Page 3 of Intertwined Hearts

“I’m not watching horror movies. As long as I have to sleep alone, that won’t happen. No way,” she said.

“Horror movies are my favorite,” Sandy chimed in.

Sandy and I had a great conversation about some of our favorite horror movies. Georgia and Connor joined in. They both loved horror movies too. In all of the excitement, it took me a while to realize Jackie had sat back in her chair and was no longer part of the conversation.

Chapter 2

Hunter

“Do you have any plans for tonight?” I was ecstatic to get out of that restaurant and have the whole rehearsal thing behind us. When we got out to the parking lot, the thought of just walking away from Jackie seemed nearly impossible. I wasn’t ready to say good-bye, goodnight, or anything else like that, yet.

“I was planning to go home and watch Sleepless in Seattle. Again. Alone.” The smile that played on her lips while she spoke made me want to wrap her in my arms.

“Have you ever seen it?” she asked.

“No, I definitely haven’t. I believe it falls into the chick-flick category, right?”

“It definitely does. They aren’t all bad, you know.”

“Maybe one day I’ll watch it.”

“Sure you will,” she mumbled.

“I’d watch it tonight, but I don’t have it,” I said, trying to sound convincing. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged my shoulders. “I guess I could go find a Redbox machine.”

“You’re more than welcome to watch it with me, if you want. That is if you don’t mind that I live in a small place, and it’s kind of messy. I work a lot of hours and was in a hurry today, so I didn’t get a chance to clean up much.”

How perfect. She invited me over. “I’d love to come over. I don’t judge. My place is small and not exactly pristine, either.”

“You can follow me. I’ll try not to lose you.” She laughed. She had such an amazing and infectious chuckle. I couldn’t help smiling in return.

Jackie

He was just so damn cute! I couldn’t believe he was going to come watch Sleepless in Seattle with me.

My mind ran rampant on the drive home. I couldn’t wait to watch his expressions change during the movie. Would he end up liking it? And if he did, would he admit it? Was this a date? It had been so long since I had been on a date. I guessed it was a date. Who knows? Who cares? No, this isn’t a date. There’s no way. Watching a movie in my apartment doesn’t constitute a date.

When I made the turn onto my street, the butterflies in my stomach ramped up their fluttering. I hoped I hadn’t given Hunter the wrong impression of me by asking him over the same day we met. Hopefully he wasn’t thinking anything else was going to happen tonight, because it wasn’t. I had no intention of acting like I was sexually starved, despite the multi-year dry spell. And I wasn’t going to let things move faster than I was ready for either, like I’d let Landon, the asshat quarterback, force the issue with our sexual relationship. So why was I so nervous?

I kept glancing in my rear-view mirror, making sure I could see the headlights on his truck following me.

As I neared my condo, the butterflies took over my stomach. I couldn’t believe I was so skittish. Or scared.

Chapter 3

Jackie

“Nice place,” Hunter said.

“Thanks.” I locked the door behind us. I made my way across the floor and turned on the kitchen light, revealing the couple of dirty glasses sitting on the counter and the two plates and forks still in the sink. “Pardon the mess.”

“I could only wish my apartment was this ‘messy.’ If you want to see a real mess, you’ll have to stop by some day. This is nothing, trust me.”

“Do you have a roommate?”

“Nope, it’s just me. But I hate washing dishes. I got used to letting them collect and waiting for Soph –.” He stopped abruptly. After a hard gulp, he spoke in a much softer tone. “Well, I just let them collect until I run out of dishes, then I wash them.”

I knew it. He had a girlfriend. Why would he come over if he had a girlfriend? He was shady like his friend, Jeff. I told myself to just file that little slip-up in the back of my mind.

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