Page 13 of A Good Book

“Sarah’s going to be a big star,” I murmured.

“How’s Eve?” Matt asked.

“She’s no longer hiding alcohol by the creek.”

Matt chuckled. “Well, I suppose that’s good.”

I loved making him smile and laugh. “Eve followed Sarah’s lead and fell for an older guy. If you think Sarah and Isaac caused a commotion, you should have been there to witness Eve’s dramatic fall from grace.”

“Well,” he sipped his Pepsi, “I wouldn’t have expected any less from Eve. But she’s doing good now? Happy?”

“Yeah. Very happy. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

He lifted an eyebrow.

“It’s a long story.”

“Sounds like it,” he said.

As we ate our pizza, Matt let me know he was planning on visiting his parents in North Carolina over Thanksgiving. He shared his excitement of winning a conference title and national championship playing baseball for the Wolverines. I swore he had tears in his eyes, reminiscing about the bittersweet ending to his baseball career.

I had no comforting words that didn’t involve “God has other plans for you,” so I stuck to a sympathetic smile and a gentle bob of my head.

“I’ve got it,” he said when I pulled out my wallet at the register to help pay for dinner.

Yep, it was officially a date.

“Are you sure?”

Matt grinned, handing the cash to the employee. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” I tucked my wallet back into my purse.

Matt fished change from his pocket and stuck a nickel into the gumball machine and turned the knob. It spit out a blue gumball which he offered to me.

I wrinkled my nose. “Not blue.”

He laughed and popped it into his mouth, then he slid another nickel into the machine. “Boring white.” He handed it to me.

I took it. “White is not boring. It’s classic. White is just as sweet without feeling the need to show off.” I chomped down on the gumball and grinned at him.

“Is that so?” He held the door open for me.

“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled, stepping past him.

“Did you know that while you had your nose in a book, Sarah and Eve suspected you were going to be the biggest rebel, stealthily flying under your parents’ radar?” Matt asked.

“Did you know that while my sisters thought I had my nose in a book, I heard them talking about your senior prom night mishap?” I took two steps, feeling triumphant with my comeback, but when my brain caught up, I realized I just confessed to knowing the details of Matt’s fumbled attempt at losing his virginity with my sister.

Four years.

It had beenyearssince I’d seen Matt, and I, Virgin Gabriella, brought up sex on our first date.

“W-what?” Matt coughed, opening my car door.

“Nothing. Never mind.” I ducked into the car without making eye contact.

His gaze covered me like a suffocating cloud of smoke, but I focused on the seat belt.

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