Page 23 of Red Zone Realizations
I smile to myself because I know in my heart that Noah is nothing like that, and instead I choose to focus on our upcoming date.
There’s a knock at the door just like earlier this morning, but this time it’s heavier, slower. He’s here already and I haven’t had time to settle on whether I want this to be a date or not. I’m just going to have to set all the worrying aside and try and enjoy myself, get lost in the conversation like I did last Friday.
“Hey,” I breathe. My eyes drink him in like someone who’s been wandering the desert.
“Hey.” I see him eye me from head to toe. I’m glad I picked something more casual today. My tight top is the perfect pair to my baggier jeans and Converse. “I’m glad we’re hanging out again.”
I nod. “Me too. It’s nice to have someone other than Nicole to hang out with. She can get really busy sometimes with all the extra shifts she picks up.”
“I’m happy to be of service.” His smile is genuine and patient.
I step out to meet him on the porch, locking the door behind me.
“Ready?” he asks.
I gesture down my front walk. “Lead the way.”
His Audi is parked next to my modest Camry on the cracked driveway, and he hurries around to open my door for me. I look at the ground as a blush colors my cheeks, not wanting him to see. How can I explain to him that the guys I’ve been out with before were so shitty they never bothered to open the car door for me?
The car smells like Noah and leather combined with something else. I glance down at the cup holder as I buckle my seatbelt and see two Common Bond coffee cups smelling sweet and pouring steam into the chilled air of the car. “Is one of those for me?” Noah nods, and I pick it up, wrapping my hands around it and savoring the warmth against the blastingAC in the car. I take a sip, and I’m hit with oat milk and hazelnut. “How did you know this is how I like my coffee?”
Noah backs us down the driveway. “I’ve seen your order on your cup when you bring it before yoga.”
I smile with the cup just touching my lips. “Thank you. This is perfect.”
“Thought you’d need a pick-me-up. Figured you’d already worked all morning. Sorry, for planning something on a Tuesday. Practice schedule is crazy, and this is my classroom day, so I was able to get here earlier.”
How was I supposed to have any fun today if I had a to-do list with unchecked boxes taunting me at home? I’m not going to tell him he’s right, that I did work all morning. That’s workaholic Audrey. This is fun, playful Audrey who is totally fine with not working a full day even though it’s a weekday (eye twitch).
“You would figure correctly,” I say. “So which museum are we going to again?” Houston has several, plus NASA, and a great zoo.
“Houston Museum of Natural Science.”
“A classic.”
“Did y’all go there for a class field trip in sixth grade?”
I sit up in my seat, remembering. “Yes! And they made us all watch someone dissect a cow eyeball!”
“I swore I was going to throw up the whole time!”
We’re both belly laughing now as I gasp out, “What were we supposed to learn from that? What did we need to know?”
“It’s been fifteen years, and I still have no idea.”
I settle back against the soft leather. “I bet they don’t do that anymore. Parents probably thought it was too gory.”
“I have it on good authority that they do not, in fact, do that specific activity anymore. But they still teach squaredancing in elementary school.” I raise my brows at him. Does he have a kid he’s failed to mention? He notices me doubting his sources and says, “Teammates have kids in school.”
I nod. “I remember writing in my journal that I desperately wanted to be paired with my crush in square dancing, and how every week he got assigned to a different girl. Never me,” I pout.
Noah pats my hand over the center console. “You poor thing.”
We’re about to pull into the odd-shaped parking lot of the museum, but talking about crushes sparks my interest. “Who was your first childhood crush?”
“You’re going to laugh…” he starts, shy all of a sudden.
“I bet you I won’t. Tell me and I’ll tell you mine. You would never guess.”
