Page 19 of Tipping the Scales

I look up from the screen, meeting his eyes that are now locked on me, piercing into my soul with their green depths. He raises his eyebrows, silently asking the question again.

His green and my brown, mixing like soil and fresh cut grass, something that seems so natural in the world. I have never been on a date and honestly I'm not sure how to act, or what to do. I have never been asked to go out with someone and the expectations are so unknown. Never been kissed, never been dated, and I wonder if he is coming into this with the same lack of experience.

Okay, what the hell, let's do it.

Do it as in go on a date, not ...

I knew what you meant ;)

The winkyface throws me off, both igniting a fire in my belly and also making my cheeks hurt from smiling at my phone so hard.

The ceremony finishes and the graduates clump on the lawn waiting for their families. My mom is whispering to Colton's mom and I wonder what they could be discussing. It takes a few minutes for the people lower on the bleachers to file down so that we can start making our way off them. When my feet hit the walkway, Colt brushes against my back and tingles trickle all over my skin.

"We are on for tomorrow, my mom and your mom just confirmed it. I will pick you up at seven." His warm breath is intoxicating against the shell of my ear. This is really happening.

"You asked my mom? That's hardcore of you," I say with a chuckle, our bodies slowly shuffling towards the graduates to find our brothers.

"I wanted to make sure there wasn't an excuse for you to back out."

"You thought I would back out?"

"Just protecting my plan." I turn my head to look at him, his smile glowing in the sun and our faces dangerously close together.

"It's a date then."

"It's a date," he repeats and the excitement coursing through me adds a small skip to my step.

I am going on my first date, with my crush. I can't believe this is happening. Crap, what am I going to wear?

I ended things three years later, but his reappearance into my life has bloomed old feelings, like an perennial popping back up from its sleep in the soil. Now I know it was never really over, no matter how much I have tried to fight it all these years.

Colton punches Carina's address into the massive screen built into his dashboard as I read it from my contacts. ETA seven minutes. I remember playing seven minutes in heaven as a teenager, but this is bound to be seven minutes in hell.

"So, how did you meet Carina?" Leave it to Bryn to make things even more awkward. Colton looks at me before he answers, as if he can apologize with only a look.

"We met at a friend's engagement party. They kinda set us up."

"Anyone we know?" I ask.

"Miles Engel. He wasn't in our class. I met him when I went to Elysian Tech."

"I always forget that Carina went there, too. Funny that you had a friend in common but didn't meet before now." I'm not sure what Bryn is up to, but she is grillinghim harder than a dad showing off his new barbecue at his backyard cookout.

"Miles and I had classes together but I didn't really hang out with him outside of that. But yeah, that's how we met." His grip tightens around the steering wheel, his hands squeaking against the leather. Bryn isn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

"Don't hurt her." I know Bryn meant her statement for Colton, but it echoes in my ears, like a constant ringing.

The GPS alerts us when we have arrived at Carina's apartment, and I am dying to get out of here.

"Thanks for the ride, Colt. We can take it from here." I am willing to sleep on Carina's floor to avoid getting back in this car with Colt, I will take one for the team.

"She is on the first floor, I can get her in on my own. You need to get home, opening time will be here faster than you think. Get some rest, text me when you get home." Bryn puts her hand on mine across the center armrest, keeping my fingers from unfastening my seatbelt. We make eye-contact and I know she is sending me a telepathic message.

Don't do anything stupid.

Don't sleep with him.

Don't forget to set your alarm because there's no way your internal one will wake you up in a few hours with the alcohol in your system.

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