

“Apologize,” I say to Jessica, nodding my head to Rowan. “Apologize to her, or I'll tell your manager you are calling customers names.”

“She's not a customer,” Jessica immediately retorts, rolling her eyes at me before landing them on Rowan and glaring. “We would never let somebody like her in here.”

“Why do you have to be so mean?” I ask, remembering how she poured her drink on her at the party and how possessive she was of me. I know the answer. I just want her to say it.

“I'm just upholding the restaurant's policies,” Jessica says, getting defensive as she realizes I'm not going to take her side in this battle.

“Is it because I wouldn't sleep with you on Friday?” Rowan's mouth hangs open as I say it, and Jessica looks terribly offended. She lets out a fake laugh as if to tell me I'm ridiculous, but the look in her eyes tells me I'm right.

“As if you could get me if you wanted to,” Jessica replies, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Now if you two could get out of here so I can free up your table, I would appreciate that.”

I grab Rowan's hand and lead her to the door again, walking to my car fuming with anger. I've gone out with plenty of girls like Jessica, and their attitudes are always why I can't be in serious relationships with them. But hearing her talk about Rowan badly as if she wasn't standing there infuriates me.

I open her car door and close it for her, sliding into mine as soon as I'm done. I grip the steering wheel tight as I look ahead and pull out, fearing this date is already going downhill for her.

“Thanks for sticking up for me,” Rowan eventually says, looking at me with a meek smile. “I really didn't mean to cause any trouble for you. I dressed like this to mess with you because I didn't think you would have anything like that planned.”

“Why not?” I ask, taking a few deep breaths to soften my demeanor. I try to think about what else the two of us can do now that my original plan is out, and when the idea hits me, I make a U-turn to go to Benny's Diner.

“I mean, that place is super serious. People go there when they want to propose. I didn't think it was going to be a first date, especially when it's not something serious,” Rowan says, laughing it off.

“Why wouldn't it be serious? I asked you on a date because I wanted to go on a date with you,” I say, stopping at a red light and looking at her as she stares at me. It's finally setting in for her that I'm not just messing around or trying to get in her pants. Of course, I want nothing more than to sleep with her, but that'll come in time. I can wait for that.

“I guess I just didn't realize you were being honest,” Rowan says, looking away from me down at her hands in her lap. “I've just had problems with jocks like you in the past, and I thought this was some kind of joke. Like maybe you and some of the other players decided you'd try to date one of the band geeks and tell everyone else about it.”

We pull up outside of Benny's Diner, and the bright blue neon sign fills the car. Rowan looks at it and squints her eyes, seeing that there is no restaurant inside for us to go to, though there are some picnic tables outside. A few moments after arriving, a woman in roller skates stops next to my window and leans down to take our orders.

I look at Rowan, and she has a wide smile on her face, clearly having never been here before. Benny's Diner is a staple in our city, and the rest of the guys from the team and I almost always come here after a rough practice.

“You eat meat, right?” I ask before I place our orders for both of us. Rowan nods, and I turn to the server and order two Benny burgers and hand-spun vanilla milkshakes for both of us. When the server leaves, I roll the window up and turn back to Rowan. “Normally, I wouldn't place an order for a girl, but if you didn't have this, we would have had problems.”

“I'll trust your judgment on this one.” Rowan laughs, leaning back in her seat and relaxing for the first time all night. “So, since this is a date, I suppose we should get to know each other a little bit.”

“What do you want to know?”

“What are you planning on doing with your life?” she asks, raising an eyebrow with a genuinely interested look.

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