“You’ve got five minutes left,” I muttered as I indignantly filled my water cup from the clear jug with lemon slices floating in it. After the wine, the water tasted as sour as the look I hoped I was giving Madison.
Under Madison’s direction, I pasted a smile on my face, and we returned to our table. Thankfully, Tanner didn’t seem as intent on putting his arm around me as Adam was to Madison. But Madison wasn’t complaining, and neither was I.
“So, Adam,” I said, purposefully ignoring the look Tanner was giving me again. “What kind of car do you drive?” A stupid question, but it didn’t involve me or Tanner, and would hopefully get Adam talking.
“I’ve restored a 1965 Ford Mustang.” He sat up straighter with a gleam in his eye that I hoped promised lots of talk about something other than me and my future progeny.
He opened his mouth, but before he could launch into car brags, Tanner said, “I just bought a new car.”
“Oh,” Madison said politely. “What kind?”
“A fifteen-seater van.”
Madison and I stared at him, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adam rub his eyes with the slightest shake of his head.
“That’s…a lot,” I said. “You don’t have any kids yet do you?” Please say no.
“No. But…well, you know, car seats take up a lot of space.”
Madison, who had been taking a swig of her beer, snorted and just barely missed covering her date in spit. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. “Just how many car seats do you plan on having in there at once?”
“Many, I hope.” He gave me another sideways glance.
Thankfully, however, I was saved from having to respond when Adam turned the conversation away from me and to his crazy ex-girlfriend.
“You know,” Madison laughed. “Jessie has her own way of getting back at people who make her angry.”
Adam snickered. “Hopefully, not by sticking fish in people’s curtain rods. I still can’t get the smell out of my apartment.”
“Jessie,” Madison’s eyes gleamed wickedly, “writes letters.”
“Letters?” Tanner echoed, his steak halfway to his mouth.
I rolled my eyes and grinned. “I don’t actually send them.”
“No, and it’s a good thing you don’t.” Madison put her beer down. “You should have seen the one I caught her writing to me the day I tried to play a practical joke on her.”
“You ruined my school planner!” I laughed. “I’d just filled it out, too! And you wouldn’t have seen it at all if you hadn’t been poking around my desk.”
“If you think this cute little thing couldn’t hurt a fly,” Madison waved her hand at me, “you’d be sorely mistaken. You wouldn’t believe the verbal lashing she can write out. My eyes hurt for a week.”
“Man.” Adam rubbed his chin. “I can’t remember the last time I wrote or sent a real letter.”
“I filled out that card to register to vote,” Tanner said. “Does that count?” He turned back to me. “You know, if you married someone in the military, you could keep voting here since it’s your state of residence.” He sat straighter. “Have you ever considered it?”
“Considered what?” I squeaked.
“Marrying someone in the military?”
8
What-Ifs
Jessie
Before I had to choose between decking this guy and figuring out how to escape, a deep, deliciously familiar voice spoke from behind me.
“Jessie, I didn’t see you get in.”
