“Yes, now are you done being annoying?” I ask, looking up, praying to have the patience to deal with my sister a little bit longer.
“I’ll stop when you tell me the truth. Is it the girl that you hung out with the other day? That you brought to the ranch when I wasn’t home?” Making direct eye contact with her across the table, I try to see if she’s gonna give in and move on to something else. All I see is determination, the same look she gets before the gates open for a race.
Huffing a breath, knowing she won’t let it go, I pick my battle and answer her, “Yes, it’s Hannah that was texting me.”
“Have you taken her out on an actual date yet?”
Going for the cheap shot I see.
“No, not yet.”
“Are you busy tonight? Once you’re done hanging out with your favorite sister,” she asks just as the waitress brings us our sushi order. Temporarily distracted, Sadie looks at the food and I swear she drools a little as she says, “Oh my God! This looks delicious, thank you!”
Shaking my head, I look over to the waitress. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she answers back before walking away and leaving us to our lunch. As I grab my chopsticks, I cross my fingers that the food has distracted Sadie from our conversation.
“So, tonight?” she asks again, with a full mouth.
“No talking when chewing,” I attempt in a stern voice.
Making a show of swallowing her bite, and taking a sip of water, she repeats, “So, tonight?”
“What about tonight?” I ask, taking a bite.
“Are you busy? If not, you should ask her out tonight,” she says in an exaggerated manner, as if I’m an idiot. I knew what she meant, that she wanted me to ask Hannah out on a date tonight,but that doesn’t give me any time to plan something. I haven’t even started brainstorming. She deserves the perfect first date.
“I’m not busy, but it doesn’t give me much time to think of or plan anything,” I tell her.
“My friend just went on a first date,” she says, making me raise an eyebrow. I know where she’s going with this and there’s no way my first date with Hannah will be a teenage first date. “They went for supper and then went bowling. She said she had a lot of fun since they both suck at bowling—”
Cutting her off, I say, “I am not taking Hannah bowling. She deserves something better than that.”
“I said supper first,” she says, pointing her chopsticks at me then stealing the last piece of spicy salmon roll. “Okay, he did just get her a hotdog and fries at the little cantine-restaurant thing they have in the bowling alley, and I’m not saying to do that, but take her to a somewhat nice supper then go bowling.”
“I’m not taking her bowling,” I say again, grabbing the last rainbow roll.
“Why not? When have you not had a blast bowling? Plus it’s different, plus . . .” She pauses, eating an edamame and taking a sip of water, looking around nervously. Clearly she wants to say something else, but she seems almost too nervous to say it. My overly-confident sister is not one to mince words, it’s one of her best qualities. She always says it as it is.
“Plus what?” I ask, ducking to meet her eyes as my foot nudges hers under the table.
She looks down at her nails. “Plus, by taking her out on a normal, un-showy date, you’ll know if she likes you for you, or if she likes you how Alex liked you,” she says in a quiet voice that I rarely hear her use.
I reach over to cover her hands with one of mine. “That’s a great idea,” I tell her. I hadn’t realized that she was worried that I would get hurt again. She was so young when everything wentsouth with Alex. I didn’t know she knew so much of the details of why we broke up. Although, she always did have a bad habit of eavesdropping on conversations. “She’s friends with Levi, so I doubt she hangs out with me for the wrong reasons, but it’s a good idea to make sure,” I say, reassuring her as she finally meets my eye.
“How about I take her out to that cute italian restaurant dad is always taking you and mom to and then bowling? Does that sound like a safe date?” I ask her, touched that she cares that much about me.
“Sounds like a perfect first date to me, but don’t forget flowers,” she instructs.
“How about I text her right now, then we swing by a flower shop to get some flowers?” I ask, knowing damn well that Sadie deserves flowers as well.
Five hours later, after dropping off a smiling Sadie with the biggest bouquet of pink and orange flowers of her own, I make my way home for a quick nap and then send Sadie way too many outfit options. Finally, standing on Levi’s front porch holding a bouquet of light blue and white daisies, I’m knocking on the door to pick up Hannah for our first official date. Again, not a date, more like an official start of this benefits agreement we have. I wish it was a real date. One that would lead to more than what we agreed on, which explains why my hands are sweaty and why I brought flowers.
I’ve seen her naked. She’s seen me naked. I’ve come way too often to the thought of her naked body and the noises she makes as she reaches her peak to be this nervous. But my hands are sweaty, and I have butterflies in my stomach. The only other time I’ve felt like this was the first time I stepped onto the ice for my first game in the show. This girl has me in knots and before I can even think of giving myself a pep talk, Hannah opens the door, looking as gorgeous as ever, making my jaw drop.
Her golden hair sits in waves over her shoulders, her light blue top not only makes her eyes pop, but shows just enough cleavage to make me remember what’s hiding under the rest of her clothes. Keeping up the slow drag of my gaze down her body, I feel my hands tighten around the flowers I’m holding. My eyes land on a painted-on pair of black jeans as she gives me a little twirl, making my eyes snag on that spankable ass of hers, once again.
“You look gorgeous,” I finally say, after she’s done her twirl and hand her the flowers. “I’ve been told that it’s not an official date without flowers.”
